New Mexico vs. Central Arkansas: Preview, TV Schedule, Live Stream, Radio, Odds
Kansas transfer Carlton Bragg suits up with the Lobos for the first time
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Can the Lobos end their three-game skid with Bragg in the lineup?
WEEK 10: New Mexico Lobos (4-4, 2-2 home) vs. Central Arkansas (4-5, 1-5 away)
WHEN: Sunday, December 16 — 2:00 PM MT/1:00 PM PT
WHERE: Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit; Albuquerque, New Mexico (15,411)
TV: AT&T SportsNet
STREAM: TheMW.com (Outside of AT&T SportsNet footprint)
RADIO: New Mexico | Central Arkansas
SERIES RECORD: New Mexico leads 1-0
WEBSITES: GoLobos.com, the official New Mexico athletics website | UCASports.com, the official Central Arkansas athletics website
ODDS: New Mexico -11
New Mexico (4-4) stays home after a close loss – which saw them blow a 17 point lead to Pac-12 opponent Colorado – to take on Central Arkansas (4-5) of the Southland Conference.
The game acts as the debut for 6-10 big man Carlton Bragg, who is eligible to play for the first time with the Lobos. Along with Jaquan Lyle, Bragg was anticipated to be one of the major pieces to the puzzle that Paul Weir put together in Albuquerque, but the NCAA’s denial of Bragg’s waiver to play early, and denial of the subsequent appeal forced the Kansas transfer to sit out until Sunday’s game.
While Paul Weir hopes that Bragg will have a big impact starting in his first game, he is confident that the newest addition to the team will be a factor for the rest of the season.
“The reality is when you add someone of his size and his caliber, it’s going to make an impact on the game,” said head coach Paul Weir about Bragg.
“The other thing I think definitely he’s going to bring is a better two-point percentage at both ends of the floor. I think just having a big that can consistently finish around the rim with his size and strength will improve our ability to finish around the rim. . . and I think he’ll protect the rim for us as well,” he continued.
Weir also noted the importance of simply having another big body to “eat up minutes” in the rotation, allowing other players to have less, but more productive, minutes and potentially produce a better inside-out game.
The inside-out game is something needed on a more consistent basis for the Lobos, which showed flashes of it early in the game against Colorado.
If Bragg is as good as advertised in the paint, the outside game of the rest of the team can start impacting the game more efficiently and the press may just have a little more time to work (on made baskets).
With just four games left before conference play, the Lobos will hope the Jayhawk turned Lobo shakes off the rust quickly before trying to hang with the top half of the Mountain West.
