Lobo hoops notebook: Amzil shines for Finland in defeat, Thanksgiving matchups set

He led his home country in scoring for the third-consecutive game, but another big outing for new Lobo forward Mustapha Amzil wasn’t enough on Wednesday to avoid a heartbreaking loss for Finland in the final seconds at the World University Games in Chengdu, China.

An Amzil offensive rebound with 9 seconds remaining and bucket with 7 seconds remaining pulled Finland within a point. But Czech Republic’s Patrick Samoura scored the final of his game-high 19 points on a free throw with 5 seconds remaining, and Finland couldn’t hit a last-second shot in a 68-66 loss.

Amzil’s team-best 16 points came on 7-of-17 shooting (6-of-10 on 2s, 1-of-7 on 3s) and he also led the team in rebounding (7) for the third consecutive game.

Finland, while eliminated from medal contention, still plays two more times in the World University Games.

Friday, Finland plays Lithuania and will then play one final game on Sunday (opponent not yet determined). Amzil will then head home and later in the month back to Albuquerque for the coming school year and season.

Lithuania was a 78-75 loser to Argentina earlier in the day.

Here are the stat lines for each of Amzil’s three games this past week in the World University Games:

• Wednesday vs. Czech Republic: 16 points, 7 rebounds (each led team)

Sunday

• vs. South Korea: 18 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists (each led team or tied for team lead)

Saturday

• vs. Azerbaijan: 18 points, 12 rebounds (each led team)

Amzil transferred to UNM from the University Dayton in April after three seasons with the Flyers. He started 33 of the 88 games he played for Dayton.

Amzil is one of four Division I transfers joining the Lobos this offseason, joining center Nelly Junior Joseph from Iona, wing Jemarl Baker Jr., from Fresno State, and forward Isaac Mushilla from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

THANKSGIVING GAMES: The Lobos’ three opponents for the Thanksgiving Week Ball Dawgs Classic in Henderson, Nevada, have been set.

UNM will open the six-team even on Tuesday (Nov. 21) against Toledo at 8:15 p.m. local time (9:15 p.m. MT) in the Dollar Loan Center.

UNM and Toledo have not played before. The defending MAC champion Rockets went 27-8 this past season and finished with a NET ranking of 82 and 87 in KenPom.com.

UNM finished the 2022-23 season 22-12 and ranked 64 in NET and 66 in KenPom.

Game two of the three-game event will be Nov. 22 at 7:45 p.m. MT and pits the Lobos against the Rice. UNM is 6-2 all-time against the Owls. Rice went 19-16 last season, finished tied for sixth in C-USA and was ranked 188 in NET and 199 in KenPom.

After having Thanksgiving off, the Lobos play Pepperdine on Friday, Nov. 24, at 4:45 p.m. MT.

Pepperdine, coached by Lorenzo Romar, went 9-22 last season and finished last in the WCC with a 208 ranking in the NET and 188 in KenPom.

The Waves have added a lot of new faces to the roster this past offseason, including Division I transfers and among the incoming freshmen is 6-foot-5 guard Nils Cooper, the son of Lobo great and former NBA champion Michael Cooper. The younger Cooper was also recruited by the Lobos.

The event has two teams the Lobos won’t face: The Indiana State Sycamores and UC Irvine Anteaters.

The trip will be one of four to Sin City for the Lobos this coming season, along with facing Santa Clara in December in the Jack Jones Hoopfest, also in Henderson; playing at UNLV in the Mountain West’s regular season; and then the Mountain West Tournament in the Thomas & Mack Center in March.

UNM’s nonconference schedule has not yet been finalized, head coach Richard Pitino has said.

FAMILIAR FACE: Former UNM assistant coach Terrence Rencher has been promoted to associate head coach for the Big 12’s Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Rencher was an assistant under former Lobos coach Craig Neal from 2015-17 and coached at San Diego and Creighton after that before joining the Pokes and head coach Mike Boynton in 2021.

“He has tremendous respect within our program and is deftly driven to help us succeed,” Boynton said of Rencher. “He has shown great leadership over this past summer and, I am convinced, will be a head coach in the near future.”