Nov. 21, 2005
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
New Mexico hits the road for the first time this year when it travels to Kansas State on Wednesday. Tipoff is 6 p.m. Mountain Time from Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan. Fox Sports Midwest will televise the game live and live stats will be available at k-statesports.com. It will be UNM’s fourth game in six days. The Wildcats are slated to play in The Pit on Nov. 21, 2006.
K-State is the first of four non-conference games away from Albuquerque for the first time since UNM played six in 1987-88. The Lobos visited Washington, New Mexico State, Texas and Oklahoma 18 years ago, plus had neutral games against Seton Hall and Iowa State in the Preseason NIT at New York.
The Lobos are 3-0 on the young season after winning a trio of home games over the weekend in the Jim Thorpe Classic. New Mexico dumped South Carolina State (56-47), Ole Miss (95-42) and Southern Utah (62-48). UNM looks to start 4-0 for the second straight season, but for only the third time in the past eight years.
New Mexico opened the season by doing something it had not accomplished in 60 years and that is holding its first three opponents to less than 50 points. In 1945-46, UNM shackled New Mexico State twice (38-31 and 50-23) and Arizona (42-37) to begin the season. The Lobos actually began that year by limiting its first seven foes to less than 50 points en route to a 5-2 record.
Kansas State (1-0) won its opener last Friday over Georgia Southern 83-58. The Wildcats host Stephen F. Austin on Saturday.
UNM returns home Saturday afternoon to entertain UTEP at 2 p.m. It will be the 137th meeting with the Miners, but the first encounter since 1999. It’s the beginning of a four-game home-and-home series between the two old rivals. There is no television for the game.
UNM / Ritchie McKay vs. KANSAS STATE / BIG 12 – The Lobos are 1-2 against the Wildcats. The most recent meeting was in the first round of the 1996 NCAA Tournament in Richmond, Va. UNM took a 69-48 decision, outscoring KSU 38-18 in the second half. Clayton Shields led the Lobos with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
K-State won 81-64 in Albuquerque on Dec. 12, 1960, and 94-52 in Manhattan on Dec. 2, 1961.
UNM’s Ritchie McKay is facing Kansas State for the first time in his head coaching career. He is 3-5 versus Big 12 teams in his career, 0-2 vs. Texas Tech while at UNM.
New Mexico is 60-55 all-time against current members of the Big 12. Most of those games – 80 of the 115 in fact – have come against Texas Tech. UNM is 40-40 against the Red Raiders, plus 2-0 vs. Baylor, 4-6 vs. Colorado, 2-1 vs. Iowa State, 1-1 vs. Kansas, 1-0 vs. Missouri, 0-2 vs. Oklahoma, 2-1 vs. Oklahoma State, 2-1 vs. Texas and 5-1 vs. Texas A&M.
LOBO HEAD COACH Ritchie McKay – Ritchie McKay is his fourth season in charge of Lobo hoops and his 11th year as a collegiate head coach. He was named UNM’s 18th head coach on March 28, 2002.
He has a career record of 136-128, 53-39 at New Mexico. McKay is 45-12 at home, 34-16 in all non-conference games, 29-7 in non-league games at The Pit and 5-9 in road/neutral games. He is 19-23 in MWC games, 16-5 at home and 3-18 on the road.
The 26-7 record in 2004-05 is easily McKay’s best season, surpassing a 19-11 ledger at Colorado State in 1998-99. The Lobos won the MWC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999. It was McKay’s first trip to the Big Dance.
McKay had previous two-year stops at Portland State (1996-98), Colorado State (1998-2000) and Oregon State (2000-02).
ROUGH START FOR McKAY AT UNM – It was a daunting challenging for McKay in his first two seasons at New Mexico. In his second game as Lobos head coach on Nov. 25, 2002, starting senior point guard Senque (sen-Q) Carey suffered a freak spinal cord injury in the first half against Northwestern (La.) State. He was partially paralyzed for several weeks before regaining full movement, but was unable to resume his playing career. Carey’s absence left New Mexico with just eight scholarship players and two walk-ons. Of those 10 players, seven were in their first year at UNM.
Sophomores Jamaal Williams (Washington) and Chad Bell (Nevada) transferred after the 2002-03 season, leaving New Mexico with just 10 scholarship players for the 2003-04. Mark Walters suffered a torn ACL in May of 2003 and never fully recovered until the 2004-05 season. In August of 2003, Billy Feeney, a promising 6-9 sophomore who had transferred from Portland State, took his own life.
The elimination of the 5/8 rule really helped before the 2004-05 campaign as it was able to add five scholarship players, reaching the full complement of 13.
LOBOS PREDICTED FOR 5TH-PLACE FINISH IN MOUNTAIN WEST – New Mexico was picked to finish fifth in the 2005-06 Mountain West Conference race during the league’s preseason media gathering last month in Salt Lake City. Voters were a combination of head coaches and media. UNM was picked to finish fourth in 2004-05, but ended up second behind Utah.
ROAD WOES DISAPPEAR – New Mexico began the 2004-05 season with a 27-game losing streak in true road games and it had dropped 29 in a row when including contests at neutral sites.
That all changed last year as the Lobos posted an 8-6 record away from The Pit, including a 3-4 ledger in conference games. UNM captured five straight games away from Albuquerque for the first time since 1977-78 and prevailed in back-to-back MWC road games for the first time in five years, since winning three straight (at San Diego State, Air Force and BYU) in 1999-2000.
A LOOK AT KANSAS STATE – Located in Manhattan, Kan., and playing out of the Big 12 Conference, Kansas State returns three starters and eight lettermen from last year’s 17-12 (6-10, 10th Big 12) squad. The Wildcats were picked to finish 11th in the Big 12 by the league’s coaches.
Junior guard Cartier Martin is both the team’s leading scorer and rebounder from a year ago at 10.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. The versatile guard had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists in the season-opening win over Georgia Southern. Martin was again the team leader in both categories during the exhibition season, averaging 17.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He tallied an all-around impressive night against Emporia State, scoring a team-high 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three-point range, with a team-best 10 rebounds and six assists.
The Wildcats also return starting junior guard Lance Harris and sophomore point guard Clent Stewart. Harris was named to the Big 12 All-Reserve team by the league’s media after averaging 10.4 points and 2.3 assists in 29 games. He averaged over 15 points per game over the last 11 games. The first freshman to start every game of a season, Stewart averaged 5.0 points and 2.2 rebounds en route to breaking the rookie mark (116) for assists. In addition, the trio will be aided by the return of five other lettermen and seven newcomers.
Head coach Jim Woolridge (Louisiana Tech `77) is in his 19th year overall, posting a 298-224 record. He is 69-77 in his sixth season at K-State. This is his first meeting against New Mexico.
JIM THORPE RECAP / TOURNAMENT NOTES – David Chiotti had 14 points and 12 rebounds and New Mexico got four 3-pointers from its bench early in the first half during a 62-48 win Sunday over Southern Utah to go 3-0 in Jim Thorpe Classic.
Chiotti, Mark Walters and Tony Danridge led the Lobos in scoring, but it was the reserves who jump-started a lethargic offense in the first half with a 10-0 run.
The Thunderbirds led New Mexico 10-2 when Lobos coach Ritchie McKay went to his bench. Kellen Walter and Jeff Hart delivered back-to-back 3-pointers, Kyle Prochaska hit two free throws and Joel Box dunked off a pass from Chiotti. That put New Mexico in front for good, and reserves Chad Toppert and Darren Prentice also made 3-pointers as the Lobos stretched their lead to 28-17.
The New Mexico reserves scored 16 of the team’s first 22 points and by halftime had hit 6-of-11 shots compared with a 6-for-19 effort from the five starters.
Walters, the unanimous choice for MVP in the round-robin classic, scored 14 points with a variety of drives into the lane. Danridge had a career-high 13 points, all in the second half. Danridge scored six points in an 11-2 run by New Mexico to start the second half, giving New Mexico its biggest lead at 47-29 with 13:04 left.
Post-Tournament Notes
The Lobos have won 12 straight home games and 21 of their past 22
Against Southern Utah, UNM got 18 assists from 9 different players and 7 steals from 6 different players
New Mexico received 21 points from the bench vs. Southern Utah, giving them 70 points from the reserves (out of 157 total points) the past two games
Senior Mark Walters was named the unanimous MVP of the Jim Thorpe Classic…Walters had 14 points and 5 rebounds against Southern Utah, giving him 3-game totals of 51 points and 15 rebounds
Senior David Chiotti tallied 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds against Southern Utah for the 5th double-double of his career…his previous rebounding high was 11 on two occasions, most recently vs. Northern Colorado on Dec. 9, 2004, which was also his last double-double (14 and 11)
Sophomore Tony Danridge scored a career-high 13 points against Southern Utah, all in the second half…his previous high was 10 on two occasions, most recently vs. Wyoming in The Pit last year
The 53-point victory margin over Ole Miss (95-42) ties for UNM’s 7th largest win in school history and ties for the 5th-widest margin in The Pit
Ole Miss shot 25.5% from the floor, the lowest by a Lobo opponent since Northwestern State was held to 24.2% (15-62) in The Pit on Dec. 28, 2003
Walk-on sophomore Blake Harden established a career scoring high for the second straight game with 11 points against Ole Miss…he has 19 points the first 3 games…Harden scored 18 points in 22 games and 108 minutes last year
The Lobos held a 50-24 rebounding edge over Ole Miss, plus a 25-4 margin on 2nd-chance points and 14-0 on fast-break opportunities
For the three games, UNM had a 45-21 margin in points off turnovers, 48-14 on 2nd-chance points and 24-5 on fast break points
UNM shot 80% from the FT line and had a nifty assist-to-turnover ratio of 51 to 25
DEFENSE AND MORE DEFENSE – UNM has held three straight opponents to less than 50 points for the first time since the 1983-84 season. It was 22 years ago when the Lobos won at Air Force (57-47), Colorado State (55-47) and Wyoming (40-38). However, that was before the shot clock was part of college basketball.
You have to go back 60 years to find the last time the Lobos pulled off this feat in the first three games of the season. In 1945-46, UNM put the clamps on New Mexico State twice (38-31 and 50-23) and Arizona (42-37).
The three Jim Thorpe Classic opponents were held to just 45.7 points, while shooting 36% from the floor and only 24% from 3-point. UNM collected 22 steals.
FIRST-HALF BURSTS – New Mexico led Ole Miss 13-11 with 10:59 left in the first half, then proceeded to finish the period with a 31-4 run and a 44-15 halftime lead. Against Southern Utah, the Lobos trailed 10-2, missing five of their first six shots. A 20-2 sizzle made it 22-12 and UNM never trailed again.
2005-06 PERSONNEL PICTURE – The Lobos return eight lettermen, including two starters, from last year’s team that finished 26-7, won the MWC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999. Chad Toppert, a redshirt last season, gives the Lobos nine players total returning from 2004-05.
The biggest loss from a year ago is Danny Granger, the 17th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, going to the Indiana Pacers. The versatile 6-8 forward led the team in scoring (18.8 ppg), rebounding (8.9 rpg), blocks (2.0 bpg) and steals (2.1 spg). He was an All-American (AP honorable mention, Basketball Times 3rd Team), two-time first team All-MWC and the 2005 MWC Tournament Most Valuable Player.
Other starters lost include Alfred Neale and Troy DeVries, both who are playing professionally as well. The trio of Granger, DeVries (11.0 ppg) and Neale (10.3) combined to average 40.1 points a game. Additionally, they were the top 3-pointer shooters on the team, making a combined 43% (197-of-455) of their attempts.
Other lettermen not returning are 6-7 forward Bambale Osby, 6-0 guard Ryan Wall and 6-9 forward Sean Phaler. Osby, Wall and Phaler all decided to transfer following the 2005 season.
Returning starters include senior forward David Chiotti (10.4 ppg) and senior guard Mark Walters (10.5 ppg). Senior Kris Collins, who started 18 games before being sidelined with a foot injury, senior Jeff Hart, junior Kellen Walter and sophomores Tony Danridge, Blake Harden and Darren Prentice are also be back.
McKay and his staff welcome six new faces to the team in 2005-06, three junior college transfers (Joel Box, Kyle Prochaska and Anthony Teague), two freshmen (Daniel Faris and Ryan Kersten) and a Division I transfer from Kansas (J.R. Giddens eligible in 2006-07).
CHIOTTI/WALTERS COULD JOIN 1,000-POINT CLUB – Seniors David Chiotti and Mark Walters have a good shot at becoming the 23rd and 24th Lobos to score 1,000 career points. Chiotti has 823 points in his 91-game career while Walters has 786 after 89 games.
Both could also gain entrance into a more exclusive club, that of 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career. Chiotti needs 53 boards for 500 while Walters is 137 caroms shy. The last Lobo to do so was Lamont Long during the 1998-99 season.
POSTSEASON PERENNIALS
UNM has appeared in the NCAA Tournament or NIT eight of the past 10 years and 19 times in the last 22 seasons, dating to 1983-84. The Lobos participated in the NIT from 2000-02, advancing to the second round in 2000 and the quarterfinals in 2001. The Lobos have also made eight NCAA Tournament appearances since 1991, including a school-record four straight from 1996-99, moving to the second round each time.
NOTES FROM THE ARC
Shooting 39.1% from 3-point range last year, New Mexico enjoyed its 3rd-best season accuracy of all-time and highest accuracy since the 1997-98 team made 40.2% of its tries…the Lobos ranked 19th in the nation…only two other New Mexico teams shot 40% or better for an entire season: 1988-89 and 1997-98
While the team shot 39.1% for the season, UNM’s four primary longe-range shooters – Troy DeVries, Danny Granger, Alfred Neale and Mark Walters – combined to make 42.3% (232-549) of their attempts
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 in 2003-04..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
UNM poured in 68.4% (13-19) from beyond the arc in the home win against BYU, the fourth-best accuracy in school history…New Mexico actually started 11 of 13 then was 12-15 before missing 3 of its last 4 from long range
In MWC games only, New Mexico led the league in 3-point FG percentage (38.8%) and 3-point FG percentage defense (31.1%)
Opponents shot 31.5% from 3-point range, the lowest since the 1999-2000 Lobos allowed 31.4%
UNM has made a 3-point basket in 489 straight games, the 12th-longest active streak in NCAA Div. I hoops…UNLV is 1st at more than 595
2004-05 REVIEW – It was a breakout season for the University of New Mexico in 2004-05 as it won the Mountain West Conference Tournament to culminate a sparkling nine-game winning streak and return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years. The Lobos, picked to finish fourth in the MWC preseason poll, fell to 23rd-ranked Villanova 55-47 in the first round of the Syracuse Regional.
New Mexico finished 26-7 on the year, the second-highest win total in school history and a 12-win improvement from 2003-04. It’s also two more victories than the previous two seasons combined as UNM went 24-32 in 2002-03 and 2003-04.
Only national champion North Carolina and Texas A&M progressed by a greater margin that UNM did in 2004-05. The Tar Heels and Aggies each constructed 14 more wins than last year. The Lobos closed the season by winning 9 of 10 and 12 of 14, including their first conference tournament title since 1996.
The No. 2 seed in the MWC Tournament in Denver, UNM ran past BYU, San Diego State and 15th-ranked Utah to claim the league’s automatic bid to the Big Dance.
Before the loss to Villanova, the Lobos had won five straight games away from Albuquerque, a feat last achieved in 1977-78 when they won six in a row.
It was the first NCAA appearance for UNM’s Ritchie McKay, either as a player, assistant coach or head coach. McKay did have a 2-1 record in the 1999 NIT while at Colorado State. His previous eight teams had never won more than 19 games in a season.
After starting the conference season 1-3, the Lobos finished 10-4 in the MWC, placing second behind nationally-ranked Utah. The 10 wins came on the heels of four straight losing records in conference play and were the most since 11 victories in the Western Athletic Conference in 1998.
The Lobos’ nine-game winning streak began against Air Force on Feb. 14 when the quintet of David Chiotti, Troy DeVries, Danny Granger, Alfred Neale and Mark Walters started together for the first time. The nine-game skein is the longest for a Ritchie McKay-coached team and the Lobos’ best run since taking nine straight in 2000-01.
2004-05 NITTY-GRITTY
A 12-win improvement from 2003-04 and 16 games better than two years ago
The 26 wins are the 2nd-most in school history, trailing only 1995-96 (28-5)
10 conference wins for the first time in seven years, since the 1997-98 squad finished 11-5 in the Mountain Division of the Western Athletic Conference
Had a 9-game winning streak between Feb. 14-March 12
26-4 record with Danny Granger, 0-3 when he was out with an injury
16-2 with Danny Granger since Dec. 22
Granger was named a 3rd team All-American by Basketball Times, MWC Player of the Year by CollegeInsider.com and MVP of the MWC Tournament
8-6 record away from The Pit, 8-3 with Danny Granger
Won 5 straight games away from Albuquerque for the first time since 1977-78
All five Lobo starters averaged in double figures
UNM was 3-4 in MWC road games, 3-1 with Danny Granger
Won consecutive MWC road games for the first time in five years, since winning three straight (at San Diego State, Air Force and BYU) in 1999-2000
18-1 in The Pit – including nine straight wins to end the season – the only loss being dealt by nationally-ranked Wake Forest…18 home wins are the most since the 1998-99 team finished 19-1…UNM has also captured 30 of its past 33 home games
DOUBLE YOUR FUN – Both the UNM men’s and women’s teams captured MWC Tournament titles in Denver last year, the first time that’s happened in school history. The Lobo women (26-5) won their third straight conference tournament and made their fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The only other time that both the men and women played in the NCAA Tournament in the same year was 1998.
A BOWL AND TWO BIDS – New Mexico was one of 11 schools in 2004-05 to have its football team play in a bowl game and also have both its men’s and women’s basketball teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament during the 2004-05 academic season. The others were Boston College, Connecticut, Iowa State, LSU, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and Utah.