2005 MWC Basketball Tournament Postgame Notes
March 12, 2005
Recap |
Box Score |
Quotes |
Photo Gallery
The 60-56 victory over 15th-ranked Utah in the MWC
Tournament title game gives New Mexico a 26-6 record and
sends UNM to the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time in
school history and the first time since 1999…it’s the
first NCAA appearance for Ritchie McKay, who is in his 9th
year as a head coach and 3rd season at New Mexico
The Lobos will enter the NCAA Tournament on a 9-game
winning streak, the school’s longest since the 2000-01
season…UNM has won 12 of its last 13 games since Jan. 29
The 4-point win is just New Mexico’s fourth game this
season decided by five points or less…UNM is 2-2 in those
four games
New Mexico has won five straight games away from
Albuquerque and is 8-5 on the road and in neutral games in
2004-05…that’s the most wins since the 1997-98 team
finished 9-7…UNM entered the current season with a 29-game
losing streak in contests away from Albuquerque
Tournament MVP Danny Granger scored a season-high 28
points and pulled down 11 rebounds for his 12th
double-double of the season, 20th while at UNM and 31st in
his collegiate career…Granger had 18 points and 6 boards
in the 1st half
Granger scored the Lobos’ final 8 points, including 4
straight FTs (both 1 and 1 situations) in the final 19.4
seconds to secure the victory
Granger finished the tournament with 73 points (24.3 ppg)
and 33 rebounds (11 rpg)…he shot 57% (24-42) from the
field and 91% (21-23) from the line, plus 11 assists, 9
blocks and 5 steals
Utah has two losses in its last 24 games, both coming
against the Lobos…UNM won 65-54 in The Pit on Feb. 21,
snapping the Utes’ 18-game winning streak
The lineup of David Chiotti, Troy DeVries, Danny Granger,
Alfred Neale and Mark Walters has started every game
during the 9-game winning streak…the quintet was
responsible for all 60 points tonight and all five are
still averaging in double figures for the season
New Mexico is now 26-3 when Danny Granger plays, 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 16-1
record when Granger sees action
The 26 wins are the 2nd-most in school history…UNM was
28-5 in 1995-96…it’s a 12-win improvement from last year
and 16 wins better than 2002-03, Ritchie McKay’s first
season at UNM…the Lobos won just 24 games combined in
McKay’s first two seasons
The Lobos are 12-0 this season when holding opponents to
less than 60 points
New Mexico won its 3rd conference tournament title…it also
won Western Athletic Conference championships in 1993 over
UTEP at Salt Lake City and 1996 against Utah in
Albuquerque
The Lobos opened with an 11-5 lead before Utah went on a
12-0 run for a 17-11 advantage…UNM’s scoreless drought was
7:13 (from 15:23 to 8:10) when it missed 7 shots and
committed 4 turnovers…however, New Mexico outscored the
Utes 19-7 the rest of the half for a 30-24 lead at the
break…Granger scored 13 points during that run
UNM trailed just once in the 2nd half at 49-48, but Alfred
Neale’s slam off a missed shot on the next possession gave
the lead back to the Lobos and they never trailed again
New Mexico was 7 of 18 from 3-point vs. Utah and made 26
of 55 (47%) in the tournament
Alfred Neale scored 41 points in the tournament, drilling
9 of 14 shots from beyond the arc
New Mexico has won 21 straight games when leading at
halftime and is 25-1 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 29th straight game,
the 2nd-longest streak in school history…Ruben Douglas is
1st at 35…he was 3-8 for the games and now has 147 for his
career, tying Lamont Long for 8th all-time at UNM…DeVries
has 93 treys this season, No. 5 in the UNM record book