Arizona's Sean Miller wary of The Pit, rebuilding Lobos despite New Mexico's 3-7 record

Maybe Sean Miller still has nightmares about North Carolina State’s pressing defense and the rest of Arizona’s Bahamian meltdown.

Maybe the UA coach has heard too many horror stories about playing at The Pit in Albuquerque.

Or maybe he’s just making sure his guys stay focused for the final road game of a nonconference season in which they have already proven nothing is a gimme.

For whatever reason, Miller was in no mood to hear that Saturday’s opponent, New Mexico, just hasn’t been very good.

The undermanned Lobos are 3-7 under first-year coach Paul Weir, who is trying to clean up from the late firing of Craig Neal last spring. They’re scrappy and aggressive on both sides of the ball, but have lost to Tennessee Tech at home and were swept by instate rival New Mexico State in games at Las Cruces and Albuquerque.

The Lobos have one of the country’s more inefficient offenses, averaging just 100.4 points per 100 possessions. They shoot only 41.8 percent from the field. They coughed up 19 turnovers to NMSU at home.

Oh, and their leading scorer, Sam Logwood, has been thinking about quitting.

Regardless, “we have to be ready to go,” Miller said.

“They shoot 31 3s a game,” Miller said when asked about New Mexico’s struggles. “There you go. I did a little of your work for you. You can go on that. They play at a top-30 pace. There’s a second gift I gave you.

“Anytime you shoot 31 times a game (from 3), it’s very dangerous, especially at home, especially with a big crowd.”

Defensively, the Lobos have let their opponents shoot 35.6 percent from 3-point range and 51.1 percent from inside the arc. They don’t rebound well, either, especially on the defensive end: UNM’s opponents collectively have the 34th-best offensive rebounding percentage (34.6) in the country, and the Lobos get outrebounded by an average of 6.8 per game.

But the Lobos’ ever-pressing defense does tend to shake things up a bit. Opponents average 20.3 turnovers per game against them, with New Mexico stealing the ball an average of 8.4 times per game.

You can bet Miller is aware of those numbers.

“They force 20 turnovers a game. That’s my third gift to you,” Miller said, continuing his scouting report. “So you’ve got 20 turnovers a game, 31 3s and a top-30 pace. You can run with that.”

That’s a combination Weir has been trying to make scary for opponents. And at times it is.

“You know what? Everyone told me how hard of a transition it would be and I didn’t really believe them,” Weir said. “Now we’re in it a little bit and it’s been challenging.”

There are plenty of reasons why. New Mexico athletic director Paul Krebs issued a statement on March 10 saying Neal would return this season ... then decided to fire him three weeks later, after leading scorer Elijah Brown took the grad transfer route to Oregon.

Weir wasn’t hired until April 11, just a day before the spring signing period opened — and well after many spring signees had already made their decisions.

He scrambled, landing the nation’s top junior college scorer, guard Troy Simons, while bringing in prolific JUCO shooter Chris McNeal, as well as Akron grad transfer Antino Jackson.

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Together, those guys now provide a big part of those 31 3-pointers that Miller speaks of.

“When you get a job in the spring, there’s really not a lot of size left,” Weir said. “So we went with some shooters instead, and some guys who can spread the floor.

“I don’t know if long-term it’s going to be that way. But for this team right now to give itself the best chance to win. I think the 3-point shot helps us kind of close the gap on teams who might be bigger or more experienced than we are.”

New Mexico’s bench became even shorter when Tempe forward Connor MacDougall suffered an ankle sprain and bone bruise in the preseason. A player for Herb Sendek at ASU who sat out much of his freshman season with a shoulder injury, MacDougall has yet to play a game this season. He was cleared to practice fully this week and could debut on Saturday.

“It’s come a long way,” MacDougall told the Albuquerque Journal. “I feel pretty good out there.”

Weir said MacDougall’s absence has made it more difficult to score inside, rebound and protect the rim.

Then there’s the continued drama over Logwood’s situation.

The team’s leading scorer and rebounder announced he would transfer last spring after Neal’s firing, but later agreed to return. But after going 1 for 7 with three fouls in 18 minutes at Colorado on Dec. 6, Logwood took a leave of absence. He didn’t play in the Lobos’ Dec. 9 loss to New Mexico State.

Weir said he wasn’t sure when Logwood would return.

“There’s no resolution and I don’t know if there will be one before Saturday’s game,” Weir told the Star by telephone Thursday.

“It’s obviously a unique situation and he’s just kind of working through it day by day. He just kind of took a leave, mentally related, and it’s a unique situation. So I don’t really have a rigid set of timelines. It’s more of an ongoing conversation.”

But Logwood practiced this week and, according to the Journal, posted a picture of himself to Instagram on Monday with the message “They wanna see me fold And I will never sell my soul. #imback”

Regardless of Logwood and MacDougall’s situations, the Lobos remain aggressive both offensively and defensively.

Weir said their spirit remains high, too.

“The guys practice really hard. They’re committed,” Weir said. “They just haven’t gotten a lot of wins in the win column to feel good about it.”

The Lobos’ future looks even better. Weir has two highly regarded redshirts who will become eligible next season: Ohio State transfer JaQuan Lyle and UConn transfer Vance Jackson. Three well-regarded recruits are also scheduled to arrive next season.

“I feel really good about where this program is headed and I’m not ready to say ‘next year’ yet,” Weir said. “I still think this season we have the ability, and once we get healthy, can turn it around and have a productive year.”

So maybe it’s not all bad for the Lobos. In the future and maybe even now.

Maybe Miller does have something to worry about after all.