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Jul. 30—The beefed-up schedule Lobo basketball fans — and critics — have long asked for is finally out.
And it’s worthy of at least a little golf clap.
The University of New Mexico officially unveiled its 11-game nonconference slate on Tuesday, a slate that features as many as four dates with Power Five programs, exciting road games and neutral-site trips and a challenging set of visitors to The Pit.
“It’s not easy building a schedule in college basketball,” UNM coach Richard Pitino said during a practice earlier this summer. “I know fans, they want the big names and the teams everyone knows, but it’s not that simple.”
The Lobos will play 31 regular season games next season; 32 if one were to include an Oct. 28 exhibition game against UTEP in The Pit. It’s the first time since 2017 that UNM will face a Division I opponent in an exhibition. The Lobos lost to BYU back in 2017.
The highlights start in the first week of the season when the Lobos play their second game with a Nov. 8 date against UCLA in Las Vegas, Nev. A venue and television package have not been finalized, but a chance to take on a blue-blood program with a national brand is set in stone.
The Bruins are entering their first year in the expanded Big Ten and are already ranked in the Top 25 by USA Today and ESPN. It will be just the fifth meeting between the programs, and the first since 1997. They’ve split the previous four contests.
UNM’s season opener will be at home Nov. 4 against Nicholls. Eight days later the Lobos will host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
From there it’s a trip to the heart of Manhattan and a much-anticipated Nov. 17 showdown against St. John’s and legendary coach Rick Pitino at Madison Square Garden. It amounts to Round 2 of the father/son war since Richard took over at UNM four years ago.
The pair met two years ago when Rick was still coaching at Iona. He took over at St. John’s last season, but not before one of his top players at Iona, center Nelly Junior Joseph, transferred to New Mexico….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lobos-unveil-beefier-2024-25-034300213.html
Author : The Santa Fe New Mexican
Publish date : 2024-07-31 03:43:00
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