Jan. 5, 2005
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The University of New Mexico’s sixth season of Mountain West Conference basketball gets underway Saturday as it hosts the Wyoming Cowboys. Tipoff is 7:05 p.m., Mountain Time from The Pit/Bob King Court in Albuquerque. There is no television for the game.
Saturday’s game has been designated as “Pack The Pit” with all remaining tickets available for just $10. Call (505) 925-5858 to order tickets or purchase online at golobos.com. Last year’s Pack The Pit promotion against Air Force attracted a sellout crowd of 18,018.
New Mexico is now 13-2 on the season after a 64-55 triumph at Texas-Arlington Monday. It’s the best start for a Ritchie McKay-coached team and the Lobos’ best beginning since bolting to a 16-2 mark in 1998-99. UNM is just one win from equaling last year’s season total.
Last year, the Lobos’ 13th win came on Feb. 9 in their 21st game of the year, 87-75 against Wyoming in The Pit. UNM received eight points in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ poll, tying UAB for 32nd.
The Wyoming game begins a relatively slow stretch for the Lobos as they will play just three games in 15 days, all on consecutive Saturdays. After Saturday, UNM plays three straight on the road starting Jan. 15 at Air Force followed by the Utah-BYU trip on Jan. 22 and 24. The next home series starts Jan. 29 when UNLV visits, meaning the Lobos will be away from The Pit for three weeks.
Wyoming is 7-5 after getting past Denver 78-72 Tuesday night in Laramie. The Cowboys’ five losses have come at Arizona, Dayton and Southern Illinois. They also fell on a neutral floor to Kansas State and at home to San Diego. UW is shooting just 43.8% from the floor, including 33.7% from 3-point.
TICKET MINI-PACK STILLL AVAILABLE – A Mountain West Conference Mini-Pack is currently available only at the ticket office at The Pit. Prices range from $84-112 depending on seat location and includes all seven Mountain West Conference games. UNM students can purchase the package for just $35 with one guest ticket available for $70.
HEAD COACH Ritchie McKay – Ritchie McKay is in his third season in charge of Lobo hoops and his ninth year as a collegiate head coach. He was named UNM’s 18th head coach on March 28, 2002.
McKay had previous two-year stops at Portland State (1996-98), Colorado State (1998-2000) and Oregon State (2000-02). He has a career record of 120-123, 37-34 at New Mexico. While at UNM, McKay is 35-12 at home, 28-14 in non-conference games and 26-7 in non-league games at The Pit. He is 9-19 in MWC games, 9-5 at home and 0-14 on the road. McKay is 5-5 in his career vs. Wyoming, 1-1 in Albuquerque.
While at Mountain West Conference member Colorado State, McKay led the Rams to the NIT in 1999. McKay is the son of the late Joe McKay, who was a three-year letterman at guard for the Lobos from 1961-63.
MWC OPENERS – The Lobos are 3-2 in Mountain West openers and they have dropped their last two, at Wyoming last year (82-77) and at Colorado State (74-58) in 2002-03. UNM is also 3-2 in MWC openers in The Pit, losing to Air Force last season and to UNLV in 1999-2000.
TWO BAD HALVES FROM BEING 15-0 – Had it not been for a couple of poor-shooting second halves, the Lobos could be among the nation’s unbeaten teams. On Nov. 22 at Oregon, UNM led 43-41 at halftime. The Lobos trailed by nine twice in the second half, but made it a 2-point game with 16 seconds remaining before falling 79-75. New Mexico hung around despite shooting just 26% (8-31) after halftime, including 22% (4-18) from 3-point.
The Lobos were held to 32.8% accuracy (20-61) by No. 5 Wake Forest in The Pit on Dec. 22, but it was a 4-point game with 11:39 remaining and UNM trailed by just seven at the 8:23 mark. The Demon Deacons eventually won 81-64 to halt UNM’s 6-game winning streak.
QUICK HITS
Through games of Tuesday, Jan. 4, Danny Granger is the only player in NCAA Div. I basketball who is averaging at least 19 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks a game.
Interestingly, of the top-40 players in the nation in steals, Granger is the tallest at 6-8. The past 4 games, Granger has averaged 21.3 ppg. He has increased his shooting percentage to 56.4% by converting 21 of 31 shots (67.7%) the past 3 games. Granger’s 3-point percentage is now a team-high 52.2% thanks to 7 of 11 accuracy the past 3 games. He also has 9 blocks in the past 2 contests.
After averaging 19.5 points and 9.0 rebounds a year ago, Granger is attempting to become just the third Lobo to average more than 19 points and 9 rebounds twice in a career, joining Mel Daniels (1966-67) and Willie Long (1970-71).
Senior G Troy DeVries ranks No. 1 at UNM for career 3-point FG accuracy at 44.6%…he has made 99 of 222 treys in his 37-game Lobo career…Willie Banks is 2nd at 44.1% (78-177)
Through games of Jan. 4, New Mexico leads the Mountain West Conference in scoring (82.6 ppg), scoring margin (+17.7), FG% (51.8), 3-point FG% (39.8), 3-pt. FGs made (8.8), assists (16.73) and defensive rebounds (27.0)
The six-game winning streak from Nov. 27-Dec. 18 is the longest for a Ritchie McKay-coached team and the best by New Mexico since it captured eight straight during the 2001-02 season
The Lobos have shot 50% or better in 9 of their 15 games this season, including a season-best 64.3% vs. New Mexico State Dec. 1…UNM has eclpsed 60% four times
The past 3 games, UNM has shot 56% (86-154) from the field, including 49% (34-69) from 3-point
New Mexico has led at halftime in 14 of 15 games this season, averaging an 11.7-point advantage at the break…the only time they trailed was against No. 5 Wake Forest 36-33
Head coach Ritchie McKay has used the same starting lineup in every game this season…that’s quite a change from his first two Lobo teams as he used nine different quintets last season and a whopping 16 sets in 2002-03…the last time New Mexico employed the same five starters for more than 20 games was 2000-01 when Eric Chatfield, Ruben Douglas, Marlon Parmer, Brian Smith and Wayland White drew the nod 22 times
UNM nailed a school-record 20 treys against Santa Clara, including 13 of 20 in the first half…to put that number in perspective, UNM made more than 13 in an entire game just three times last year..the previous standard for 3-point proficiency was 18 on two occasions: vs. Holy Cross on Dec. 29, 1997, and vs. UTEP on Feb. 19, 1998…both games were played in The Pit
New Mexico has limited opponents to 60 points or less seven times this season…they did so only nine times all of last year and on only six occasions in 2002-03
UNM has made a 3-point basket in 468 straight games, the 12th-longest active streak in NCAA Div. I hoops…UNLV is 1st at more than 580
A Lobo has led the MWC in scoring four of the first five years the league has been in existence…Lamont Long won the crown in 1999-2000 at 18.7 ppg…after a one-year absence, Ruben Douglas captured consecutive titles in 2001-02 (18.1 ppg) and 2002-03 (28.0)…Danny Granger took the 2003-04 crown at 19.5 ppg
New Mexico’s 27-game road losing streak – 29 in a row including neutral sites – ended with an 84-66 victory at New Mexico State on Dec. 4…after the win at UT-Arlington, the Lobos have now registered back-to-back road victories for the first time since taking three straight in 2000-01
The Lobos saw three winning streaks come to an end in the 81-64 setback to No. 5 Wake Forest on Dec. 22: six straight wins overall, nine straight at home and 14 consecutive non-conference victories at The Pit
UT-ARLINGTON RECAP – Danny Granger scored a season-high 25 points to power New Mexico to a 64-55 victory over Texas-Arlington. Only 847 fans were on hand at Texas Hall on the UTA campus as the Lobos won consecutive road games for the first time in four years.
Granger added 10 rebounds, a season-high 5 blocks and 3 assists and made several key plays when UTA tried to get back in the game. After the Mavericks cut UNM’s 14-point halftime lead to 40-34, Granger sparked a 12-0 Lobo run with consecutive 3-pointers.
The Lobos looked in control with a 52-34 advantage with 7:48 left in the game only to have UTA storm back. A 12-2 burst trimmed UNM’s lead to 59-51 with 1:55 to go.
Kris Collins missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Granger pulled down the offensive rebound and was fouled. He made both free throws then blocked a shot at the other end.
The Lobos started very slowly, missing 13 of their first 15 shots from the field as they trailed 8-4 with more than eight minutes gone in the game. However, freshman wing Tony Danridge came off the bench to score six quick points during a 10-0 run that provided UNM a lead it would never surrender. Danridge came into the game averaging 3.1 points.
David Chiotti was the only other Lobo to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points and six rebounds.
UT-ARLINGTON POSTGAME NOTES – The Lobos won back-to-back road games for the first time since the 2000-01 season when they won at New Mexico State and Gonzaga in overtime, then prevailed in the MWC road opener at San Diego State
Danny Granger posted his 7th double-double of the season, 14th as a Lobo and 25th in his collegiate career…his previous season scoring high was 24 points against Northern Arizona, New Mexico State and Wake Forest…all those games were play in The Pit…Granger also had a season-high 5 blocks and now has 34 on the season, surpassing last year’s total of 31 established in 22 games….his 65 career rejections rank No. 10 all-time at UNM
The 64 points tie a season scoring low for New Mexico…the Lobos lost 81-64 to Wake Forest on Dec. 22
The Lobos were outrebounded for only the 3rd time this season as the Mavs had a slight 34-33 advantage
UNM could have had a bigger final margin, but made just 7 of 14 FTs down the stretch…they were only 12 of 22 from the line for 54.5%, the 2nd-lowest accuracy of the season, since 47% (7-15) against Santa Clara on Nov. 13
After missing 13 of its 15 shots from the floor, UNM made 20 of its final 31 (64.5%) to shoot 48% (22-46) for the game…New Mexico also started 0-8 from 3-point before Troy DeVries connected with a little more than 7 minutes left in the first half…the Lobos proceeded to hit 8 of their final 12 treys to finish at 40% (8-20) for the game
Danridge’s 6 points came in just 7 minutes on 2-3 FGs and 2-3 FTs.
IT’S ONLY HALFWAY BUT… – The Lobos are shooting 51.8% from the field…New Mexico has shot better than 50% for an entire season only five times since 1950-51 when stats became official…only three teams – Oklahoma State, Gonzaga and Utah State – finished the 2003-04 season converting at least 50% of their attempts from the floor
UNM is averaging 82.6 points per game compared to just 69.6 ppg last year…the last team to average at least 80 for the season was the 1986-87 squad at 80.8 ppg
New Mexico is winning by an average margin of 17.7 ppg…the school record is 14.6 set by the 1977-78 Lobos
Opponents are shooting just 40.8% on the season…UNM has allowed 43% accuracy or higher each of the past four seasons
New Mexico’s rebound margin of +7.1 would be the 6th-best in the school record book…currently, the top-five margins were all set between 1962-67
DOMINATING AT HOME – Before the loss to Wake Forest, the Lobos had won their first nine home games for the first time since the 1998-99 season when they took 16 in a row. They have captured 26 of their past 29 in The Pit.
SHOOT BETTER AND WIN – The Lobos have won 29 straight games when shooting better than their opponent, including a perfect 12-0 in 2003-04. The last loss was at Tennessee on Jan. 4, 2003. UNM shot 45% (18-40) to the Vols’ 43% (22-51). The Lobos are 63-4 in such situations since 2000-01, 160-13 since the 1995-96 season.
HEALTH LEADS TO SUCCESS – An issue somewhat overlooked is that the 2004-05 Lobos are healthy. A year ago, Mark Walters was recuperating from a torn ACL that never fully healed until this past summer; certainly his play so far illuminates that fact. Danny Granger was bothered by a nagging shoulder injury that required surgery during the offseason. And, Alfred Neale played through a pair of painful hernia injuries last season that also prompted two surgeries after the season.