The youth and inexperience on this year’s New Mexico men’s basketball team became a consistent narrative throughout the season. Almost every time head coach Craig Neal met with the media, he made mention to it.
It’s a young team, he would say. They were working to try to improve and get better.
That showed throughout the up-and-down campaign, one where the Lobos went 17-15 and finished fourth in the Mountain West standings. Though they finished above their projected sixth-place finish, the team once again hit a February slump and bowed out early from the conference tournament.
Moving forward, Neal said, the Lobos won’t be able to rely on the youth theme next year.