New Mexico Basketball: 2019-20 keys to beat San Jose State in MWC Tournament
By John Vaccaro
Attack the Basket
The New Mexico offense has been very inconsistent since the start of Mountain West play. A big reason why is because their shot selection is poor. They force too many 3s instead of getting to the rim, which is where they have really found success this season. Against San Jose State, they need to shake that tendency and play inside as frequently as possible.
The San Jose State defense is absolutely awful. There really just isn’t another way to describe it. They are in the bottom-40 in both 2-point and 3-point percentage allowed. They don’t create turnovers. They allow a ton of free throws. They allow the 11th most points in the country. These things all give teams plenty of ways to approach a game, but for the Lobos, there is one obvious approach they should be taking.
The Lobos need to attack the basket early and often. They are right around the national average in 3 point percentage but have the 23rd-best percentage from inside the arc. They also get to the free throw line with a high frequency.
The Lobos haven’t been as good inside since they lost Carlton Bragg, but San Jose State should be the cure for their troubles. The Spartans don’t have a strong inside presence who should deter Corey Manigault, JaQuan Lyle, or any other Lobo from taking it to the rim. They also don’t put good enough pressure on the ball to prevent entry passes or to keep the Lobo guards from getting to the rim. Simply enough, the Lobos should get whatever they want in the paint on Wednesday.
We already saw this on display the last time these two teams met. The Lobos only attempted 16 3s and completed 67.6% of their 2-point attempts. They also tacked on 28 free throw attempts for good measure.
The last game between these two teams gave the Lobos the template to beat San Jose State. Now Paul Weir just needs to make sure he follows it.