After a tough loss in Los Angeles against USC, the Lobos look to return to their winning ways Wednesday night against Nicholls State. Nicholls State comes into the Pit as major underdogs, but with UNM having a tough schedule coming up, the Colonels hope to catch the Lobos napping.
Game Preview
Nicholls State, located in Thibodaux, LA., is led by head coach J.P. Piper, who is in his 11th season of coaching the Colonels. During his tenure, Coach Piper has accumulated a 122-203 record, in large part because he tends to schedule a lot of tough non-conference road games. For example, this season the only home games the team has in non-conference play are against lower division teams, but they travel to face Florida St., San Diego St., SMU, Colorado, and, of course, UNM. Because of that, they tend to head into the conference season with only a handful of wins to their name. However, they typically tend to be competitive in the Southland Conference. Unfortunately, this season they’re expected to finish at the bottom of the pack, as they were voted 11th out of 13 teams in the preseason poll.
The Colonels do return three of their starters from last season, and would have had four had junior forward Sam McBeath not injured his foot in the preseason. The returning starters include Ja’Dante Frye, a 6’4” sophomore guard who is currently averaging 17 ppg and 7 rpg, leading the Colonels in both categories. He looks to be a good shooter, but his main talent this season has been drawing fouls, as he currently draws them at the 25th highest rate in D-I. Then, at the line he is an 89% shooter, so this has been really effective for him. Joining Ja’Dante in the backcourt are Tre O’Neal, a 6’1” junior, and T.J. Carpenter, a 6’5” junior. O’Neal, who is new to the team, is a traditional point guard, looking to set up his teammates more than he is for his own shot, while Carpenter, a returning starter, is more of a gunner, averaging just under 7 three point attempts per game. Keeping tabs of Frye and Carpenter will certainly be the priority of the backcourt defense, as O’Neal hasn’t yet shown that he can beat a team by himself.
In the frontcourt, Liam Thomas, a 6’10 sophomore center, and Luka Kamber, a 6’8 junior forward, are both returning players, although Kamber mostly came off of the bench last season. Thomas, at just 200 pounds, is kind of a beanpole, so I wouldn’t expect him to be able to push Obij Ajet around much on either end of the floor. He tends to get into foul trouble quickly, so actually doesn’t play as much as his reserve, 7’0, 300 pound senior Kyle Caudil. Thomas looks to be the more skilled player of the two, averaging 9.5 ppg and 2.0 rpg, but Caudil certainly takes up more space. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nikola get some action whenever Caudil comes in to play. As for Kamber, he is the team’s second leading scorer, at 12 ppg, and he does this by mostly shooting threes. Whether it’s Tim Williams or Joe, they will have to make sure to keep track of him on the perimeter.
Scattered Thoughts
- If all goes to plan, this is the sort of game where everyone should get at least a little action. As mentioned, I think that Nikola should see the floor a decent amount whenever the Colonels’ backup center enters the game, but this would also probably be a good game for the team to work on some four-guard lineups, with either Sam or Dane at the four. If his ankle is feeling better, I’d also expect to see Jordan Hunter get some action at point guard, as helping him build experience and confidence seems to be on Coach Neal’s priority list.
- I’m not particularly worried about the team’s loss at USC, but I would have been if both halves had played out like the first one did. This team needed to be challenged and realize the sort of intensity that they’ll need to bring each night if they’re going to be successful, and if the second half was any indication, they might have learned that lesson quickly.
- Tim Jacobs had a really good game against USC, again proving what a luxury he is for the Lobos to have on the team. I know that some fans want him to play more because he is good at running the offense, and I actually don’t necessarily disagree with them to an extent. However, where he is most limited is on the defensive end of the court and some teams will be able to take advantage of his presence more than USC did. Because of that, I don’t see him getting starter’s minutes most games, but he’s great to have off the bench to either help against the press or to help get the shooters good looks.
Prediction
This is a game that the Lobos should win by a fair amount, as they look to be the much better team and they’re playing at home. I expect them to dominate the Colonels 83-59 and send us all into the holiday weekend in a good mood.
Game Info
Who: New Mexico Lobos (3-0) vs. Nicholls State Colonels (1-2)
Where: The Pit, Albuquerque, NM
When: Wednesday, November 25th at 7:00pm MT
Radio: 770 KOB
TV: Root Sports