Rivalry renewed as Aggies invade The Pit

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Dec. 6—ALBUQUERQUE — Consider it a fun-sized version of the Rio Grande Rivalry.

What used to be a celebrated, if not outdated, home-and-home series between in-state rivals New Mexico State and New Mexico is now a one-hit wonder every calendar year.

It may be scaled down but it’s certainly not scaled back. A near-capacity crowd is expected for Saturday night’s 229th meeting between the Lobos and Aggies.

“Nothing’s been diminished as you can tell that we’ve already sold 15,000 tickets in a nonconference game,” UNM coach Richard Pitino said Friday. “In all of college basketball, all you gotta do is turn on your TV. and there’s a lot of empty gyms, you know, so we certainly know how important it is.”

The Aggies enter the game still in rebuilding mode under second-year coach Jason Hooten. Beaten at home by Abilene Christian on Wednesday, they have seven new players on this year’s roster, three of whom stand 6-10 or taller.

As interested as he is to immerse himself into the in-state rivalry, one of UNM’s newcomers is even more interested to see The Pit filled to the brim.

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s the first time it comes to life; I think it was pretty good before,” said Lobos swing man Filip Borovicanin.

A starter for the first four games, the 6-9 Serbian saw his minutes drastically reduced when he was replaced by CJ Noland in the starting five. Appearing nervous and hesitant with the ball in his hands, he appears to have broken the mold by playing well in three of the last four games.

He had a season-high 11 points in limited minutes off the bench against Texas Southern, then played a career-high 31 minutes in Wednesday’s win over San Jose State. His nine points came with seven rebounds and three assists. He even showed an assertive side when he pump-faked a 3-point try and dribbled in for a dunk.

“There was just a timidness, offensively, that I think we saw,” Pitino said. “Maybe it was nerves, maybe it was new surroundings. I don’t really know, but he belonged last game. I think the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/rivalry-renewed-aggies-invade-pit-043600313.html

Author : The Santa Fe New Mexican

Publish date : 2024-12-07 04:36:00

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