New Mexico @ Colorado preview
CU Events Center
Last Meeting ( Dec 22, 2010 ) New Mexico 89, Colorado 76
Colorado is coming off a lost week, suffering its first defeat of the season and also losing its most experienced big man in senior Tory Miller-Stewart to a broken foot. So now, as they try to regroup, the Buffaloes host New Mexico in a Wednesday night non-conference contest.
Riding a 6-0 start, Colorado traveled to Fort Collins on Saturday and spotted rival Colorado State a 17-point lead before falling 72-63 as a late rally fizzled. One of the key detriments for the Buffaloes was a 46-32 rebounding disadvantage after they entered the contest with an average margin of plus-9.5 on the glass. That further highlighted the absence of the 6-9, 250-pound Miller-Stewart who suffered the foot fracture two days prior in practice. “I don’t worry about this spiraling into the next game,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle told reporters earlier this week. “… This team has too much fight, toughness and character to allow that to happen.”
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network
ABOUT NEW MEXICO (3-5): Wednesday’s game will be the final road non-conference contest of the season for the Lobos, who are 0-4 so far away from Albuquerque. Sam Longwood, a 6-8 swingman, is pacing the squad in scoring (16.5 points per game) and rebounding (5.4) while shooting 83.0 percent (39-of-47) from the free-throw line. Guards Chris McNeal (15.6 points) and Anthony Mathis (10.6) also are averaging double figures for New Mexico, which ranks sixth nationally in forcing 20.4 turnovers a game but is being outrebounded by an average of four boards per contest.
ABOUT COLORADO (6-1): Freshman point guard McKinley Wright IV has been quite a find for Boyle and is averaging a team-best 16.1 points and 4.1 assists to go along with 4.9 rebounds and a 53.1 shooting percentage from the field. Senior swingman George King is averaging 15.0 points and a team-most 8.6 rebounds while guard Namon Wright, a transfer from Missouri, is contributing 11.6 points. In the paint, 6-10 sophomore Lucas Siewert (5.2 points, 4.2 rebounds) and 7-foot freshman Dallas Walton (3.0, 2.0) will be counted on to step in for Miller-Stewart (6.2, 4.7), who was shooting a team-best 66.7 percent from the field.
TIP-INS
1. Colorado holds a 7-6 edge in the series between the border foes, but the teams haven’t played since an 89-76 New Mexico win in Las Vegas in 2010.
2. Wright IV, the MVP of the Buffaloes’ Paradise Jam championship run in November, has scored in double figures in every game as a collegian and also leads the team with eight steals and six blocked shots.
3. Colorado is 3-0 at home this season and has won 34 of its last 39 in Boulder.PREDICTION: Colorado 80, New Mexico 71