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Lobo men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino looks on as Jordan Arroyo dribbles in a drill in April at the Rudy Davalos practice facility at UNM. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal)The Bobcats are coming to the Pit.
It isn’t exactly the start of regional home-and-home series with a high-profile team the New Mexico Lobos wanted, but for now, it’ll do.
The UNM men’s basketball team has completed its non-conference scheduling after recently signing a contract to host Big Sky member Montana State in the Pit on Nov. 20.
Technically, two games remain to be finalized as the re-scheduled dates have not yet been agreed upon between the Lobos and New Mexico State Aggies, but after the pandemic led to that series not being played last season for the first time since World War II, neither school is going to be able to justify finding a way to skip those games this coming season.
The Lobos got bigger on Sunday.
Sebastian Forsling, a 6-foot-11 prep signee from Gothenburg, Sweden, who has international experience playing for the Swedish junior national team, announced on social media on Sunday morning he would be joining the UNM Lobo men’s basketball team for the upcoming season.
“I am excited to announce that I am committing to the university of New Mexico!” he wrote on his Twitter page. “Many thanks to (past coaches) coach Michael Bree, coach Steve Lowry, coach Chuck Alston! Thanks to Coach Pitino and the whole coaching staff at New Mexico for making my dream come true! Go lobos!”
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UNM Lobo sophomore guard Kurt Wegscheider had the best game of his college career, albeit in a loss, to the Fresno State Bulldogs on Saturday in Fresno, Calif.(Courtesy Samuel Marshall Photography)
Here are some extra notes, quotes, stats, tweets, videos and whatever else I could empty out of the old notebook after Saturday’s 65-55 Lobos loss at Fresno State:
Your turn, Kurt Wegscheider
In a season of struggles, every glimpse of promise seems to be something worth delving into for the Lobos.
On Saturday, in a 65-55 loss to Fresno State the 11th league loss of the season for the Lobos (5-11, 1-11 Mountain West) sophomore guard Kurt Wegscheider had his starting job of the previous three games taken away.
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The Lobo basketball team during a game last week in Rice. The Lobos will now head back to Texas, where they’ve relocated this season to practice and play. (Courtesy photo)
Here are some notes, quotes, stats, videos, analysis, odds & ends and whatever else I managed to empty out of the old notebook after Wednesday night’s 89-52 Lobos loss to the Boise State Broncos in Boise, Idaho:
Get back on that bus
At the top of my game story Wednesday night, I used a small piece of a minute-long Paul Weir answer to a question about where his team goes from here figuratively and literally.
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UNM Lobo forward Rod Brown grabs a rebound early in Sunday’s game against the Rice Owls at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston. (Photo courtesy Maria Lysaker for UNM Athletics)
Here are some extra notes, quotes, tweets, stats and whatever else I could find in the old notebook that didn’t fit in print after Tuesday’s 104-65 Lobos win over NAIA school Our Lady of the Lake in Houston, Texas:
Bully ball
OK, so the opponents haven’t been the type of physical team that the Lobos will see soon in Mountain West play. Certainly not in the paint.
But the schedule is what it is and at this point UNM’s three newcomer forwards have been nothing short of dominant down low. Rod Brown (6-foot-7, 218-pounds), Bayron Matos (6-9, 215) and Valdir Manuel (6-10, 225) have done everything asked of them to help carry over the Lobo coaching staff’s primary point of emphasis from the unique offseason in which U