Lobo starter Mustapha Amzil more well-rounded this year after trimming the fat in offseason

Nobody was mistaking Mustapha Amzil for an offensive lineman last season.

But apparently, at 6-foot-9, 220 pounds, the Finnish forward needed to slim down a bit.

“My body fat went down and I got some more muscle,” Amzil told 770 KKOB in a postgame interview after Thursday’s 80-58 win over Grambling State.

“Definitely, I’ve been in the weight room a lot.”

The leaner, more muscular Amzil and the Lobos are preparing for a Sunday night nonconference tilt with the visiting Texas Southern Tigers.

As the now 215-pound Amzil has cut the fat, his game on the court has become more well-rounded.

“I’ve noticed it,” he said. “I move better and I jump a little higher. I’ve been getting rebounds.”

Indeed he has.

The Lobos’ starting 4-man, in his fifth collegiate season after spending three years at Dayton and being the Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year last season for UNM, is enjoying career highs in points (11.8 per game), rebounds (7.4), free throw attempts (2.8), steals (1.0), assists (1.8) and blocks (1.8 after never having averaged more than 0.4 in a season).

Amzil credits both offseason work in the weight room and a refreshing trip home to see family in both Finland and Morocco for his increased confidence.

“It was a lot harder last year at this time,” Amzil said. “Now, I feel more comfortable — more like myself on the court. Even if I play bad, I feel like I’m the best player on the court.”

NELLY NOTE: In the first 60 minutes of the season — the Nicholls State game and the first half of the Nov. 8 UCLA game in Henderson, Nevada — Nelly Junior Joseph scored 42 points points, hit 13-of-20 field goals (65.0%) and was 16-of-20 (80.0%) from the free throw line.

At halftime of the UCLA game, the Bruins changed how they were defending Junior Joseph and, essentially, made it hard for the Lobos to even get him the ball, but by doing so other things opened up that UNM exploited.

Since that halftime adjustment on Nov. 8, Junior Joseph has just 35 points on 17-of-28 shooting (60.7%) and is 1-11 (9.1%) at the free throw line in 140 minutes of game time (three and a half games).

“He’s got to demand the ball down there. I’m not really sure. We’ve got to find him, but he’s also got to demand it.” UNM head coach Richard Pitino said.

SWAC TIGERS, TAKE TWO: Sunday’s game is the Lobos’ second in a row against a team from the Southwest Athletic Conference, and second versus a team whose mascot is a Tiger.

Grambling State, who the Lobos beat Thursday 80-58, was voted the preseason No. 1 team in the league and Tigers guard Kintavious Dozer was selected the league’s preseason Offensive Player of the Year.

Texas Southern, also the Tigers, was the preseason No. 2 team in the SWAC and forward Kenny Hunter was selected as the preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

What these Tigers have on Grambling State is they’ve actually won in the Pit. Well, to be clear, no player on the current roster was alive when it happened, but UNM is 29-1 all-time vs. teams from the SWAC with the lone loss coming in the 1994 Lobo Classic with Texas Southern topping the Lobos 73-67.

In that game, Lobo David Gibson had 14 points and seven assists and Clayton Shields had 14 points and seven rebounds, but TSU freshman Randy Bolden hit five 3-pointers and was 6-for-6 at the free throw line for a game-high 21 points in the upset of Dave Bliss’ team.

MORE BRADEN: Third-year guard Braden Appelhans had six points off the bench Thursday vs. Grambling State. He played 14 minutes, a career high as a Lobo against a Division I opponent (he twice played 20 minutes in games vs. Division II teams).

He appears to be carving out a role in the rotation as a consistent outside shooter for a team that needs to stretch the defense.

“I think he’s been playing really well in practice,” Pitino said. “I’m happy to see him come in and knock down some shots. ... Just like his confidence right now. That comes with being in the program a couple years, staying the course.”