Arizona Basketball to Renew Rivalry with New Mexico Tonight

It has definitely been some time since these teams met on the hardwood, and after a small break Arizona Basketball will renew their rivalry with New Mexico tonight.

Tonight, Arizona Basketball will hit the hardwood once more just before the Holidays. In this non-conference game, they will perhaps renew a bit of a rivalry between two schools that haven’t played in quite some time.

Believe it or not, Arizona and New Mexico are two teams that once use to have a bit of history. It has been 17 years since the Wildcats and Lobos squared off, and perhaps for good reason based on how the last game between these two teams ended.

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On Jan. 16, 1999, while playing in Albuquerque, the Lobos trailed by a point with 4.6 seconds to go. The Lobos would in-bound the ball, dribbling down court to hit the 79-78 game winner, but the victory didn’t come without controversy. Later, replays would show the clock did not start immediately when the ball was in-bounded.

A bit peeved over the loss, you could imagine former Arizona coach Lute Olson’s apprehension in playing New Mexico any time soon.

Well, time heals all wounds, and it looks like a great opportunity to finally get this series underway again. Arizona announced their initial scheduling of this home-and-home series in May of 2015, starting in 2016 in Tucson, and the Wildcat will of course travel to Albuquerque next season.

As we were saying, these schools have quite the history, and certainly are familiar foes having faced each other a number of times. However, Arizona and New Mexico haven’t been regular opponents, since the two schools were in the Border Conference from 1931-51 and the Western Athletic Conference from 1962-78.

After a 17-year break, the Wildcats will take on the Lobos (7-4) tonight in McKale.

The Lobos enter this game without any signature wins yet, but definitely are a feisty squad having played a number of close games against some decent competition.

Senior forward Tim Williams, and junior guard Elijah Brown lead the Lobos in scoring and should provide a definite challenge to this young Wildcat squad, fresh off a victory against Texas A&M, but not after some late game drama.

Keys to an Arizona Victory:

No Holiday Hangover- I imagine it would be hard to stay focused as a college athlete. Finals are over, you may soon be going home to see family for the holidays, all you need to do is get through another basketball game. Tends to happen to a number of teams, and Arizona is certainly no exception either.

Just stay focused, get through this one, protect home court!

Defend the Perimeter-New Mexico isn’t the best three-point shooting team by any means, by they do shoot fairly well from beyond the arc. As a team, they are converting nearly 31 percent of their attempts. Additionally, they have three guys shooting over 40 percent.

As always defend the arc, don’t get sloppy on defense and let a team like New Mexico stay in this one because of the three-ball!

Take Care of the Basketball- Arizona did pretty well in this category in their game against Texas A&M. Once again, without their point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright, just protect the basketball. No need to get careless and give New Mexico any extra opportunities.

Take care of the ball, limit the mistakes = improved chances of winning.

Game Information

Location: Tucson, AZ- McKale Center (14,545)

Game Time: 7 pm MST/ 6 pm PST

Media: TV- Pac-12 Network/ Radio- IMG

All-Time Series Record: Arizona leads 83-42, New Mexico won 79-78 the last time these teams met on Jan. 16, 1999.

Spread: Arizona -11.5

Prediction: Arizona 74 New Mexico 61

Next: ASU Coach Bobby Hurley gets Hurled by Referee

We are excited to see this rivalry being renewed tonight and don’t expect too many hiccups, so long as Arizona takes care of business. Just go in there focused and ready to go, and come away victorious. Bear Down, Arizona and beat the Lobos!

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