Dec. 15, 2005
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A pair of 5-3 teams go at it Saturday when New Mexico hosts Oregon. Game time is 7:06 p.m., Mountain Time from The Pit/Bob King Court in Albuquerque. The game will be televised back to the Northwest by the Oregon Sports Network and will be available nationally via the ESPN Full Court subscription package on DirecTV and Dish Network.
New Mexico looks for its 15th straight home win after slipping past a determined New Mexico State team Tuesday, 71-68 in overtime. The Lobos would also like to put an end to a six-game losing skid against Pac-10 opposition. The last win was 78-52 over Washington on Jan. 2, 2000. UNM is 5-0 at home this year, but 0-3 away from The Pit, including an 81-71 setback to then-No. 13 Washington last Saturday in the Wooden Classic in Anaheim, Calif.
Lobo head coach Ritchie McKay has a personal five-game losing streak against Oregon. He’s 1-6 in his career against the Ducks, the lone win coming eight years ago when he was at Portland State.
Oregon stopped a three-game losing streak Tuesday with a 75-66 home victory over Santa Clara. The Ducks won their first four games before falling to Vanderbilt, Georgetown and Illinois.
The Lobos’ 14-game home winning streak is the school’s ninth-longest and it currently ranks No. 9 in NCAA Div. I hoops through games of Dec. 13. It’s New Mexico’s most successful string since taking 16 in a row from Nov. 13, 1998 to Feb. 1, 1999. UNM’s last home loss was Dec. 22, 2004, to No. 5 Wake Forest, 81-64.
GAME SPONSORS – The Oregon game is sponsored by Alltel and Big I 107.9.
YOUTH NIGHT / THROWBACK NIGHT FOR ALCORN STATE – Next Tuesday’s game against Alcorn State is Youth Night and Throwback Night. Tickets are just $5 for fans ages 18 and under.
Additionally, the current Lobos will wear turquoise uniforms similar to those donned by several UNM teams in the mid to late-1970s. Hot dogs will be just $1 and music from that era will be played throughout the evening. The game is sponsored by Dairy Queen and Big Oldies 98.5.
NEW MEXICO-OREGON SERIES NOTES – New Mexico and Oregon do battle for the eighth time since the initial meeting in 1961. The Lobos have a 5-2 series lead, although the Ducks took a 79-75 victory last year in Eugene. The last two games between UNM and UO in The Pit were in the postseason NIT. UNM won in 1988 and 1990.
Oregon returns all but one player from last year’s squad that finished 14-13 overall and 6-12 in the Pac-10. The Ducks are still young, however, as the roster lists just two seniors in guard Brandon Lincoln (13.5 minutes/game) and 7-foot center Matt Short (32 minutes in five games).
A trio of perimeter players – Aaron Brooks, Malik Hairston and Bryce Taylor – all averaged in double figures a year ago and combined for 44 points in last year’s game at Eugene.
Hairston leads a balanced scoring attack, averaging 14.9 ppg. He’s followed by Ivan Johnson (10.4), Taylor (10.1) and Brooks (10.1). Post Marty Leunen is averaging 8.5 rebounds.
Head coach Ernie Kent is in his 15th year as a collegiate head coach and his ninth season at Oregon. Kent, a 1977 Oregon graduate, has an overall record of 244-177 and 154-87 with the Ducks. He led Oregon to the Elite Eight in 2002.
Former New Mexico assistant coach Scott Duncan is in his sixth year on Kent’s staff. Duncan served eight years for Gary Colson in the 1980s and was also on Dave Bliss’ staff for one season.
LAST YEAR IN EUGENE – The steady shooting hand that propelled New Mexico to its best start in six years disappeared in the second half of a tough 79-75 setback at Oregon.
The Lobos came into the game shooting 55% from the floor, including 44% from 3-point. Facing a man-to-man defense, UNM connected on 53% of its shots in the first half to lead 43-41 at the break. Senior Danny Granger led the way with 14 points as New Mexico turned a 5-0 deficit into a 30-24 advantage with 7:22 left in the period.
The second half was a different story, but the Lobos were still able to make it interesting. Missing 14 of its first 17 attempts from the floor as Oregon went into a zone, UNM fell behind 61-52. Down by eight at 65-57, Troy DeVries capped a 7-0 run with a fast break layup to trim the deficit to one. David Chiotti had a chance to give New Mexico the lead the next time down the floor, but missed a pair of free throws.
The Ducks pushed the margin back to nine at 73-64 with 3:46 to go. UNM rallied with another 7-0 burst on four free throws plus a 3-pointer by Alfred Neale, making it 73-71 with 1:48 left. Down 78-75 with 13 seconds remaining, New Mexico had a chance to cut it to one or tie, but Mark Walters lost the ball out of bounds when he slipped on a hard drive to the basket.
The Lobos shot just 26% (8-31) from the field in the second half to finish at a season-low 39.7% (25-63) for the game. They had trouble from long range all night, making only 7 of 22 for 24%. Neale made 4 of 7 from 3-point while the rest of the team misfired on 19 of 22.
Granger finished with 19 points, although he did not score the final 15:15 of the game. He added a season-high 15 rebounds, plus 4 blocks and 4 steals. Neale came off the bench to toss in 15. Walters came close to his third career double-double with 14 points and 9 boards. Chiotti added 13.
New Mexico did not have an answer for Oregon’s Aaron Brooks. The 6-foot lightning-quick point guard tallied a then-career-high 22 points, plus 8 assists and, remarkably, a team-high 6 rebounds and even a blocked shot.
New Mexico outrebounded the Ducks 40-28, including 14-3 on the offensive end
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 138-131, 55-42 at New Mexico. McKay is 47-12 at home, 36-19 in all non-conference games, 31-7 in non-league games at The Pit and 5-12 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.
NEW MEXICO STATE RECAP & NOTES – Mark Walters scored 20 points, five of them on free throws in overtime, and New Mexico held off New Mexico State 71-68. Walters consistently hit big shots in the waning minutes of regulation and overtime. His 3-pointer with 20.5 seconds remaining in regulation tied it at 58 to force overtime and his three free throws in the final 18.6 seconds helped secure the Lobos’ 14th straight win at home. Walters’ made up for the two free throws he missed with 1:44 left when the Lobos were down 56-55.
New Mexico snapped a two-game losing streak and avoided a sweep by New Mexico State of this year’s series between the state’s only Division I schools. The Aggies beat New Mexico 67-61 in Las Cruces 10 days ago.
Tyrone Nelson led the Aggies with 23 points and David Fisher had 10 points and 9 rebounds. But the Aggies missed five free throws in overtime, including a pair by guard Elijah Ingram with 4.2 seconds left and the Aggies down 71-68. After Ingram’s second miss, a scramble for the rebound ended in a tie ball but the Lobos got the ball on the alternate possession rule.
New Mexico State led 58-55 after Fisher scored a lay-up with 1:23 left. Things looked even better for the Aggies when New Mexico center David Chiotti was called for a charge. With New Mexico State milking the clock, Nelson was called for traveling with 34.2 seconds left and Walters tied it with a wide open 3 from the top of the key.
New Mexico State then got the ball in the hands of Ingram and he hit Nelson with a pass under the basket. Nelson appeared to be fouled by at least one Lobo, but there was no call as Nelson muscled up a 3-foot shot that came up short.
New Mexico got the final possession and Walters heaved a length-of-the-floor pass to Chiotti, who missed an off-balance 6-footer from the baseline as time ran out.
Chiotti scored 13 points while Walters had 7 rebounds. Ingram scored 11 points for NMSU and Shaun Davis had 10.
New Mexico State scored the final eight points of the first half to take a 32-28 lead at the break, then rallied from nine down midway through the second half with a 10-0 run. The run ended with a 3-pointer by Davis with 4:11 left that gave the Aggies a 52-51 lead.
UNM trailed at halftime (32-28) for the third straight game…the OT victory marked just the third time in 32 games under Ritchie McKay that UNM has rallied after halftime
New Mexico leads the series with NMSU 104-92, including 3 wins in the last 4 games
It was the Lobos’ first overtime game since Jan. 18, 2003, an 85-81 loss at Wyoming…the last OT game at The Pit was Feb. 5, 2002, an 84-81 UNM win over UNLV…it’s the 11th time the Lobos and Aggies have gone to OT…UNM leads 6-5
Attendance was a season-high 15,480
Guilty of no more than 12turnovers in the first six games and an average of 9.8 over that span, UNM committed 21 against the Aggies…after 22 miscues against Washington, the Lobos have surpassed 20 TOs in consecutive games for the first in six years, since Nov. 20 and 24, 1999, when they had 20 vs. St. John’s and 22 against Stephen F. Austin
New Mexico used a different starting lineup for the first time in eight games this season as Kyle Prochaska made his first start at forward in place of Blake Harden
For the second time in his career, senior guard Mark Walters has produced back-to-back 20-point games…he had 20 against New Mexico State preceded by 21 against Washington…last year he had 22 vs. Utah and 20 at San Diego State…he’s reached 20 three times this season and on six occasions in his career
Walters scored 15 points after halftime against the Aggies, including 5-6 FTs…he had 16 in the second half last Saturday against Washington
For the second straight game, true freshman point guard Ryan Kersten set career highs for points (8) and minutes (20)…the past two games, Kersten has played 39 minutes, scoring 11 points on 4-8 FGs, 3-6 from 3-point and 0 turnovers…he played just 12 minutes in three of the first six games to open his Lobo career
Junior forward Joel Box contributed 7 points and 2 rebounds in 13 minutes…in 26 minutes the past two games, Box has 18 points and 7 rebounds…that compares to 13 points and 10 rebounds in the first six games of the year
All 11 Lobos who played got at least one rebound…UNM held a 34-31 advantage on the boards, including 13-10 on the offensive glass
New Mexico had a season-high 5 blocks and tied a season-best with 10 steals
SEASON NOTES – New Mexico opened the year 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
After shooting 77% (69-90) from the FT line the first five games, UNM has made just 58.7% (37-63) of its tries the past three, lowering the season accuracy to 69.3%
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
UNM held Ole Miss to 25.5% shooting 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
Opponents are shooting 29.7% from 3-point…the lowest percentage since the shot became rule in 1986-87 is 29.7% in 1992-93
The Lobos had won 21 straight games – and 28 of 29 – when leading at halftime before the 68-56 loss at Kansas State…UNM led the Wildcats 36-27 at the break…the last setback was at Oregon a year ago…UNM led the Ducks 43-41 before losing 79-75 at Eugene
New Mexico was outrebounded 33-20 at Kansas State…that’s the fewest caroms for UNM in eight seasons, since gathering 20 in a 77-62 win over Colorado State on Feb. 7, 1998
In 33 games last year, the Lobos were 2-2 in games decided by 4 points or less…so far, they’re 2-0
STATS TRENDS – Since 2002-03, UNM is 3-29 when it trails at halftime…the wins came against New Mexico State this season (trailed 32-28, won 71-68 in OT), last year at home against Colorado State (down 38-33, won 72-61) and Nov. 25, 2002 against Northwestern State (trailed 36-31, won 60-56)
The Lobos are 4-1 this season when they shoot better than their opponent…since 2003-04, New Mexico is 40-3 in that situation…the only losses came last year against Air Force (UNM 69.2% to AFA’s 50%) and to Villanova (29.8% to 28.3%) in the NCAA Tournament, and this year against Washington (54% to 50%)
CHIOTTI/WALTERS GETTING CLOSE TO 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 883 points in his 96-game career while Walters has 877 after 94 games.
Both could also gain entrance into a more exclusive club, that of 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career. Chiotti needs 24 boards for 500 while Walters is 111 caroms shy. The last Lobo to do so was Lamont Long during the 1998-99 season.
LOBOS IN THE NBA – Three former Lobos are currently on NBA rosters. Danny Granger (2004-05) is a rookie with the Indiana Pacers. Kenny Thomas (1996-99) plays for the Sacramento Kings and Charles Smith (1994-97) is with Portland.