2005 MWC Basketball Tournament Postgame Notes
March 11, 2005
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The Lobos’ win streak moves to eight games with a 77-67
victory over San Diego State in the semifinals of the MWC
Tournament…the lineup of David Chiotti, Troy DeVries,
Danny Granger, Alfred Neale and Mark Walters has started
every game during the streak…UNM has also won 11 of its
last 12 since Jan. 29
New Mexico improves to 25-6, tying for the 2nd-most wins
in school history…that’s an 11-win improvement from last
year and 15 wins better than 2002-03, Ritchie McKay’s
first season at UNM
UNM never trailed as it took a 9-0 lead 73 seconds into
the game on 3-pointers by Troy DeVries, Alfred Neale and
Danny Granger…the lead was 26-14 before SDSU went on a
10-2 run to cut the margin to 28-24 as UNM went 4:31
without a basket…the Lobos answered with an 8-0 spurt,
capped by consecutive 3s by Neale…SDSU trimmed the margin
to 56-52 in the 2nd half, but a 12-5 burst salted it way
for the Lobos
The 8-game winning streak is UNM’s longest since the
2001-02 season…the last time New Mexico won nine in a row
was in 2000-01
During the 8-game winning streak, the Lobos have won every
game by at least 10 points
New Mexico shot 55% (83-150) in its three wins over San
Diego State this season, including 43% (28-65) from
3-point…the Aztecs were held to 38% shooting (66-174) and
29% (17-58) from beyond the arc
The Lobos are trying to advance to the NCAA Tournament for
the 11th time in school history and the first time since
1999
New Mexico is 2-5 all-time in conference tournament title
games, including a loss to BYU in the 2001 MWC
tourney…during its time in the Western Athletic
Conference, UNM beat UTEP in 1993 and Utah in 1996; the
Lobos lost to UTEP in 1984, Wyoming in 1987, UNLV in 1998
and Utah in 1999
The Lobos and Utah split the season series with each team
winning by 11 points on its home floor, however, Danny
Granger did not play in the 69-58 loss at Salt Lake City
on Jan. 22…New Mexico won 65-54 at The Pit on Feb. 21,
halting the Utes’ 18-game winning streak…that remains
Utah’s only loss in its past 23 games
New Mexico is now 25-3 with senior Danny Granger in the
starting lineup, 0-3 when he was out with an injury in
mid-January…since the 81-64 loss to Wake Forest on Dec.
22, the Lobos have a 15-1 record when Granger plays
Granger had another monster game with 22 points and 14
rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season, 18th as
a Lobo and the 29th of his collegiate career…he also added
5 blocks, the most ever by a Lobo in a conference
tournament game, 3 assists and a steal
Granger’s two-game MWC Tournament totals: 45 points, 22
rebounds, 9 blocks, 8 assists and 4 steals
New Mexico was 9 of 19 from 3-point, making them 19 of 37
(51%) in the tournament …they were 10 of 18 in the opener
against BYU
Senior Alfred Neale scored 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting,
including 4 of 6 from 3-point…Neale is 8 of 11 from
3-point in the MWC Tournament and has scored 32 points
Freshman Tony Danridge had made 9 straight FGs over a span
of four games before a miss in the first half…his last
miss had been in the first half of the game at San Diego
State on Feb. 26..Tony finished 2 of 4 tonight
In the two MWC Tournament games, New Mexico has totaled 39
assists on their 56 baskets
The Lobos are now 7-5 away from Albuquerque this season,
the most wins since the 1997-98 team went 9-7…UNM began
the season with a 29-game losing streak in games away from
The Pit
New Mexico has won 20 straight games when leading at
halftime and is 24-1 overall this season…the only loss
came at Oregon when UNM led 43-41, but lost 79-75 in the
fifth game of the season
Troy DeVries hit a 3-pointer in his 28th straight game,
the 2nd-longest streak in school history…Ruben Douglas is
1st at 35…DeVries now has 144 career treys, good for 9th
all-time at UNM…he has 90 treys this season, tying Clayton
Shields for No. 5 in the UNM record book