After suffering a 25 point loss to No. 18 Auburn on Monday, the Lobos (0-0, 5-2) are back in action today at 3 pm Mountain when they take on the Wisconsin Badgers (0-0, 4-2). The Badgers didn’t fare any better in their 62-52 loss to Richmond, leaving the two schools to face each other in the consolation round of the Legends Classic.
Plagued by turnovers (24), UNM never did find their footing after surrendering an early 14-9 lead over the Tigers. Makuach Maluach (14), Keith McGee (13), and Vance Jackson (10) all finished in double figures in the loss. Guard JaQuan Lyle finished with his lowest point total as a Lobo, with only two points in 25 minutes on the court.
Wisconsin had a four-game winning streak snapped with the loss to the Richmond Spiders. Forward Nate Reuvers leads the Badgers with 17 points in the loss and remains the team’s scoring leader with 15.3 points per game.
For the Lobos, the game today marks the end of a four-game road trip before they return to Dreamstyle Arena on Sunday. They will be looking to close out the trip with a 2-2 record, and in order to do so, they will need to clean up their play and cut down on the turnovers they are surrendering. Turnovers were an issue for the Lobos in earlier games but had shown improvements before yesterday’s game with Auburn.
The Lobos will also need Lyle to rebound from the poor performance and return to the Player of the Week form he had shown. After a 1-13 performance shooting, Lyle could be in for a big night against the BIG 10 school.
Today’s game will be broadcast on ESPN2 beginning at 3 pm mountain time.