The New Mexico Lobos will be at Clune Arena to face the Air Force Falcons in a Mountain West matchup. Action begins at 2:00 pm ET on Saturday, Feb. 20 and can be seen on RT.
The Falcons come into this game hoping to repeat their last performance, defeating UNLV 79-74 on Tuesday. CJ Siples had a good game, contributing 17 points, six assists, and five rebounds for the Falcons. The Lobos are coming off an 80-78 win over Boise State on Wednesday. Tim Williams stood out for New Mexico, accumulating 18 points, six rebounds, and four blocks.
Williams has been on a tear over the last five games for the Lobos, averaging 21.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists, and 1.8 blocks.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Lobos won the first game 84-55. Williams put up a double-double in the victory with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The Falcons enter the game with records of 13-14 Straight Up (SU) and 10-11 Against The Spread (ATS). The Falcons have seen an uptick in scoring as of late, averaging 78.1 points during the last 10 games compared to their season average of 67.0 points per game.
Over on the other bench, the Lobos have records of 14-10 ATS and 16-10 SU. The Lobos have been struggling of late. In their most recent 10 games, their scoring has dropped to 63.0 PPG, compared to 67.0 for the duration of the season. The Lobos convert their shots at a high percentage, ranking 39th in the country at .471. Switching gears to the New Mexico defense, the Lobos have one of the best opponent three-point field goal percentages in the country at .316.
Following the Lobos’ latest win over Air Force, their SU record is now 7-3 over Air Force in their most recent meetings. Furthermore, New Mexico leads the matchup ATS with a record of 7-3. When it comes to field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers, New Mexico held the edge in all three of these categories once in the last five meetings. Air Force never did so in those games.
Predictions: SU Winner – NM, ATS Winner – NM
Notes
“Air Force is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games “.
“Air Force is 3-10 SU in its last 13 games “.
“Air Force is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home”.
“Air Force is 15-5 SU in its last 20 games at home”.
“The total has gone OVER in 4 of Air Force’s last 6 games at home”.
“Air Force is 3-7 ATS in its last 10 games when playing New Mexico”.
“Air Force is 3-16 SU in its last 19 games when playing New Mexico”.
“The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Air Force’s last 5 games when playing New Mexico”.
“Air Force is 3-8 ATS in its last 11 games when playing at home against New Mexico”.
“Air Force is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against New Mexico”.
New Mexico sits at 9-4 SU against the conference, while Air Force is 4-10 SU.
New Mexico scores 73.9 points per away game (ranked 75th). Air Force ranks a poor 134th in points allowed at home, allowing 68.4 points.
With 68.3 possessions and .982 points per possession, the Air Force Falcons perform worse on both metrics than the New Mexico Lobos. New Mexico averages 72.6 possessions and 1.070 points per possession.
Air Force has an average effective field goal percentage of 47.5%. New Mexico is a subpar 4-7 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
Air Force attempts an average of 17.0 three pointers per game and New Mexico attempts 16.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Air Force Falcons have an underachieving 3-7 record while the New Mexico Lobos have a 4-3 record.
New Mexico, the 76th-ranked team in blocked shots, registers an average of 4.4 per game. Air Force does worse, ranked 337th with 1.8.
The Air Force Falcons make an average of 5.9 steals per game. The New Mexico Lobos are 13-9 when they allow 5 or more steals.
