“When it comes to assists, it’s a credit to the guys finishing the play...They had some good catches and some good finishes, and guys were just hitting shots…”
UNM men’s basketball played a little takeaway and keep away in it’s dominating 94 to 65 victory over Northern Arizona on Saturday in the Pit in front of an announced crowd of 11,681.
The Lobos forced 16 turnovers while committing just two of their own, and senior leader Chris Howell made the most of the extra possessions. Howell turned in a career night with nine assists, five points, four rebounds and two steals while recording zero turnovers.
“When it comes to assists, it’s a credit to the guys finishing the play,” a humble Howell said after the game. “Like if you look at it, I might have had three or four just off of inbounds plays just finding that weakside, backside guy. A couple of them were just tough passes I didn’t even think they were going to get through. They had some good catches and some good finishes, and guys were just hitting shots…”
Howell built off a similar performance he had against Utah Tech in the season opener where he put up five points, seven rebounds, four assists and five steals.
Since putting on a Lobo uniform, Howell has embraced a selfless role, finding ways to impact the game beyond scoring. Saturday night showcased his value as a floor general, serving as an extension of the coaching staff and doing whatever it takes to help UNM win.
“He’s capable of scoring more but understands that that’s not as much his role,” head coach Eric Olen said. “He had a bunch of those assists on the baseline out of bounds plays. He’s calling a decent percentage of those plays. We run one thing and then he’s already beating us to the call on the next thing in terms of the counters. He got us a few layups out of those things to get us some easy baskets.”
The Lobos finished with 20 assists as a team on 34 made field goals.
Howell also displayed his vocal leadership in helping UNM point guard Uriah Tenette stay level headed after Tenette picked up three fouls in the first half. Tenette went on to have a monster second half and finished with 18 points while going 7 of 8 from the free throw line.
“…I’m sitting on the bench and Chris is talking to me, ‘stay engaged the whole time,’” Tenette said. “Having a teammate like that really lifts me up.”
UNM’s dominating performance was never in question. After UNM was up 14 to 12 early in the first half, the Lobos used a dominating 11-0 run to stretch the lead to double digits and never looked back. UNM was able to run in transition and score 23 points off of NAU’s 16 giveaways.
UNM’s three-headed backcourt once again had all three guards in double figures. Jake Hall led the way with 23 points, relying more on his ability to draw fouls than his 3-point shooting. He went a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line while shooting 50% (2-for-4) from deep.
“He’s a tough cover for everyone,” Olen said. “You have to take his space or you risk letting him get shots off…He’s strong on the ball and he changes pace, so he’s able to get guys moving forward and backward in those situations when they’re off balance. He can use that against them to draw fouls.”
Hudson Mayes was the third double-figure scorer who finished with 16 points and a team high seven rebounds. Mayes also added four assists with no turnovers.
“I really like the four assists and no turnovers from him,” Olen said. “Because he brings so much rim pressure, you have to bring extra bodies to him. If his decision making stays and continues to improve in terms of getting other guys shots, I think that can be really impactful for us…”
In addition to forcing turnovers, UNM’s defense locked down NAU. The Lumberjacks shot 41% (19 of 46) from the field and 21% from the 3-point line (6 of 29).
NAU was led by sophomore guard Chris Komin, who finished with 21 points on 7 of 14 shooting.
Olen still feels like there is room for growth on the defensive side of the ball.
“We have really high expectations for what they’re capable of and we’re giving them a lot right now,” Olen said. “We’re changing defenses a lot, we’re doing a lot of different things in coverage. We’re doing a pretty good job but we’re having too many mistakes in our execution and we’re making too many of the same mistakes repeatedly. Those are things though that I do not expect to be continual problems for us.”
The Lobos finish their season opening three game homestand on Tuesday Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. against Little Rock in the Pit.
UNM men’s basketball used a dominant defensive performance to cruise past Northern Arizona 94-65 on Saturday in the Pit. The Lobos forced 16 turnovers while committing just two of their own, turning those takeaways into 23 points. Chris Howell led the way with a career-high nine assists and no turnovers, while Jake Hall scored 23 points, Uriah Tenette added 18 and Hudson Mayes finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.