WARRIOR BASKETBALL
AGUSTIN TABARES / ATABARES@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Riley Luettgerodt was fouled by J.R. Giddens of New Mexico during yesterday's game at UH. Luettgerodt finished with 11 points in the 79-69 loss.
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Swept away
Lobos beat UH for the 2nd time
STORY SUMMARY »
New Mexico forward Daniel Faris scored 21 points to lead the Lobos to a 79-69 win over Hawaii last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
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vs. Centenary, 5:05 p.m. Sunday
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With the win, the Lobos (12-2) completed a sweep of the nonconference home-and-home series and extended their winning streak to five, while the Rainbow Warriors (3-8) dropped their fourth straight.
Hawaii trailed by 10 at halftime and fought back to three late in the second half behind the long-range shooting of Bobby Nash, who made six of eight 3-pointers to finish with 18 points.
But New Mexico was able to answer with key baskets down the stretch to hold on for the win.
Matt Gibson led the Rainbows with 19 points and Riley Luettgerodt finished with 11.
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Hawaii's rematch with New Mexico last night was far more competitive than the 29-point blowout in Albuquerque last month.
But coming closer provided precious little consolation for the Rainbow Warriors after a spirited effort fell short at the end.
"It counts as a loss," UH senior Matt Gibson said following the 79-69 defeat to the Lobos. "We have to find a way to win and we have to do it now."
The Rainbows (3-8) dropped their fourth straight home game before a crowd of 3,176 at the Stan Sheriff Center, their longest such streak since the 1998-99 season, as New Mexico (12-2) completed a sweep of the home-and-home nonconference series.
The Rainbows gave up just two 3-pointers to the Lobos, but with center Stephen Verwers out with a broken leg suffered two days earlier, New Mexico went inside and scored 46 points in the paint. New Mexico also made 23 of 33 free throws as the Lobos held off Hawaii's comeback bid.
"You look at us all year long we've had one problem or another where we've not always been at full strength and we've always had to make adjustments, tonight was no different," UH coach Bob Nash said.
"We have to be a team that does the small things -- boxing out, doing those type of things. We had too many breakdowns at inopportune times."
New Mexico forward Daniel Faris enjoyed his second big night against Hawaii this season. Faris scored 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting last night. His previous career high was the 16 he scored against the Rainbows in The Pit last month and shot 17-for-21 in two games against UH.
J.R. Giddens added 17 points for the Lobos, who shot 55 percent from the field.
"Obviously they're down with bigs," UNM coach Steve Alford said. "They came out and really tried to get into us with some pressure and we felt like if that was going to happen we could drive the ball and I thought we did a good job of driving then finding Daniel and others inside."
AGUSTIN TABARES / ATABARES@STARBULLETIN.COM
Dairese Gary of New Mexico tried to get in the way of a pass by Hawaii's Matt Gibson during last night's game.
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Gibson led the Rainbows with a season-high 19 points, while Bobby Nash fueled a UH comeback in the second half when he hit four of his career-high six 3-pointers.
"Sometimes we can't get over the hump. That's something we have to keep working on," Nash said.
"We have Centenary (on Sunday) and then we go into the WAC season. We have to get better, quickly, and we have to make the adjustments."
With Verwers sitting at the end of the bench, his broken left leg in a cast, the Rainbows unveiled a new-look first five with P.J. Owsley making his first start of the season in the post.
The Rainbows seemed to get a lift from seeing Verwers enter the arena and New Mexico had a tough time holding onto the ball early, turning it over nine times in the first nine minutes.
Once the Lobos stemmed the flow of turnovers, giving up just two for the remainder of the half, they caught and passed the Rainbows to take a 38-28 halftime lead.
Faris found room down low to score six of his 10 points on dunks as the Lobos scored 26 points in the paint.
UH was deliberate in running its halfcourt offense and trailed 26-24 when Luettgerodt knocked down a jumper from the wing at the 3:57 mark. But New Mexico then went on a 12-2 run capped by Giddens' steal and layup, giving UNM a 38-36 advantage.
Hawaii closed to four at 48-44 when Gibson scored on a fast-break layup, but he picked up his fourth foul and had to go to the bench with 11:17 left.
After Dairese Gary's driving layup gave New Mexico a 58-49 lead with 8:11 left, the Lobos went more than 5 minutes without a field goal and UH closed to 62-59 when Nash hit a 3-pointer from the top with 3:37 left.
But each time Hawaii made a push, New Mexico had an answer. When Nash hit his sixth 3 of the night from NBA range to bring the Rainbows to within 70-67, Giddens responded with a drive to the hoop and the Lobos were able to stretch the lead from there.
"We're undermanned, but these guys fought, they gave it their best effort and that's what I talked to them about," Bob Nash said.
New Mexico 79, Hawaii 69
Rainbow Warriors (3-8)
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fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Luettgerodt |
5 |
10 |
1 |
2 |
37 |
1 |
1 |
11
|
Owsley |
1 |
7 |
1 |
2 |
18 |
4 |
3 |
3
|
Nash |
6 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
40 |
6 |
5 |
18
|
Gibson |
5 |
11 |
7 |
8 |
36 |
4 |
3 |
19
|
Dillinger |
2 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
24 |
6 |
2 |
6
|
Nitoto |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
14 |
1 |
2 |
3
|
Campbell |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
2
|
Mayen |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
1 |
0 |
2
|
Amis |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
1 |
2 |
5
|
Team |
|
|
|
|
|
0
|
Totals |
23 |
53 |
14 |
18 |
200 |
26 |
18 |
69 |
Lobos (12-2)
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|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Martinez |
4 |
7 |
3 |
3 |
32 |
4 |
2 |
11
|
Faris |
9 |
11 |
3 |
5 |
27 |
4 |
1 |
21
|
Gary |
2 |
8 |
8 |
10 |
28 |
4 |
4 |
12
|
Giddens |
7 |
10 |
3 |
7 |
35 |
11 |
3 |
17
|
Toppert |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
31 |
2 |
0 |
3
|
Wills |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
2
|
Harris |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
1
|
Smith |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
2
|
Pegues |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
1
|
Prentice |
3 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
25 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
|
Team |
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
Totals |
27 |
49 |
23 |
33 |
200 |
33 |
13 |
79 |
Key -- fg: field goals made; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws made; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes played; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime -- New Mexico 38, Hawaii 28
3-point goals -- New Mexico 2-8 (Prentice 1-2, Toppert 1-2, Gary 0-3, Giddens 0-1), Hawaii 9-19 (Nash 6-9, Gibson 2-7, Amis 1-1, Dillinger 0-1, Mayen 0-1). Personal fouls -- New Mexico 20, Hawaii 27.
Steals -- New Mexico 10 (Gary 4, Faris 2, Giddens, Harris, Martinez, Prentice). Hawaii 7 (Gibson 2, Nitoto 2, Dillinger, Owsley, Nash). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 3 (Owsley 2, Campbell), New Mexico 3 (Faris, Giddens, Toppert). Turnovers -- Hawaii 17 (Nitoto 4, Amis 3, Mayen 3, Dillinger 2, Gibson 2, Nash 2, Owsley), New Mexico 18 ( Giddens 4, Gary 3, Martiznez 3, Toppert 3, Faris 2, Harris, Prentice, Pegues).
Officials -- David Hall, Randy McCall, Mike Scyphers. A--3,176.