With old friends coming to visit, No. 25 Lobos hope late-night start won't prevent another huge Pit crowd

Jan. 26—Yes, the Mountain West and Fox Sports 1 understand there are a couple rather important football games on Sunday.

Yes, the media rights partners understand an 8 p.m. Sunday tip isn't ideal to generate a large, in-person crowd for a college basketball game.

More than 13,000 tickets have already been accounted for as of Friday afternoon and thankfully for UNM, there are some other factors that may help toward another sellout (15,411) in the Pit, combatting the sometimes cruel realities presented by the business side of college athletics that dictate the Lobos host the league's only scheduled Sunday game of the season.

First, the Lobos — the No. 25 UNM Lobos (17-3, 5-2 MW) to be exact — are playing better basketball than anyone in the Mountain West right now; the team riding a league-best four-game conference win streak, all victories by double-digit margins, with two over nationally ranked teams and the other two on the road.

Oh yeah, and then there's this.

That team coming to play them on Sunday night, the Nevada Wolf Pack (16-4, 3-3) happens to not only own a nine-game win streak in the series with UNM, but also happen to be coached by former Lobo head coach Steve Alford and his top assistant, and also a former Lobo head coach, Craig Neal.

Not that Lobos coach Richard Pitino has any intention of adding any fuel to that fire.

"To me the whole who-was-a-coach-here-before thing, I don't know. I kind of feel like it's going away a little bit. I hope it is," said Pitino, who has coached just the past four losses in Nevada's nine-game series win streak. "... Our last two home games were two ranked teams. Now we've got a Nevada team that's really, really good. And then we've got a Boise State team (on Wednesday night) that's really good. So for me, and anyone I've really talked to, I think it's more so about that than Steve Alford coaching here, Craig Neal coaching here.

"And I would hope that at some point we can move past that, but people don't always seem to do that."

While that comment may read as irritation, Pitino does understand the emotions some fans have toward Alford and Neal. But he, nor the current players were a part of the UNM basketball program through the Alford/Neal years or the Alford/Neal departures or the Alford/Neal returns to an in-conference school.

Pitino, and his team, simply know Sunday's a big deal because both teams have NCAA Tournament hopes this season, not because some around the program say this game means more than others.

Bottom line: There's enough riding on the game without the Alford/Neal storylines.

"I know in the years previously, (fans) definitely talked about that (Alford/Neal factor) — and last year," said senior guard Jamal Mashburn Jr., who was an 11-year-old in Miami the last time Alford coached the Lobos. "I haven't heard much this year."

GOOD AND THE BAD: While it isn't an ideal start time, day of the week or whatever other hurdle might be in the way of Sunday's game drawing a big crowd, there is this. The game will be the only college basketball (or NBA for that matter) game on television on Sunday night, likely on in plenty of households and sports bars across the country.

It is a good opportunity for some to see the Lobos for the first time as they've been starting to generate some national buzz because of their recent play.

And, of course, after two heartbreaking losses to Nevada last year — a controversial finish in a double overtime in Reno and a buzzer-beater in the Pit — the Lobos are hoping this season's much-improved defense and roster depth can put on a good show for fans in the Pit and beyond.

ATTENDANCE: The Pit has had two sellouts this season — Dec. 2 vs. New Mexico State and Jan. 13 vs. then-No. 19 San Diego State.

UNM's three Mountain West home games so far have averaged a league-best 13,718. The team's 12,220 average home attendance for the entire season ranks 25th out of 362 Division I teams in the country.

GAME PROMOTIONS: Sunday's game will include a teddy bear toss at halftime. Fans are asked to bring a new stuffed animal to toss onto the court at halftime; those stuffed animals will be collected and donated to children in need through the UNM BeKind initiative.

Teddy bears, or any other items for that matter, are not allowed to be tossed on the court during game play on Sunday.

Tickets throughout the weekend are available online at GoLobos.com/tickets.