LOGAN, Utah — The UNM Lobos lost on Wednesday night to the Utah State Aggies, 84-73.
The Journal’s Geoff Grammer was there to cover the game and talk with Lobos head coach Richard Pitino and players Josiah Allick and Morris Udeze after the game.
The video of the whole postgame interview with the Journal is embedded above, but here is a sampling of five key comments they made:
1. UNM coach Richard Pitino on the team’s early struggles and 19-point halftime deficit:
“We just were not ourselves. I think in the (22) games we played … before this, we had always been ourselves,” Pitino said. “There was never a half like that where it was like, ‘What are we doing?’
“So we lost ourselves a little bit in the first half — turnovers, you had one assist (eight) turnovers. Impossible to beat a team like this when you’re giving them live ball opportunities and we’re just not moving the ball. Second half was better. We had more assists. But at the end of the day, they made 27 free throws to our 11. I’m not saying it was a poorly officiated game, but it was just hard. We kept sending them to the foul line. They kept converting.”
2. UNM forward Josiah Allick on the team’s defense:
“I sound like a broken record now, especially after the Nevada game, but our defense just did not show up in the first half.”
3. Pitino on what’s ahead:
“We’ve got to learn from it and grow. We got a little time to practice, we have a little time to prepare for Nevada, and we got to be a better team by next Tuesday.”
4. UNM forward Morris Udeze on getting back in the Pit on Tuesday vs. Nevada:
“Like fans here (in Logan) gave a lot of energy, the Pit fans always give us some energy. We’re a very tough team to beat at home, and I feel like with the sell out crowd we’ll have, likely, against Nevada, it’ll be good for us. … It (could) be a big win for us, which I wouldn’t say erases this loss, but it’s huge.”
5. Pitino on where his team is sitting in the Mountain West standings with just eight games remaining:
“I try really hard not to look at all of that. I mean, the good part about our league is there’s quality wins everywhere. Although we lost, it’s not like losing here is going to kill us with our NET (rankings) or anything like that. …
“It’s a tough league. If you win any games, they’re going to be quality wins, which is good.”
GAME STORY: Lobos go down early, can’t catch Utah State on the road
EMPTYING THE NOTEBOOK: Lobos look helpless when they can’t win at the FT line
