The Wyoming Cowboys take on the New Mexico Lobos. Check out our Mountain West Tournament odds series for our Wyoming New Mexico prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Wyoming New Mexico.
This game is a must-win for New Mexico. The Lobos have cratered down the stretch, falling short in numerous bubble games over the past few weeks. lost the kind of game a bubble team simply can't afford to lose, falling by a large margin to Air Force on Friday. Bubble teams can't be losing to the lower-tier teams in their conferences, but that's exactly what New Mexico did. The Lobos are a flimsy and frail defensive team and they don't get those crunch-time defensive rebounds and 50-50 balls good teams manage to get a majority of the time. New Mexico was the last unbeaten team in major college basketball this season, but once the Lobos lost, it all went downhill from there. Now they get one last chance to make it right: They need to win four games in four days in Las Vegas at the Mountain West Tournament. They lost to Wyoming earlier in the season. Can they avoid another stumble here and stay alive?
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Wyoming-New Mexico Mountain West Tournament odds:
Mountain West Tournament Odds: Wyoming-New Mexico Odds
Wyoming Cowboys: +6.5 (-102)
New Mexico Lobos: -6.5 (-120)
Over: 149.5 (-110)
Under: 149.5 (-110)
How To Watch Wyoming vs. New Mexico
TV: Local/regional cable
Stream: Mountain West, FuboTV
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET, 4:00 p.m. PT
*Watch Wyoming-New Mexico LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Wyoming Could Cover the Spread
This is a New Mexico team in free-fall. The Lobos are giving up lots of points and lots of offensive rebounds to their opponents. They barely lifted a finger on defense against Colorado State last Friday night and got outscored in a shootout. No one disputes this team's scoring and playmaking talent, but New Mexico has become a turnstile on defense with very little toughness or resilience. Opponents have pretty much been able to do what they wanted with the Lobos' defense. Guard Jaelen House missed a few games New Mexico lost, but he was on the floor for the losses late in the season to Boise State and Colorado State. That really hasn't changed this team's complexion. New Mexico looks like a shaken team which was once on a huge roll, then got knocked off its perch, and simply hasn't been able to get back in the saddle again.
Why New Mexico Could Cover the Spread
The Lobos know this is their season in Las Vegas at the Mountain West Tournament. They have to win here or it's all over, and a season in which UNM was the last unbeaten team standing would turn into a disaster and a trip to the NIT. New Mexico knows it needs to get on a run here. That will motivate coach Richard Pitino and his players to do better.
Wyoming has a shorthanded roster and coaching staff heading into this game. The Cowboys never were able to get big man Graham Ike on the floor this season. He suffered a leg injury mere days before the season opener in early November. Wyoming let three transfers go a few weeks ago: Ethan Anderson, Max Agbonkpolo, and Jake Kyman were all given the boot. Coach Jeff Linder simply did not like how they were blending in with the team (or rather, how they were failing to blend in). Now we have news from Wednesday morning that Linder is tending to his father, who is ill. Linder will not coach this game. Assistant coach Sundance Wicks will take his place. This is just another set of brutal circumstances for a Wyoming team and program which have had a Murphy's Law season. If anything can go wrong, it has gone wrong for the Cowboys. New Mexico, having lost once to Wyoming, is highly unlikely to lose twice.
Final Wyoming-New Mexico Prediction & Pick
New Mexico's end-of-season desperation and Wyoming's coaching situation should give the Lobos what they need to take charge of this game and win it decisively.
Final Wyoming-New Mexico Prediction & Pick: New Mexico -6.5
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