New Mexico is young and undersized… and 5-0. The Lobos recently swept the World Vision Basketball Tournament in The Pit, winning over Nicholls State, Louisiana Tech and Miami (Oh) by an average of 26 points.
The MVP of the series goes to Darington Hobson, who averaged 18-7-2, including a brilliant 30-10 performance against Louisiana Tech on Saturday night. Hobson barely edges out Jam Fenton, who is the epitome of undersized success for the Lobos.
Fenton, a 5-9 guard averaged 8-3-3-3 with 64% field-goal shooting off the bench. Fenton’s energy and pesky defense was the perfect compliment to Gary’s hard-nosed play, and Garth’s smoothness.
Nationwide, there are five teams that are 5-0: Miami Fl., Texas Tech (who comes to The Pit Dec. 29), #4 Villanova, Northern Colorado and New Mexico. Both of New Mexico’s future ranked opponents (Cal and Dayton) were dropped from the top 25 this week, while New Mexico received one vote in the AP poll.
Some statistical notes from the World Vision tournament: Jamal Fenton had 8 steals in 58 minutes, while the Lobos’ opponents had 9 steals in 600 minutes. Seven different Lobos (Martinez, Hobson, McDonald, Adams, Garth, Gary, Hardeman) reached double figures in at least one of the games, and in two of the games every Lobo scored.
Lobos' minute distribution by class in the tournament.
Youth has been one of the most impressive statistics from this New Mexico team so far. With the early success this team is having, fans are optimistic, as Alford will lose only Martinez next year (not including any transfers).
After losing three key seniors last year (Faris, Danridge, Toppert) the Lobos will be happy to see familiar faces in The Pit for years to come.
Here are some of the tournament stats:
New Mexico avgs. Opponent avgs.
fg%: 83-180 46% fg%: 58-162 35%
3%: 24-68 35% 3%: 21-73 28%
FT%: 59-78 75% FT%: 34-43 79%
OReb: 12.6 OReb: 7
Reb: 38.6 Reb: 27
A:T: 15:8 A:T: 10.6:13
STL: 7.3 STL: 3.6
Pts: 83 Pts: 57
Individual Stats:
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