Highs and lows are part of what makes college basketball so much fun to watch, as it makes it tough to predict who will win. Teams just hope to minimize the number of peaks and valleys.
This week, New Mexico experienced one of those low points as fatigue caught up with the Lobos, causing them to drop an 81-56 game at Utah State. They had been coming off a surprising high after they toppled a Wyoming team that is contending for the top spot in the conference.
“Just a week ago, we beat the No. 1 team in our league,” head coach Richard Pitino said in an article on golobos.com. “We have allowed fatigue, mentally and physically, to just zap our spirit.”
The fatigue showed itself mainly at the stripe, where the Lobos (11-17 overall, 3-11 in the Mountain West) hit a mere 30% of their free throw shots. That’s the lowest percentage for a game since 2007.
The Aggies (16-3, 7-9) penetrated the New Mexico defense like it was a sieve, connecting on their first eight shots to build a 20-7 lead. The Lobos never really threatened to take charge after that.
“We are just not ourselves right now,” Pitino said. “Are we a great team when we are ourselves? No, we are a building team. We have to get back home and establish some type of identity. We were competing through that Wyoming game, even in the Colorado State game, but the last two games we did not compete at all. All we can do now is continue to learn and grow.”
K.J. Jenkins, Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Jay Allen-Tovar were all in double figures in the losing effort.
The Lobos next play Air Force on Feb. 26.
