Busting Brackets
Fansided

New Mexico Basketball: 2019-20 season overview of the Lobos

By John Vaccaro

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO - FEBRUARY 29: Corey Manigault #1 of the New Mexico Lobos goes up for a dunk against Justin Bean #34 of the Utah State Aggies during their game at Dreamstyle Arena - The Pit on February 29, 2020 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Lobos defeated the Aggies 66-64. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO - FEBRUARY 29: Corey Manigault #1 of the New Mexico Lobos goes up for a dunk against Justin Bean #34 of the Utah State Aggies during their game at Dreamstyle Arena - The Pit on February 29, 2020 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Lobos defeated the Aggies 66-64. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /
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New Mexico Basketball
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO – FEBRUARY 29: Keith McGee #3 and Vante Hendrix #14 of the New Mexico Lobos (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /

This New Mexico basketball season was far from what anybody expected. Should it be considered a success or a failure?

New Mexico Basketball started out very strong. They went 13-2 in 2019, with the only two losses coming at UTEP and in Brooklyn against Auburn. During that time they also claimed two wins over NMSU, Paul Weir’s first wins against his former team, and a win over eventual Big 10 regular season co-champion Wisconsin.

It was when non-conference play was winding down that things got crazy for the Lobos. Near the end of December, Carlton Bragg and JJ Caldwell were suspended for separate incidents. That would be the end of Caldwell’s season, but Bragg would temporarily rejoin the team before another incident saw him dismissed from the team.

The entered 2020 with a 2-0 conference record but spent most of the rest of the conference schedule without Bragg and Caldwell. They also lost Vance Jackson and JaQuan Lyle to injuries for a large chunk of the conference schedule. This led them to put together a 5-11 regular-season record in January and February, earning them the 7th seed in the Mountain West tournament. In the tournament, they easily got past San Jose State in the first round but fell just short when they took on Utah State in the quarterfinal, just 6 days after they beat the Aggies at home.

The Lobos finished the year with a 19-14 record, giving Weir his 2nd 19-win season in 3 years as UNM’s coach and just the team’s second in the last 6 years.