Lobos know they're in for a fight with Wyoming's 'Dirty Dozen' riding into town

Sundance Wicks and his Dirty Dozen are coming to the Pit looking for a fight.

Not a literal one, of course. But the fiery second-year Wyoming Cowboys basketball coach would take some pride on Saturday if he sees his team become a bit of a pain in the ... Pit.

Wicks' Pokes (10-3 overall, 1-1 Mountain West) are playing a deeper roster than any team in the Mountain West, lead the nation in defensive assist rate (if you score on the Cowboys, it'll need to be after they foul you, or you score one-on-one, but it likely ain't going to be pretty basketball) and have bought into an all-out, relentless style of basketball that makes opponents earn everything they get.

"We're different than everybody in the league because we play 12 guys. We literally play 12 guys every night," Wicks said last month when he was a guest on episode 123 of the Journal's Talking Grammer podcast. "... We try to maximize our strengths, minimize our weaknesses, but also, if we're stealing your scouting report pages — if you've got to go from two pages to three pages, I know nobody wants to see three pages of guys on a scouting report. They want to keep it simple. But if you leave a guy off the scouting report for us, that guy's liable to hurt you."

UNM (10-3, 1-1 MW), meanwhile, is well aware what Wicks and Co. are all about. And, as anticipated, the Cowboys did, in fact, take up an extra page on the scouting report this week.

"It's impressive the way they compete for 40 minutes and with their depth. We understand what we're in for, and it's a 40-minute fight," Olen said Friday morning, a day ahead of his Lobos putting their 19-game home win streak on the line in the Pit.

As for how a team prepares for a deep team with 12 players who are getting regular minutes and bring different things to the table, Olen said it's the type of game that is won or lost in the days before the Pit fills up as much as it is on game night.

"We've got to have good focus on our preparation," Olen said. "I think something that's been a strength for us has been our preparation. Assistant coaches, our coaching staff is doing a great job in the preparation — our guys feel prepared every time."

Curses!

First it was the dreaded "Game Before Christmas" curse that Olen had to learn about.

Tuesday was the first time he learned that the Lobos have a now eight-game losing streak in Boise.

And on Friday, a pesky reporter told him of a new one.

UNM is 2-6 in the first game of the new year since 2018, with a few particularly painful setbacks:

• Jan. 3, 2018: A 28-point loss at Boise State (90-62) started UNM's current eight-game road losing streak to the Broncos.
• Jan. 1, 2020: UNM was 13-2 when it lost at San Jose State, 88-85, to a Spartans team that went 3-15 in Mountain West.
• Jan. 3, 2023: The 21st-ranked Lobos were college basketball's final remaining undefeated team at 14-0. UNM wing Emmanuel Kuac suffered a season-ending knee injury in pregame warmups, Jaelen House had six turnovers and fouled out and UNM's bench scored just two points in a 71-67 loss.
• Jan. 2, 2024: With a 12-1 record and an 11-game win streak, one of the top point guard matchups in recent memory went the way of Isaiah Stevens (18 points, eight assists, three steals) and the Rams over Donovan Dent (10 points, nine assists, two steals) and the Lobos.

UNM had lost five-consecutive "first" games of the calendar year until one of the most memorable wins in the Pit's history one year ago.

On Jan. 3, 2025, in the 1,000th game played in the Pit, Nelly Junior Joseph corralled a loose ball and hit a 15-foot jumper at the overtime buzzer for a dramatic 82-81 win over Nevada.

Series Notes

UNM leads the all-time series 82-72, including 42-16 in the Pit. The Lobos' current five game win streak against the Pokes is the team's longest active win streak among conference foes.

Here's a look at last year's two meetings:

• Feb. 12, 2025 in the Pit — UNM 71, Wyoming 67: It took a 20 point, 10 fouls drawn, seven assist, six rebound, three steal and one blocked shot performance from Donovan Dent and a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left from Lobo freshman Jovan Milicevic to break a 65-all tie to allow the Lobos to escape the upset bid.
• Jan. 7, 2025 in Laramie — UNM 61, Wyoming 53: You thought Tuesday's offense in Boise was bad? Maybe Lobo fans blocked from their memory the 18-point first half in Laramie last year. UNM did come back to win, 61-53, thanks to a 43-21 second half, but the first half was, well, it was bad.

On the call

The CBS Sports Network broadcast will feature Dave Ryan on the play-by-play duties and former North Carolina Tar Heels great John Henson who was a teammate with former UNM Lobo Tony Snell with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks for three seasons in 2017-2019.

Color me curious

Saturday's jersey matchup of brown for the visiting Wyoming Cowboys and turquoise for the home Lobos will be ... unique.

The Lobos will be wearing turquoise in honor of Indigenous Heritage Night, which will include a special halftime performance.

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.