Dec. 21, 2005
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Winners of three in a row overall and 16 straight at The Pit, the New Mexico Lobos seek out their first road win of the season when they meet the University of San Diego Toreros Thursday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Tipoff is 8 p.m. Mountain Time. It will be the Lobos’ fourth game in 10 days and fifth in the past 13 days.
UNM is 7-3 following an 87-75 victory over Alcorn State on Tuesday, increasing the current home winning streak to 16 games. New Mexico’s last home loss was nearly a year ago to the day, an 81-74 setback to No. 5 Wake Forest on Dec. 22, 2004.
This is UNM’s fourth game away from Albuquerque in 2005-06. The Lobos have lost at Kansas State and New Mexico State and to nationally-ranked Washington on a neutral floor in Anaheim, Calif. New Mexico was 8-6 away from The Pit last year.
The Lobos’ 16-game home winning streak ties for the sixth-longest in school history and it currently ranks No. 7 in NCAA Div. I hoops through games of Dec. 20. Washington and Gonzaga lead with 30 in a row. It’s New Mexico’s most successful string since taking 16 straight from Nov. 13, 1998 to Feb. 1, 1999.
Members of the West Coast Conference, San Diego is 8-3 after blasting Loyola of Chicago 90-57 on Tuesday. The Toreros shot 64% from the floor and 67% (10-15) from 3-point. Loyola came into the game 7-1, including wins over Purdue and Bradley.
USD also owns home wins over MWC preseason conference favorite San Diego State (90-80) and WAC member Fresno State (71-62).
The Toreros had a six-game winning streak snapped by Texas-Arlington last Saturday, 94-91 in overtime. UT-Arlington will be in Albuquerque next week for the Comcast Lobo Invitational.
High-scoring USD is averaging 84.2 points a game as four starters score in double figures. The Lobos are allowing just 62.9 points a game, and they have yielded more than 72 points just twice, that coming in an 81-71 loss to undefeated Washington on Dec. 10 and Tuesday against Alcorn State.
FAMILY PACK AVAILABLE FOR COMCAST LOBO INVITATIONAL – The Comcast Lobo Invitational Family Pack is currently available exclusively at the ticket office at The Pit for the Dec. 28-29 tournament. Fans can get four tickets, four hot dogs and two Comcast On-Demand pay-per-view vouchers for only $48. This offer is only good at The Pit.
HOLIDAY TICKET OFFICE HOURS AT THE PIT
Dec. 23-27 closed
Dec. 28-29 open at 3 p.m.
Dec. 30 open at 4 p.m.
Dec. 31 closed
Jan. 1 open at 11 a.m.
Jan. 2 closed
Jan. 3 open at 8:30 a.m.
The ticket office at the UNM bookstore will be closed from Dec. 23-Jan. 2.
NEW MEXICO-SAN DIEGO SERIES – This is the fourth meeting between UNM and USD. The Lobos have a 2-1 edge, including an 88-75 victory two years ago in The Pit. The Toreros beat New Mexico in Albuquerque 64-53 on Nov. 27, 1988.
Ritchie McKay is 2-2 in his career against the Toreros, 1-0 while at UNM. The other win was 65-56 during the 2001-02 season when he was at Oregon State. He is 0-2 at San Diego with one loss each while he was at Portland State (85-66) and Oregon State (80-71).
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 140-131, 57-42 at New Mexico. McKay is 49-12 at home, 38-19 in all non-conference games, 33-7 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).
ALCORN STATE RECAP & NOTES – David Chiotti got his sixth career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds and New Mexico’s reserves scored 25 first-half points in an 87-75 win over Alcorn State Tuesday night.
New Mexico extended its homecourt winning streak to 16 games against the Braves, who have yet to play a home game this season.
Almaad Jackson with 33 points and Delvin Thompson with 20 provided most of the offense for the Braves, whose early season cross-country schedule has included losses at Florida State, Arizona State and Southern Cal.
Alcorn State, down 63-47 with 8:00 left, cut the deficit to 72-67 with 2:32 remaining on a 3-pointer by Clif Douglass. Douglass led the Indians’ rally by hitting three straight 3s. The Lobos outscored the Indians 8-2 over the final minute.
New Mexico used runs of 10-0 and 9-0 in the first half en route to a 41-31 lead at the break. Reserve guard Kris Collins, who lost his starting job earlier this month, scored six points in the 10-0 run. Ryan Kersten, who replaced Collins in the starting lineup, hit a pair 3s to spark the 9-0 run that put the Lobos ahead 29-16.
The Lobos got their final nine points of the first half on 3-pointers from reserves Kellen Walter and Darren Prentice. Walter, who went 4-for-4 on 3s in New Mexico’s win over Oregon on Saturday, hit two 3s in the final minute. Walter’s 3-point streak ended when he missed from behind the arc with 10:16 left in the game.
Tony Danridge tied a career-high with 15 points for New Mexico, 13 of them in the second half and Blake Harden had a career-high 13 points.
UNM improved to 4-0 all-time against Alcorn State and 19-1 overall against teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference
The New Mexico starting lineup of F David Chiotti, F Kyle Prochaska, F Tony Danridge, G Mark Walters and G Ryan Kersten improved to 2-0 on the season…the Lobos are 4-0 in games Prochaska has started
All 13 UNM players in uniform got in the game and 12 played at least 5 minutes
New Mexico hit just 2 of its first 10 shots and was 0-4 from 3-point range in the first seven minutes of the game, but connected on 10 of its final 16, including 6-8 on threes, to take a 41-31 lead at halftime…the Lobos were 0-6 from 3-point in the second half, but 12 of 16 from inside the arc after the break
The Lobos are 6-1 when leading at the half this season and 31-2 over the past two years with a halftime lead
UNM committed just 3 turnovers in the first 33 minutes and matched its season-low with 8 on the night
The Lobos’ 43 free throw attempts and 33 free throws made are both season-highs and the most by UNM since a 40-of-53 performance vs. Utah on March 1, 2003…New Mexico made its last 12 free throws in the game vs. the Braves
Alcorn State forward Almaad Jackson’s 33 points are the most by a Lobo opponent since New Mexico State’s Duane John had 33 at Las Cruces on Dec. 3, 2003
Alcorn State’s nine 3-pointers were the most against UNM this year
Senior forward David Chiotti notched his second double-double of the season and sixth of his career…Chiotti led UNM in scoring for the second straight game (16) and tied a career-high with 12 rebounds…he also had a dozen against Southern Utah…Chiotti has 493 career rebounds, good for 24th all-time at UNM
Freshman guard Ryan Kersten scored in double figures for the second straight game (12 points) and had season-highs of 4 assists and 5 rebounds…Kersten also had 2 3s…in his last 4 games (98 minutes), Kersten has 37 points on 9-16 3s, plus 10 assists, 7 rebounds and just 2 turnovers
Junior forward Kellen Walter hit his first 2 threes of the game, giving him 6 straight makes from beyond the arc over the last two games, before missing on his 3rd attempt in the second half
Senior guard Kris Collins finished with 9 points, his best output in 5 games since scoring 12 against UTEP
Senior guard Mark Walters did not score in double digits for the first time this season, finishing with 7 points, or 10 below his average…it was Walters’ first game under 10 points since scoring 7 in the 2005 MWC Tournament championship game against Utah
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
Although only 10 games into the season, the Lobos are allowing just 62.9 points a game, 2nd-best in the conference…for an entire season, that would be the lowest figure in 22 years, since the 1983-84 Lobos yielded just 59.2 ppg
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 30.9% 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 6-1 this season when they shoot better than their opponent…since 2003-04, New Mexico is 42-3 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 917 points in his 98-game career while Walters has 898 after 96 games.
Both could also gain entrance into a more exclusive club, that of 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career. Chiotti needs 7 boards for 500 while Walters is 100 caroms shy. The last Lobo to do so was Lamont Long during the 1998-99 season.