Dec. 12, 2004
New Mexico earned its fifth-straight victory, improving to
9-1 on the season, which is the best start by a Lobo squad
since the 2000-01 team began 10-1…UNM head coach Ritchie
McKay evened his record at New Mexico, improving to 33-33
in his third season in Albuquerque…Arkansas-Pine Bluff
fell to 1-5 on the year, including 0-5 on the road…the
Golden Lions are 2-31 over the past two seasons.
The Lobos have won their first 8 home games for the first
time since 2000-01…New Mexico has also won 21 of its past
23 in The Pit.
New Mexico has won 25 straight games when shooting better
than its opponent and is 60-4 in such situations since
2000-01…the Golden Lions .304 field goal percentage is the
lowest by a UNM opponent in nearly a year when
Northwestern State hit 24.2% (15-62) of its shots in a
87-51 loss in The Pit on Dec. 28, 2003…the Lobos shot less
than 50% from the floor for just the second time this
season and first time at home…UNM had shot no lower than
51% in its first 7 home games.
The Lobos hit 23-28 from the free throw line for a
season-high percentage of .821.
UNM has led at the half of every game this season…the
Lobos’ average halftime lead this season is 11.8
points…UA-PB’s 18 points at the break were the lowest by a
UNM opponent in any half this year.
New Mexico found itself down 7-2 at the 17:24 mark before
scoring 16 unanswered points over the next 4:24 to take
control of the game…the Lobos outscored the Golden Lions
23-2 over a 9:34 span, to turn its five-point deficit into
a 25-9 lead…UA-PB had 3 field goals in the first three
minutes of the game, but hit just 3 more FG attempts over
the final 17 minutes of the half.
UNM senior forward Danny Granger notched his third
straight double-double and sixth this season…he now has 5
double-doubles in his last 6 games…Granger has led the
team in scoring in 6 straight games, averaging 21.3 ppg
during that span…he has also paced the team on the boards
in 8 of the last 9 games, pulling down an average 10.6
rebounds in the last 9 contests.
Lobo freshman forward Bambale Osby notched career-highs of
7 points and 9 rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.