New Mexico defeated Colorado State 84-71 behind Elijah Brown’s 25-point performance, bringing the Lobos to 3-3 in Mountain West place, good for fourth place behind the third-place Rams. The game was described as “chippy ” by a CSU student journalist; after an alleged incident in the postgame handshake line, the two teams took their beef off the court.
As captured on video by the Albuquerque Journal’s Geoff Grammer, Rams forward Emmanuel Omogbo and New Mexico assistant coach Terrence Rencher were involved in a verbal altercation outside Colorado State’s stadium following the game. Neither school has responded to request for comment on the situation.
The beginning of the altercation is missing from the video, but reports have come in indicating the bad blood started back on the court.
Grammer reports that Rams players talked trash about the Lobos coaching staff potentially losing their jobs in the pregame routines, also tweeting that Omogbo claims Rencher initiated the heated discussion. Scout.com’s Keegan Pope reports that a UNM assistant coach trash talked the Colorado State players in the postgame handshake line, allegedly saying, “at least we don’t have a bunch of wife beaters on the court.”
The barb appears to be a reference to CSU guard Glan Clavell’s recent nine-game suspension. Clavell, currently the team’s leading scorer, was suspended after being arrested on a misdemeanor charge of false imprisonment with a domestic violence enhancement, per the Coloradoan.
Grammer’s video shows Omogbo being held back by head coach Larry Eustachy, yelling at Rencher that he was “lucky my coach is holding me back,” otherwise he’d “whoop yo ass.” Rencher maturely responded to the college athlete by asking him why he was lucky and that he “ain’t whipping nothing, buddy.”
Eustachy took a brief break from corralling his 6-foot-8 player to tell the 43-year old Rencher to “grow up,” while Omogbo said, “He did the same shit last year.” Rencher ignored Eustachy’s advice and continued to goad Omogbo, saying repeatedly, “I’m right here.” Once Eustachy appeared to have Omogbo heading away from the New Mexico team bus, Rencher called out to the Rams forward again, telling him to “learn how to lose, boy.”
Omogbo scored 14 points, hauled down eight rebounds, and recorded four blocks in a losing effort. The Rams and Lobos will face one another again Feb. 22 in Albuquerque