Jan. 6, 2006
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New Mexico opens its conference home season Saturday, hosting upstart Colorado State. Tipoff is 7:05 p.m. MST from The Pit/Bob King Court in Albuquerque. UNM remains at home to entertain TCU on Wednesday at 9 for a game televised nationally by ESPN2.
The Lobos are 9-5 overall and 0-1 in the MWC after dropping their conference opener at Utah 64-49. UNM had season-lows for points and FG shooting (32.6%) while losing at Salt Lake City for the 17th straight time. New Mexico is 0-5 away from The Pit this season. UNM has not started 0-2 in league play since 2002-03.
Picked to finish eighth in the MWC preseason poll, Colorado State has been a real surprise. Despite an 83-75 loss at San Diego State in their league opener on Wednesday, the Rams are 11-3 overall, equaling their entire win total from a year ago (11-17). CSU’s only two losses in non-conference play were at Kansas State and to Iowa State in the championship game of the Rainbow Invitational in Honolulu.
The Rams come into the game as the best shooting team in the MWC at 49.9% while the Lobos rank last in the loop in field goal defense at 45.1%. CSU is also tops in the league in FG defense, allowing its opponents to make just 38.9% of their attempts from the floor. Colorado State is averaging 77.6 points. UNM is allowing only 61.9.
Saturday’s game pits a pair of old friends. UNM’s Ritchie McKay worked for current Colorado State boss Dale Layer at Queens College in North Carolina during the 1989-90 season when Layer was the head coach. And, Layer succeeded McKay as head coach at Colorado State following the 1999-2000 season. McKay was 37-23 in his two years with the Rams, including 2-1 in the 1999 NIT.
PACK THE PIT SATURDAY – Saturday’s game against Colorado State is “Pack The Pit.” All tickets are just $10 and the first 2,500 fans will receive Lobo Beanie Caps courtesy of Sandia Casino. The ticket office at The Pit opens at 4. For next Wednesday’s game against TCU, the first 7,500 fans will receive Lobo Howl Towels courtesy of the New Mexico Lottery.
LOBO NITTY-GRITTY – New Mexico has won 18 straight home games, the fourth-longest streak in school history and currently 5th in NCAA Div. I hoops through games of Jan. 5…Gonzaga and Illinois lead with 30 in a row followed by Southern Illinois (29) and Winthrop (21)…it’s New Mexico’s most successful string since taking a school-record 41 straight from Feb. 10, 1996 to Feb. 26, 1998…the last home loss for the Lobos was more than a year ago, an 81-74 setback to No. 5 Wake Forest on Dec. 22, 2004…after going 18-1 at home last year, the Lobos have also won 27 of their past 28 in The Pit and are 39-3 in their last 42
The Lobos have won 10 straight games over Colorado State in Albuquerque, and are 33 of 34 here since 1972…the Rams are 3-34 against UNM in The Pit…their only wins came in 1970, `71 and `93
Colorado State snapped the Lobos’ third-longest home court winning streak at 21 games on Jan. 21, 1993…that was the last time the Rams won on the UNM’s home floor
The Lobos have prevailed in seven consecutive MWC home games and they are 12-1 in their last 13 MWC contests in The Pit…the Lobos’ most recent loss to an MWC team in Albuquerque was dealt by UNLV (78-75) on March 1, 2004
COLORADO STATE REPORT – The Rams feature an all underclassmen starting lineup led by one of the league’s top players in 7-foot forward Jason Smith. Just a sophomore, Smith is among the MWC’s leaders in scoring (16.1 ppg), rebounding (7.4 rpg) and blocks (2.43 bpg). Forward Michael Harrison has been a pleasant addition as well. The 6-9 junior college transfer is averaging 12.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks a game. Two other Rams – Sean Morris and Cory Lewis – are also averaging in double figures.
CSU’s tall frontline has produced the league’s second-best shot-blocking unit at 7.43 rejections a game. By contrast, the Lobos average just a little more than two blocks a game.
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 142-133, 59-44 at New Mexico. McKay is 51-12 at home, 40-20 in all non-conference games, 35-7 in non-league games at The Pit and 5-13 in road/neutral games. He is 19-24 in MWC games, 16-5 at home and 3-19 on the road.
The 26-7 record in 2004-05 is easily the best season of McKay’s career, 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, while posting the second-highest win total in school history. 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).
BIG-TIME TURNAROUND UNDER McKAY – Head coach Ritchie McKay’s first two Lobo teams went 24-32, but UNM had just eight scholarship players available in his first season of 2002-03 and only 10 in his second year. Since the 5/8 rule was repealed after the 2003-04 season, the Lobos have posted a 35-12 record since 2004-05, a .745 winning percentage. Among Mountain West Conference schools, only Utah with 37 has more wins than the Lobos the past two years. Other tidbits:
McKay, Norm Ellenberger and Dave Bliss are the only head coaches to take the Lobos to the NCAA Tournament within their first three years at the post
Picked to finish 4th in the MWC in 2004-05, the Lobos finished 26-7 overall, 2nd in the conference at 10-4, won the MWC Tournament for the first time in nine years and only the third time in school history, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years
The 26 wins in 2004-05 were the second-best total in school history and were a 12-win improvement from 2003-04…that tied for the 2nd-largest jump in program history and tied for the 3rd-highest in NCAA Div. I men’s basketball
Won five straight games away from The Pit in 2004-05, a feat last accomplished in 1977-78
Five Lobo seniors who completed their eligibility at UNM are now playing professionally (Javin Tindall, Ruben Douglas, Alfred Neale, Troy DeVries and Danny Granger)…the other two – Ryan Ashcraft and Senque Carey – had their careers cut short by injury
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.
UTAH RECAP & NOTES – Bryant Markson scored a career-high 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead Utah to a 64-49 victory over New Mexico on Wednesday in a rematch of last season’s Mountain West Conference championship game.
Johnnie Bryant added 13 points and the Utes (8-4, 1-0 MWC) avenged two losses to the Lobos last season. Utah won the MWC regular-season title last spring but lost to the Lobos (9-5) late in the regular season and again in the league tournament championship game.
Utah outrebounded New Mexico (9-5, 0-1) by a 38-27 margin and kept the Lobos winless in five games on the road this season.
Mark Walters scored 19 and David Chiotti added eight of his 13 points in the second half for the Lobos, who were just 16-for-49 from the field and never recovered after Utah started the second half with a 16-6 run.
It was just the second time in his career that Markson reached 20 points. He topped the 20 points he scored against Colorado State last January. The home team has won the last seven regular-season meetings between the Utes and Lobos and it was quickly apparent in the second half that the streak was going to continue.
After going jus 3-for-12 on 3-pointers in the first half, the Utes made four of their first seven shots from beyond the arc in the second half to take a 50-37 lead. Ricky Johns gave Utah a 39-29 lead with a 3-pointer, Markson followed with another 3 and Luke Nevill converted a three-point play in a 9-2 run that put the Utes up 45-31 with 10:44 remaining.
Walters got the Lobos within 47-34 on two free throws with 9:37 left to play, but Markson answered with his third 3-pointer on his third attempt.
The Lobos rallied late in the second half and pulled within 57-46 on Chiotti’s 3-pointer with about 4 minutes remaining. But after a time out the Utes got the ball to Markson on the baseline and he leaped for a two-handed dunk to start a 7-2 run that sealed it for Utah.
The Lobos have lost 17 straight to Utah in Salt Lake and are now 5-50 all-time against the Utes in Salt Lake since the series started in 1952
Utah snapped the Lobos’ nine-game winning streak against Mountain West Conference competition
The Lobos scored their fewest points of the season and had their worst shooting game of the season, making 32.6% (16-49)…the previous lows were 56 points on three occasions and 33.9% (19-56) shooting at New Mexico State
UNM was 7 of 19 (37%) from 3-point, but just 9 of 30 (30%) from inside the arc
Mark Walters’ 3-pointer in the first half provided UNM with a 3-point FG in its 500th straight game…the last time the Lobos failed to hit a 3 was Jan. 3, 1991, when they went 0-8 against Colorado State
Since 2002-03, the Lobos are 3-31 when trailing at halftime…UNM trailed 29-25 tonight
Senior Mark Walters scored 19 points, his best output in 7 games, since getting 20 against New Mexico State on Dec. 13
Senior David Chiotti made a career-high 2 3-pointers…his 4 rebounds are the fewest since he had 3 against Washington on Dec. 10