Last week, New Mexico did what was expected and held serve at home against the NMSU Aggies, 76-62, in front of 17,000 (mostly) rabid Lobo fans. Now, they venture into a building in which they haven't won since 2004 and the Aggies have not lost in all season.
It remains to be seen how good of a team New Mexico truly is this season. They have put together tremendous efforts like their blowout of Mississippi but seem to struggle with consistency. They've lost to a few teams that they shouldn't have, but at the same time they haven't been outclassed by anyone either.
The general consensus of the "experts" who have seen both the Lobos and the Aggies play is that the Aggies are much more athletic than the Lobos but are probably just a little too young to be a consistent winner. The Lobos apparently have the edge when it comes to physical play, hustle, and more consistent defense.
While I'm not ready to concede that NMSU has better athletes across the board, I'll take physical defense and rebounding over pure athleticism every time. When your shots aren't falling you need a player like Roman Martinez who at 6-6 195 isn't the biggest, strongest, or most athletic but always seems to be there for the putback or the hustle play diving for loose balls. Dairese Gary and Daniel Faris can also be classified as "hustle players."
The Aggies have some great players. Jahmar Young is as pure of a shooter as I've seen in a while, and he and Gibson form a great backcourt tandem. But the Aggies lack something other than experience: Toughness. That's something the Lobos have in spades. Will it be enough in Las Cruces? Only time will tell.
MY PREDICTION
UNM 69
NMSU 66
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