UNM picked fifth in MWC preseason poll
Oct. 20—The votes are in, and the results say Lobo fans can expect an average team capable of making a little noise in the Mountain West Conference men's basketball race.
The University of New Mexico was picked to finish fifth in the 11-team preseason conference poll, released Wednesday by the league. Lobos guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. was voted all-MWC, becoming the first UNM player named to the preseason list in six years.
Voting was done by the league's media, which picked San Diego State as an overwhelming favorite. The Aztecs received 16 of the 20 first-place votes to outpace a field that features four teams that went to last season's NCAA Tournament.
That includes second-place Wyoming, which received the other four first-place votes. The Cowboys have two players on the all-conference team; senior guard Hunter Maldonado and preseason conference player of the year Graham Ike, a junior low-post power forward.
Isaiah Stevens of Colorado State and Matt Bradley of San Diego State round out the all-MWC team.
Boise State was picked third, followed by Colorado State and UNM. Those top four teams all made the NCAA Tournament last year.
UNLV was picked sixth, followed by Fresno State and Utah State. Nevada, led by former Lobos coach Steve Alford, was a distant ninth. San Jose State and Air Force round out the preseason poll.
UNM opens the doors to The Pit at 7 p.m. Friday for its annual Cherry & Silver Scrimmage. Admission and parking are free.
The team's preseason exhibition will take place Oct. 29 in The Pit against Colorado State-Pueblo, with the season opener scheduled for Nov. 7 at home against Southern Utah.
Getting picked fifth is about what Lobos coach Richard Pitino was expecting. All five starters return from last season although the lineup is expected to change with the addition of power forwards Morris Udeze and Josiah Allick, and freshman point guard Donovan Dent.
"It's good to return five starters when you make the NCAA Tournament, not when you finish ninth in the league," Pitino said. "We have to improve. Those starters, the guys who played a lot last year have to improve and then guys we brought in, obviously, kind of supplement that."
Mashburn led UNM in scoring with 18.5 points per game last season. He brushed off his all-MWC vote, saying the team's fortunes rely on the offseason focus of defense and being more physical.
"That's been our main focus through training camp and through the summer and through our practices now," he said. "Our physicality has gotten a lot better and picked up."
The Lobos have missed the postseason each of the past eight seasons and haven't won at least 20 games since the 2013-14 campaign when UNM finished 27-7, won the MWC tournament title and lost to Stanford in its opener of the Big Dance.
They've endured two straight losing seasons and haven't had a winning record in conference play since former coach Paul Weir's first year in 2017-18.
The task of climbing back into the role of MWC contender means knocking off the teams at the top, Pitino said. That's not easy considering the strength of the conference.
"The more depth and the quality that we have to where all these games mean more when we play are huge," he said. "There's some really good programs, there's some really good stability at the top with San Diego State, with Colorado State, with Boise State and then obviously Wyoming's been kind of hot on the scene. We're trying to get up to there so never an easy out. We're always striving to get to the NCAA Tournament."
