Lobo Pack: San Jose State Preview

What:

New Mexico Lobos vs.San Jose State Spartans

When:

Friday, January 28th, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time

Where:

University Arena, The Pit, in Albuquerque, NM

Coverage:

The game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network. On the radio waves it will be carried on the UNM Sports Radio Network. Flagship station is 770 AM/96.3 FM in Albuquerque.

Series:

This is the 22nd meeting between the two schools. New Mexico has 17-4 record in the series with San Jose State. The Lobos split the series last season.

Breakdown:

The New Mexico Lobos will be looking for their first Mountain West Conference win of the season and to end their seven-game losing streak when they host the San Jose State Spartans on Friday night in The Pit.

The Lobos are 7-13 overall and 0-7 in the MWC after losing on Tuesday night to Fresno State by a final of 65-60.

San Jose State comes into Albuquerque with a 7-11 record overall and 0-6 in the MWC.

Last time out the Spartans lost to Air Force by a final of 63-53 back on Tuesday night.

What to expect from San Jose State:

The Spartans are led by Omari Moore. The 6-foot-6 junior guard is averaging 13.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Moore played the entire game against Air Force on Tuesday night, scoring 20 points in the loss.

Moore has scored in double figures in 14 of the 18 San Jose State games this season.

In the game that San Jose State won against the Lobos last season Moore scored 14 points. He will be the key for the Spartans tonight.

The Spartans also have another key piece that has the potential to go off and score a ton, and that is 6-foot-7 forward Trey Anderson.

Anderson is averaging 9.9 points per gam on the season. He was scoreless against Air Force, but prior to that he scored 19 points against UNLV and 13 points against Wyoming.

What to expect from the Lobos:

The Lobos need a quick start to keep San Jose State off their game, and to keep their confidence low.

This seems like a good shot for Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Jaelen House to take over. If they can both go off for over 20 points each, then the Spartans could struggle to keep up.

Expect the Lobos to also rely on Jay Allen-Tovar for a big night to compliment the duo of House and Mashburn Jr.

Final Thoughts and Prediction:

This is the game for the Lobos to break out of their rut. They have been playing a lot better over the last few weeks, keeping games as close as they can, but still not able to get the job done.

The Spartans are also struggling, but they have not been in many close games lately, the closest defeat SJSU has had was 8 points to UNLV.

I feel this is a good a chance as any for UNM to get a win. And they should be able to.

I got Lobos-70 Spartans-62..