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Mar. 22—CLEVELAND — If it were easy, they would have done it by now.
The long-awaited first Sweet 16 for the University of New Mexico is a mere 40 minutes away.
And all that sits between the No. 10 seed Lobos and that elusive first trip to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament is No. 2 Michigan State — the highest ranked team they've faced all season, one they are certain is the most physical team they've faced all season and one that has a Hall of Fame head coach whose name is synonymous with winning in March.
"I understand what we're about to walk into because I've seen it," said UNM coach Richard Pitino, who spent eight seasons coaching Big Ten's Minnesota, where he went 3-9 vs. coach Tom Izzo's Spartans, including a 1999 loss in the Round of 32.
"I've seen it in Breslin Center (Michigan State's home arena). I've seen it in the Big Ten Tournament. I've seen it in the NCAA Tournament — one year we played them. So I know the task at hand. Our players may not know it, but they'll feel it, certainly, to start the game," Pitino said.
The Lobos (27-7) sat courtside in Rocket Arena on Friday night after their 75-66 win against another physical team in No. 7 Marquette and saw with their own eyes, at least for a half before heading back to the team hotel, just how physical the Spartans (28-6) can be.
Michigan state defeated No. 15 Bryant 87-62 and advanced to the second round, where they will play UNM on Sunday in Rocket Arena.
"We need to match physicality of Michigan State," UNM junior wing Filip Borovicanin said. "I think will be the key."
Added senior guard C.J. Noland when answering a question about whether UNM played any physical teams this season in the Mountain West: "I think they're similar to like a USC or UCLA that we played, just those Big Ten teams that are very physical. I wouldn't say that we've played one that matched that type of physicality, though, yet this year."
Pitino says Michigan State is also a guard-heavy team that gets out and runs.
"I think for the casual observer, you would think they're a slow, plodding physical team," Pitino said. "There's kind of that traditional belief of how the Big Ten is played. They do not play like that.
"Now, they'll grind you out if they need to, but they're trying to score early, and their guards push, and their wings run, and their bigs rim-run," he said. "Yeah, he gets them to fly up the court. It's been that way for a long time."
Quarterback Dent
Izzo referenced watching film on New Mexico and said one thing stands out: They're really good.
"It doesn't matter who you watch them against, they've been a damn good team, and they've won consistently, and they've won the same way, and they've got a quarterback," Izzo said of UNM star point guard Donovan Dent.
"If you look at the NFL, you've got a quarterback, you've got a chance. They've got a quarterback, and he's very good. He not only, like I said, can score it, but he makes other people better. Some of those passes he throws are magnificent."
Izzo said any team as strong "up the middle" as UNM is, with a star point guard and star center, referencing Nelly Junior Joseph, has a great foundation.
"They've got the two things you want right down the middle of your team," Izzo said. "You've got a quarterback, the point guard, and a center. That's a good place to start when you've got those two things in your program."
First Sweet 16
UNM does not count the 1974 NCAA Tournament when the Lobos went 2-1 and were among the final 16 teams in the 25-team bracket as having made a "Sweet 16" — a term not coined until after the expansion of the tournament to 64 teams in 1985.
In 1974, a first round win over Idaho State set UNM up to play a San Francisco team that hadn't yet played a tournament game. And when UNM lost, they stuck around Tucson for two more days to play a consolation game, which they won.
UNM itself put out game notes this week noting the "Lobos are looking for their first ever trip to the Sweet 16 in the modern era of the NCAA Tournament (0-6 in second round)."
The 0-6 record in the second round is the most losses in the round of 32 without a Sweet 16 berth since that tournament expanded in 1985.
"Coach talks about it a lot. The program has never been there," Noland said.
—
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The long-awaited first Sweet 16 for the University of New Mexico is a mere 40 minutes away.
And all that sits between the No. 10 seed Lobos and that elusive first trip to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament is No. 2 Michigan State — the highest ranked team they've faced all season, one they are certain is the most physical team they've faced all season and one that has a Hall of Fame head coach whose name is synonymous with winning in March.
"I understand what we're about to walk into because I've seen it," said UNM coach Richard Pitino, who spent eight seasons coaching Big Ten's Minnesota, where he went 3-9 vs. coach Tom Izzo's Spartans, including a 1999 loss in the Round of 32.
"I've seen it in Breslin Center (Michigan State's home arena). I've seen it in the Big Ten Tournament. I've seen it in the NCAA Tournament — one year we played them. So I know the task at hand. Our players may not know it, but they'll feel it, certainly, to start the game," Pitino said.
The Lobos (27-7) sat courtside in Rocket Arena on Friday night after their 75-66 win against another physical team in No. 7 Marquette and saw with their own eyes, at least for a half before heading back to the team hotel, just how physical the Spartans (28-6) can be.
Michigan state defeated No. 15 Bryant 87-62 and advanced to the second round, where they will play UNM on Sunday in Rocket Arena.
"We need to match physicality of Michigan State," UNM junior wing Filip Borovicanin said. "I think will be the key."
Added senior guard C.J. Noland when answering a question about whether UNM played any physical teams this season in the Mountain West: "I think they're similar to like a USC or UCLA that we played, just those Big Ten teams that are very physical. I wouldn't say that we've played one that matched that type of physicality, though, yet this year."
Pitino says Michigan State is also a guard-heavy team that gets out and runs.
"I think for the casual observer, you would think they're a slow, plodding physical team," Pitino said. "There's kind of that traditional belief of how the Big Ten is played. They do not play like that.
"Now, they'll grind you out if they need to, but they're trying to score early, and their guards push, and their wings run, and their bigs rim-run," he said. "Yeah, he gets them to fly up the court. It's been that way for a long time."
Quarterback Dent
Izzo referenced watching film on New Mexico and said one thing stands out: They're really good.
"It doesn't matter who you watch them against, they've been a damn good team, and they've won consistently, and they've won the same way, and they've got a quarterback," Izzo said of UNM star point guard Donovan Dent.
"If you look at the NFL, you've got a quarterback, you've got a chance. They've got a quarterback, and he's very good. He not only, like I said, can score it, but he makes other people better. Some of those passes he throws are magnificent."
Izzo said any team as strong "up the middle" as UNM is, with a star point guard and star center, referencing Nelly Junior Joseph, has a great foundation.
"They've got the two things you want right down the middle of your team," Izzo said. "You've got a quarterback, the point guard, and a center. That's a good place to start when you've got those two things in your program."
First Sweet 16
UNM does not count the 1974 NCAA Tournament when the Lobos went 2-1 and were among the final 16 teams in the 25-team bracket as having made a "Sweet 16" — a term not coined until after the expansion of the tournament to 64 teams in 1985.
In 1974, a first round win over Idaho State set UNM up to play a San Francisco team that hadn't yet played a tournament game. And when UNM lost, they stuck around Tucson for two more days to play a consolation game, which they won.
UNM itself put out game notes this week noting the "Lobos are looking for their first ever trip to the Sweet 16 in the modern era of the NCAA Tournament (0-6 in second round)."
The 0-6 record in the second round is the most losses in the round of 32 without a Sweet 16 berth since that tournament expanded in 1985.
"Coach talks about it a lot. The program has never been there," Noland said.
—
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