The Lobos start a two-game road trip to the state of Texas today against longtime rival UTEP in El Paso. The Lobos are looking to rebound after a tough loss against Duquesne in the championship game of the Thanksgiving Tournament, losing 78-69. It doesn’t get any easier for the Lobos (4-2) though, as they face the undefeated Miners (5-0) Wednesday afternoon at 4:15. While the Miners haven’t played a great schedule so far this season, they haven’t even played a road game yet, they are undefeated and playing at home against a young Lobos team that has only played one road game this season, which they lost by 19 to NMSU. Already in this young season, both teams have played Houston Baptist at home, with the Lobos winning their game 65-57 and the Miners winning their game 98-63. While we can’t take too much out of those results, one thing we can take out is the Miners ability to score the basketball; they are averaging 77.6 points per game. For the Lobos to have a good shot to win this game they need to take care of the ball, take good shots, and force the Miners into bad shots.
UTEP:
The UTEP Miners, from Conference USA, are led by 15-year Head Coach Keitha Adams. During her tenure at UTEP, Adams and the Miners basketball program have set many program records and have raised the level of the program. However, they are coming off a disappointing season, in which they went 12-16, including a 72-57 road loss to the Lobos. This season, UTEP has relied on four players who are averaging over 9 points per game, being led by Jenzel Nash at 16.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. UTEP will throw a lot of players at you, as they have all 15 players averaging over 6 minutes per game and they also don’t have a player averaging over 30 minutes per game. For something to keep an eye on during this game, UTEP has been forcing their opponents to 24.2 turnovers per game so far this season.
Season Leaders:
• Minutes Per Game: Cherise Beynon 26.8
• Points Per Game: Khadijah Shumpert 12.8
• Rebounds Per Game: Khadijah Shumpert 6.8
• Assist Per Game: Cherise Beynon 3.67
• Steal Per Game: Cherise Beynon 2.33
• Blocks Per Game: Kianna Keller 1.833
Matchup to Watch:
The matchup to watch in the game will be the matchup of Lobo Cherise Beynon and Miner Jenzel Nash. Both guards are all-around players that are both great rebounding guards. Beynon will have her hands full all game, so she needs to play her game and make sure not to get into early foul trouble. If Beynon and Nash play on even terms that would be a huge win for the Lobos. I think Beynon will be up to the task in what should be a very entertaining game to watch.
Prediction:
UTEP is a decent team that is coming off a disappointing season that hasn’t really played a good team yet. So, this game to me is a toss-up. Not knowing what to take out of the UTEP schedule and with this being the Lobos second road game of the season, I will put the odds of the Lobos winning this game at 53%. I think the Lobos are the better team, but they are on the road and UTEP is 5-0 at home this season. I think the Lobos will bounce back with a big road win, with the final score being 78-74.
Game Info:
Who: New Mexico (4-2) AT UTEP (5-0)
Where; Don Haskins Center; El Paso, Texas
When: Wednesday December 2, 4:15 PM MT
Radio: 610 AM
Stream: Miner TV (Requires subscription)