Greenwood, pulled down a timely offensive
rebound off a miss
by Chad Adams then followed it with a 3-pointer with 32 seconds to
play in
overtime to push the Lobos past Boise St. and give UNM to a 3-0
start in
Mountain West Conference play
“There was no way Hugh Greenwood should have
been
playing," said UNM head coach Steve Alford following the game. "I
can't say enough about Hugh Greenwood," said Alford.”
Greenwood, who scored five of his 15 points in
overtime,
said his illness nearly kept him out of the game.
"It wasn't looking good for a while,” said
Greenwood.
“I was really nauseous. It was just in my nature to give it a
(shot). I was
generally fatigued, not eating or sleeping for so long."
New Mexico, which came into the game ranked
19th in the
Associated Press poll and 21st in the Coaches poll, moves to 16-2
and 3-0 in
the Mountain West Conference – the first time since the inception
of the
league that UNM has started 3-0 in MWC play.
Greenwood’s overtime heroics were set up by
junior Tony Snell’s team-high 22 points, which kept scrappy New Mexico in the
game, which
featured 13 ties and 13 lead changes, but saw Boise St. holding a
slim lead for
much of the second half.
The Broncos managed several big runs to take
leads in the
game, but New Mexico managed to answer each run with a run of its
own. Boise
St. seemed to take a decisive lead when senior guard Derrick Marks
hit a trey
with 8:32 left in the game to take a 52-46 lead.
The Lobos countered with an 8-1 run to take a
54-53 lead.
Boise managed to counter with another 5-0 run to take a 58-54 lead
on an
Anthony Drmic lay up.
The two teams battled until Greenwood hit a lay
up with 55
seconds left in the game to tie the game at 63-63. Both teams
missed what would
have been game winning jumpers in the final 17 seconds to send the game into
overtime.
“"I really appreciate the effort of our guys
again," said Alford. "Getting road wins is difficult. This is the
fourth time we have come into somebody's home where they have been
undefeated
(and got a win). This might have been the best win maybe against
the best team
in their building."
Boise State (13-3, 1-1 MWC) battled back and
forth for the
first 10 minutes of the game before managing a 9-0 run to take a
32-23 lead
with 4:15 left in the first half. But UNM whittled the lead down
eventually
tying the game 37-37 on a Snell free throw with 15 seconds left in
the half.
The Broncos missed two shows in the final seconds of the opening
half.
Marks score a game high 27 points on 10 of 20
shooting while
Ryan Watkins added 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double
as Boise State
finished with five players in double figures. But the Broncos only
shot 8 of 20
on three pointers in regulation time, a solid 40% but fewer threes
made than
Boise’s average coming into the game.
But UNM was able to counter with four players
in double
figures themselves, led by Snell and Greenwood. Kendall Williams
added 11
points and six assists while Alex Kirk added 10 points and seven
rebounds
before fouling out in overtime.
The Lobos again made more free throws (24) than
its opponent
shot (21) making 24 of the freebees, though the Broncos
outrebounded New Mexico
38-33 and outscored UNM in the paint 24-18.