Matchup: No. 23 Arizona (7-3) at New Mexico (3-7)

Where: The Pit, Albuquerque

When: 6 p.m.

Watch: CBS Sports Network

Listen: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

The series

Arizona leads its old Border Conference and WAC rival 84-42 but the series was dormant for 17 years before the Wildcats drubbed the Lobos 77-46 at McKale Center last season in the first of a two-year home-and-home agreement. New Mexico missed its first 11 shots while Arizona built a quick 12-0 run and was never challenged. Five Wildcats scored in double figures, including Chance Comanche, who had a career-high 14 points.

The Lobos are in a transition year after having decided to fire Craig Neal at the relatively late date of April 1 last spring and looking down I-25 for his replacement, Paul Weir, who went 28-6 at New Mexico State last season. Weir didn’t retain much, and one of his top returnees, forward Sam Logwood, has considered quitting the team.

New Mexico isn’t particularly big, has a mediocre defense and an inefficient offense — the Lobos average just 100.7 points per 100 possessions and shoot only 41.8 percent from the field overall.

However, New Mexico can be dangerous because it takes 48 percent of its field goals from 3-point range, hitting them at a 35.5 percent mark. They’ve shot over 40 percent from 3 in their three wins so far this season, over Northern New Mexico, Nebraska-Omaha and Evansville. They’re also aggressive defensively, getting their opponents to turn the ball over 25.2 percent of the time — the 11th best turnover percentage in college basketball.

“Our focus right now is to defend the 3-point shot and how they get going. Their frontcourt shoots them a lot and they shoot in transition. They’re a really good transition team. They thrive in the open court. They want to play that fast pace and they force 20 turnovers a game because they have a really unique defense. They press and they switch every screen. Very few teams we play against switch every screen and press, so it’s a style that we’re not familiar with. I’m hoping that our N.C. State experience, playing against a pressing team like that, can help us a little bit. We’re going to have to really take care of the ball and be efficient on offense, try to take advantage of our size, second shots, drives and post-ups.” — UA coach Sean Miller

A JUCO all-American last season, McNeal is New Mexico in a nutshell. He takes 62 percent of his shots from beyond the arc, can ride the Lobos to a win when he gets hot, and averages nearly a steal per game. But he’s made only 1 of 11 3-pointers in his last three games.

The Wildcats’ steady senior point guard will be tested by a defense that presses and lunges for steals while rotating in nine or 10 players to keep everyone fresh. He’ll also have to spend plenty of energy at a mile-high altitude defending the Lobos’ frequent 3-point shots.

Paul Weir spent a decade in Las Cruces — nine years as an assistant coach and last season as the head man.

But because he went 28-6 and reached the NCAA Tournament in that one year, New Mexico immediately recruited him to head north and take over the Lobos.

He couldn’t resist.

“The first thing was the program itself, Lobo basketball, The Pit, and the tradition of the program,” Weir said. “It’s special. Two is the conference. Obviously, the WAC has kind of been on a steady decline over the past 10 years and to move to the Mountain West I thought was a great opportunity. And I’d been at New Mexico State for 10 years. ... This was a new opportunity, my family was excited about it and I become excited about it. I just felt it was too good to pass up.”

There was only one major drawback. He has to play his old teams twice every year, and it didn’t go well the first time he returned to Las Cruces.

Signs and chants that greeted Weir included: “Traitor,” “Aggie Forever — unless you are Paul Weir,” “Weir better without you” and “Weir is our money?”

The last one referred to the still-controversial issue over Weir’s buyout: UNM says he owes $500,000, and Weir has offered $250,000. According to NMFishbowl.com, the dispute stems from a gray area over how many years Weir is liable for — his NCAA Tournament appearance was to trigger an automatic extension but it was not formalized — and how long he has to repay it.

“It was interesting,” Weir said of his reception at NMSU. “I think any coach going on the road is going to get kind of a hostile welcome when it’s a big game, especially a rivalry game, and obviously with me living there, I think there were some fans who were disappointed or upset, and that was their time to show it so it was made for a spirited game.”

A game that New Mexico State won 75-56. The Aggies also won at New Mexico last weekend, 65-62, making Weir a quick 0-2 against his old program.

“Our team didn’t make it as competitive as I would have liked,” Weir said. “But it’s fun for basketball in this region. I really enjoy all these series — UTEP and Arizona and New Mexico State and UNLV. I just think it’s great for basketball that all these people are behind it.”

Sounds like things are a little tense around New Mexico these days, with the Lobos 3-7 and with Sam Logwood, their leading scorer, considering a permanent departure.

New Mexico declined the Star’s request for Lobo player interviews this week, saying Weir prefers that his players don’t do interviews before games.

Meanwhile, Albuquerque Journal reporter Geoff Grammer said he was able to speak with injured big man Connor MacDougall on Thursday — but only two weeks after he requested the interview, and only while two New Mexico officials stood alongside.

Logwood has returned to practice, but it isn’t clear if he will play Saturday. On Thursday, Grammer wrote on Twitter that team sources indicated Logwood “was unhappy. Didn’t want to be on team anymore. Has changed his mind.” To which Lobo forward Joe Furstinger replied: “Fake news. ... Get better sources.”

Sean Miller talks about ASU being No. 5 in the latest AP poll and says Bobby Hurley is a strong candidate for national coach of the year. pic.twitter.com/OOTVE5DXJQ

— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) December 13, 2017

The UA’s Dec. 30 Pac-12 opener against surging ASU is just two weeks away, but it’s still the nonconference season. So, for now, Sean Miller is a Sun Devils fan.

“I think the days of cheering against a Pac-12 team ended many, many years ago,” Miller said this week, when asked about ASU after the Sun Devils moved to 9-0 and the No. 5 AP ranking. “I don’t know if everybody feels that way. It’s almost like it’s human nature that you don’t want certain teams to win because it almost puts more pressure on you. That’s not the case here with how I feel or how we feel.

“There couldn’t be a better moment for the Pac-12 than ASU’s win at Kansas. It gives our conference credibility. It allows more teams in our conference to get into the NCAA tournament, not just ASU but when you have an RPI as high as they have, it’s like a balloon. It pulls everybody else up in the league. And it gives our conference a chance to add that one extra team in March that maybe otherwise we wouldn’t be able to get. It helps us, it really does, because we play ASU twice.”

Miller complimented Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley, the Sun Devil guards and said “ASU might be underrated where they’re at right now.”

“Whoever plays them this year is going to have a tough game obviously,” Miller said. “But it’s great for our conference. The more that we win as a conference is only going to allow us to have the most teams in postseason play and really that’s what we all should want.”

0

New Mexico wins in six games when the Lobos have shot less than 40 percent from the field.

10

Arizona wins in the Wildcats’ last 11 true road games, since the start of the 2016-17 season (Oregon beat the UA 85-58 last season in Eugene).

42.8

Average combined points from the UA’s Deandre Ayton and Allonzo Trier so far this season, the fourth-highest scoring 1-2 punch in the country.