UNM downplays 'big game' against Utah State; for Lobos, every game is key

The latest Game of the Year in the Mountain West is Saturday night in Logan, Utah.

For only the second time in the 26-season history of the Mountain West conference, two teams with 9-1 or better records are playing each other — the 9-1 New Mexico Lobos vs. the 9-1 Utah State Aggies in a nationally televised game (FS1), in a sold-out arena and in front of one of, if not THE best student sections in college basketball, The Hurd.

And to the winner goes sole possession of first place in the league standings.

So, surely, Richard Pitino can see it in his player’s attitudes at practice: They’re fired up, right?

“Not really,” Pitino deadpanned when a local television reporter asked him about it on Friday morning.

And he wasn’t kidding.

It’s not that the Lobos aren’t aware of what’s on the line. But for every game a team gets “up” for, there is an acceptance, at least somewhere in their minds, that other games don’t have the same importance.

Pitino knows emotional swings affect preparation and can have as much downside as upside.

“We’re all such prisoners of the moment, you know? Big game! Big game! Well, OK, but what’s a bigger game? If we lost to Air Force or we lost to Utah State?” Pitino asked rhetorically. “I mean, they’re, they’re both really, really big in different types of ways, and they can both beat us, and we can beat both of them.

“So, I just try not to get into all that. It’s a long, long season. Ten games to go, conference tournament, whatever from there. So, I hope they’re excited about it. I think there’s teams that come into our building and seem really excited and ready for the moment, and I hope our guys are the same way.”

Last season, the Lobos had a home loss to an Air Force team that finished 2-16 in conference, likely costing the team an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament (UNM got in any way after winning the Mountain West Tournament).

This season, an 89-83 overtime loss to New Mexico State at home will sully up their postseason résumé. But it was after that Dec. 7 loss when something flipped for the team, players said.

The Lobos are 10-1 since the NMSU loss, though that one blemish was a 71-70 defeat at San Jose State, currently 3-7 in conference. Still, players claim they were mentally in the right space ahead of the game against the Spartans and that they have genuinely bought into one simple message their coach has preached since arriving in Albuquerque four seasons ago.

“It’s always a next-game mentality with coach,” Lobo freshman Jovan Milicevic said. “He’s always about, no matter who we play — the lowest in the conference or the best team in the conference — we’re all about consistency. So we’ve been doing a good job about that.”

Utah State’s first-year coach Jerrod Calhoun was a little more willing to hype Saturday night.

“That’s why you get into this thing, right? It’s to hang banners, have memories,” Calhoun said Friday. “Certainly you don’t want other people to control your destiny. We always talk on our program about controlling your own chapter, right? Like controlling your own story. So I think the guys are well aware of that.”

DEFENDING DENT: Utah State’s 2-3 matchup zone has been formidable most of the season. The Lobos know it creates challenges they haven’t seen.

Asked Friday how they will go about defending midseason Mountain West Player of the Year favorite Donovan Dent, who is the only player in the nation averaging 19 or more points and 6.5 or more assists, Aggies’ senior guard Drake Allen said they aren’t concerned about just one player.

“With our defense, we don’t have to worry too much about individuals, which is nice,” Allen said. “We play defense as a team, and it’ll be a team effort to guard all the guys. We’re not worried about one or the other. I think that they got two guys that kind of lead their way, and so we got to keep those guys down.”

THE LAST TIME: Saturday night marks just the second time in the 26 season of the Mountain West in which two teams with 9-1 or better records will face off in league play.

The previous time was on Feb. 26, 2011, when 12-1 BYU and star guard Jimmer Fredette traveled to Viejas Arena to play the 12-1 San Diego State Aztecs and star forward Kawhi Leonard.

The result: BYU 80, SDSU 67. Fredette led all scorers with 25 points, nine assists and two steals. Leonard had a double-double with 17 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The Cougars and Aztecs would finish that season with matching 14-2 Mountain West records. Both of SDSU’s losses were to BYU while BYU’s two league losses were to the Lobos, who finished fifth (8-8) in the league standings. SDSU would exact some revenge for the two regular-season losses to BYU, beating the Cougars in the MW Tournament championship game.