Postgame Notes
March 1, 2005
New Mexico’s 77-66 win at UNLV – its largest winning margin ever over the Rebels in Las Vegas – pushes the Lobo record to 22-6 overall and 9-4 in the Mountain West Conference…the Lobos have won 5 straight while UNLV’s winning streak is snapped at 5 games
Picked to finish 4th in the MWC preseason poll, UNM will finish in 2nd place and be the No. 2 seed in next week’s Mountain West Conference Tournament in Denver…the Lobos will play either San Diego State, BYU or Colorado State in Thursday’s quarterfinals
The Lobos are now 22-3 when Danny Granger plays, 0-3 when he was out with an injury…Granger finished with 22 points and 8 rebounds
The 22 wins are the most for UNM in six years, since the
1998-99 Lobos finished 25-9.
UNM sweeps UNLV for first time in MWC play…the Lobos swept during the 1998 season while both schools were in the Western Athletic Conference…UNM snapped a 7-game losing streak at UNLV, the last win being in 1998
New Mexico’s average winning margin during its 5-game winning streak is 13.4 ppg.
The Lobos are 5-5 on the road, 3-4 in the MWC…it’s the most road wins since going 5-6 in 1999-2000.
New Mexico has won consecutive MWC road games for the first time in 5 years, since winning 3 straight (at San Diego State, Air Force and BYU) in 1999-2000.
Head coach Ritchie McKay is now 1-4 in Las Vegas and 2-9 overall in his coaching career against the Rebels.
The Lobos shot a steamy 57.8% (26-45) from the floor, including 10-20 from 3-point range…in the 2nd half, UNM was 14-19 (74%) from the field, 5-8 from beyond the arc
The past two games, New Mexico has shot 66% (31-47) from the floor in the 2nd half, including 79% (19-24) from 2-point range.
New Mexico made 11 of its last 12 FTs over the final 1:36 to preserve the win…Mark Walters was 7-8, David Chiotti
4-4
The past 5 games, UNM has allowed opponents to shoot 41.3%
(114-276) from the floor and 31.7% (32-101) from 3-point…the past 3 games, its 39% (68-174) from the field and 26.7% (16-60) from beyond the arc
Meanwhile, the Lobos have shot 54.7% (129-236) from the field during the 5-game winning streak, including 57%
(53-93) on the San Diego State-UNLV road trip…UNM is back over the 50% mark for the season, at 50.3%
Neither team shot a free throw in the 1st half…the first trip to the stripe was by Danny Granger with 14:56 left in the game
The Lobos never trailed in the game…they took a 20-12 lead at the 9:47 mark of the 1st half by making 8 of their first 14 FGs, including four 3s…UNM then was held scoreless for the next 7:12 as UNLV tied the score at 20…the Lobos missed 8 shots and committed 3 turnovers before Chiotti scored with 2:35 before halftime…Chiotti scored 6 of the Lobos’ final 9 points before the break
Chiotti tied a season-high with 18 points and has scored in double figures in six straight games, averaging 13.8 ppg over that span…he also had 18 in the season opener against North Carolina A&T
Senior G Troy DeVries was 6-8 from 3-point for 18 points, the 25th straight game he has made at least one trey…that remains the 3rd-longest streak in school history…Charles Smith is 2nd at 27 in a row…DeVries ranks No. 1 at UNM in career 3-pt. percentage (46.6%, 137-294), No. 10 in career 3s made (137) and is tied with Royce Olney for 6th place on the single-season list with 83
New Mexico was 10-20 from the 3-point line, the 89th time since the shot came into play in 1986-87 that UNM has made at least 10…the Lobos are 72-17 in those games
New Mexico is 22-1 when leading at halftime this year, 9-0 in MWC games…the lone loss was at Oregon