Post-Game Notes
Dec. 18, 2004
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New Mexico earned its sixth-straight victory, improving to 10-1 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 improved his record at New Mexico to 34-33 in his third season in Albuquerque….McKay is now over .500 at New Mexico since he was 3-2…Tennessee fell to 4-4 on the year and was held to a season low for scoring.
The Lobos have won their first 9 home games for the first time since 1998-99 when they won 16 in a row at The Pit…New Mexico has also won 22 of its past 24 in The Pit.
UNM has led at the half of every game this season…the Lobos’ average halftime lead this season is 11.8 points…Tennessee’s 17 points at the break were the lowest by a UNM opponent in any half this year and the Vols’ lowest output of any half this season…the previous low for an opponent was 18 by Arkansas Pine Bluff and Tennessee’s previous lowest output was 31 against North Carolina.
The first half saw five lead changes and one tie…the Lobos took the lead at the 8:21 mark and never trailed, closing the half with a 9-1 run keyed by Mark Walters’ five points…Tennessee’s biggest lead of the first half was three at 3-0.
The Lobos had five players in double-figures for the third time this season…Danny Granger led the way with 20 points, 17 of those coming in the 2nd half…Alfred Neale just missed his 2nd career double-double with 10 points and a season-high 9 rebounds off the bench.
New Mexico shot under 50 percent for only the third time this season going 27-of- 55 from the field…UNM did shoot 64 percent in the second half on 16-of-25 shooting and they made 13 of their last 18 shots the final 15:22 of the game…the Lobos also made 6 of their final 11 3-pointers after starting 2 of 15.
UNM forced 18 Tennessee turnovers, while the Lobos committed a season-low 8, including just 1 in the first half…the Lobos turned the 18 Vol turnovers into 23 points, outscoring UT 23-12 off turnovers.
The Lobos won the battle in the paint outscoring Tennessee 28-16…UNM also won the battle of the boards for the 10th time this season as the edge the Vols 30-28…New Mexico once trailed in rebounds 10-3, but had a 27-18 advantage thereafter.
The Lobos tied a season-high with 13 steals. They also had 13 against Northern Colorado.
New Mexico has allowed 163 points the past 3 games, an average of 54.3 ppg.