Lobos veteran guards will be called on to combat hostile rivalry environment, dynamic Aggie shooter

When Uriah Tenette, one of UNM’s two quickest guards, walked down the ramp on Tuesday night in street clothes, it was apparent the Lobos might have a bit of a challenge defensively against UC Riverside’s athletic guards.

And when UNM decided not to play starting starting point guard Deyton Albury, the other of the Lobos fast point guards, it seemed to open the door for what Lobo fans saw play out in front of their eyes for the first 23 minutes of game time.

Highlanders 6-foot-5 guard Andrew Henderson seemed to be unstoppable, scoring 27 points, including hitting his seventh 3-pointer with 16:55 showing on the clock and the Lobos nursing a one-point lead (41-40).

The good news for the Lobos is Henderson isn’t playing Saturday night in Las Cruces when UNM plays New Mexico State for the 230th meeting of the Rio Grande Rivalry. The bad news is Aggies’ 6-4 shooting guard Jemel Jones — who transferred to NM State after an All-Big West season at Cal State Bakersfield that included scoring 29 points (in a loss) against Eric Olen’s UC San Diego Tritons — will be in Las Cruces and is likely the scoring threat that gives the home team their best chance at making it two in a row against the Lobos.

“It’s probably no secret that Jemel’s going to be one of those guys, pretty much on a gamely basis,” NMSU coach Jason Hooten said this week when asked about his team’s scoring potential this season. “... The thing about Jemel is he wants to win and he’s willing to do whatever that takes ... I think he’s a competitor. When the lights come on, he’s a different guy.”

For full context, while Jones did get loose for 29 points in a game against UC San Diego last season, he faced the Tritons twice. Both were losses and the other game included a seven-point, five turnover stat sheet.

There are two more pieces of good news for the Lobos as it pertains to the problem that is Jemel Jones.

First, it’s more likely than not that both Albury and Tenette play on Saturday night (the Lobos didn’t have another media session after Tuesday’s game when Olen didn’t know if they’d play or have much to say about the Aggies because he hadn’t started scouting them yet.)

Second, while Henderson did in fact score 27 points on the Lobos on Tuesday, it largely stopped when Luke Haupt and Chris Howell started getting more of the defensive assignment — two players also available on Saturday who may have finally shown Lobo fans why Olen and the Lobo coaching staff have raved about the two and their value to the team despite neither exactly filling up the stat sheet prior.

“I thought we eventually found the right solution there (defending Henderson, who didn’t score in the final 16:55 of Tuesday’s game) ... we changed some coverages to keep certain guys on him. We tried to keep Luke and Chris on him more,” Olen said. “That was a big difference in the game, or at least it felt like our defense certainly did a much better job when we were able to keep those guys on him, and we switched less.”

But it wasn’t just Haupt and Howell’s defense that Olen raves about, which is why he has noted it is a rare moment you will see any lineup combination this season without at least one of the two veteran guards on the floor.

“I think (Haupt) and Chris Howell both are just really versatile players,” Olen said. “And it’s hard to sort of articulate their value, because they just have such a great understanding of how to play. ... They don’t even need to be told. They have just such a great understanding of what the game requires of them; what not just our team needs from them (overall), but lineup to lineup, understanding as we change personnel (within a game) their teammates’ strengths and weaknesses. They do a really good job of sort of filling in whatever gaps are there relative to the groups.”

Series notes, Part 1

OK, so there’s a lot to unpack here.

First, both schools agree that this will be the 230th time these two teams have played.

But they don’t agree on the overall series record.

Ironically, UNM says the all-time record is Lobos 125, Aggies 104. NMSU, meanwhile, says the record is Lobos 126, Aggies 103.

As it turns out, the difference seems to be in each schools’ accounting of that famous Feb. 18, 1941, game in Albuquerque.

UNM’s media guide for years has indicated the Aggies won, 44-29.

MNSU’s media guide for years has indicated the Lobos won, 44-29.

The Journal this week checked its own archives.

The verdict? Let’s let former Journal sports editor Paul Weeks tell the story, as published on page eight of the Feb. 19, 1941, Journal:

“The New Mexico Aggies, who found Dr. Benjamin Sacks’ Lobos in their hair all the way, tore loose in the last five minutes of the game here Tuesday night to run up a 44-29 victory over New Mexico University at Carlisle gymnasium.”

Series notes, Part 2

In more recent times...

Last season: The Aggies beat UNM, 89-83, in overtime.

Last 10 games: Lobos 5, Aggies 5

Last 25 games: Lobos 16, Aggies 9

Last 5 in the Pit: Aggies 3, Lobos 2

Last 5 in the Pan American center: Lobos 3, Aggies 2

Watch party and broadcast info

For Lobo fans unable to make Saturday’s basketball game in Las Cruces, UNM announced on Thursday a watch party at Sandia Casino’s sports bar.

As for other pregame and game coverage, the game can be heard on the radio in Albuquerque on 770 AM/96.3 FM or in Las Cruces on 99.5 FM. It will be streamed on ESPN+ via the Aggie Vision broadcast.

As for pregame, the Journal will stream its usual live pregame show on the Journal’s YouTube page and Geoff Grammer’s X account in a combined show with the Journal’s usual postgame football show. The show is expected to start at 5 p.m. with Grammer in the Pan Am Center in Las Cruces and Journal football writer Sean Reider joining in from the press box at University Stadium in Albuquerque after the UNM/Colorado State football game.

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