Jan. 23, 2006
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From the frying pan to the fire. After knocking off what was the league’s hottest team in Air Force last Saturday in The Pit, the New Mexico Lobos (12-6, 3-2 MWC) are now faced with an even bigger task Wednesday when they travel to league-leading San Diego State (12-6, 5-1 MWC).
The Aztecs, who have won four straight conference games for the first time in 21 years, begin the week atop the conference standings.
Game time is 8:07 p.m. MST from Cox Arena in San Diego. The game will be shown live by SportsWest with local coverage on UPN 50. The telecast will also be part of the ESPN Full Court package.
The challenge for UNM lies in the fact that while it has won 21 straight games in The Pit, it has yet to be victorious in six tries away from Albuquerque in 2005-06. In fact, New Mexico is the only team in NCAA Div. I hoops to be undefeated at home, but winless on the road. The Aztecs are 8-1 at Cox Arena this year after punishing BYU 88-61 last Saturday.
UNM’s daunting journey shifts to UNLV on Saturday. The Rebels begin the week a half game behind San Diego State at 4-1. UNLV hosts Air Force Wednesday.
The Lobos may find some comfort or confidence knowing they swept this demanding trip last year, winning 78-61 at San Diego State and 77-66 at UNLV.
The preseason pick to win the MWC title, San Diego State appears to be playing its best basketball of the season. In conference games only, San Diego State leads the league in scoring offense (77.3 ppg), scoring margin (+12.0) and rebound margin (+8.0).
Juniors Brandon Heath and Marcus Slaughter are the stalwarts of an all-underclassmen starting lineup. Heath ranks No. 1 in the MWC in scoring (18.3 in all games, 21.0 in league), 3-point FGs made (2.72 pg) and free-throw accuracy (84.5) while Slaughter is averaging a double-double at 16 ppg and a conference-best 11 rebounds. Slaughter anchors a big Aztecs front line that has the best rebound margin in the MWC at +5.9 a game.
LOBO NITTY-GRITTY – The Feb. 1 home game against BYU will be the 700th for the Lobos in The Pit…they have a 566-133 record, including 21 straight victories
New Mexico has won 21 straight home games, tied for the 3rd-longest streak in school history and currently 5th in NCAA Div. I hoops through games of Jan. 22…Gonzaga and Southern Illinois lead with 32, followed by Illinois (31) and Winthrop (23)…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 30 of their past 31 in The Pit and are 42-3 in their last 45
New Mexico is 0-6 away from The Pit this year and has lost seven straight including the setback to Villanova in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament…the Lobos won eight games away from Albuquerque last season, tied for 5th-most in school history
UNM stats in 6 games away from The Pit this year: 60.5 ppg, 135-311 FGs (43%), 37-118 (31%) on 3-pointers, 56-100 FTs (56%) and a negative rebound margin of 9.17 a game
The Lobos have prevailed in 10 consecutive MWC home games and they are 14-1 in their last 15 MWC contests in The Pit…the most recent loss was dealt by UNLV (78-75) on March 1, 2004
The Lobos have posted a 39-13 record since 2004-05, a .750 winning percentage…the win total is the best among Mountain West Conference schools during that span
After shooting a season-high 58.3% against Air Force, the Lobos have shot 50% or better in consecutive games for the first time since last year’s MWC Tournament (BYU and SDSU)
UNM’s Mark Walters, Air Force’s Jacob Burtschi and Utah’s Bryant Markson are the only players in the MWC that rank in the top-20 in points, rebounds, assists and steals
Walters and David Chiotti each gained admttance into UNM’s 1,000-point club in the Jan. 14 contest at Wyoming…the last time two Lobos reached 1,000 points in the same season, let alone the same game, was Luc Longley and Rob Robbins in 1989-90
Walters could gain entrance into a more exclusive club, that of 1,000 points and 500 rebounds…there are presently 13 members with Chiotti the most recent addition…Walters is 62 caroms shy with at least 12 games remaining
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 145-134, 62-45 at New Mexico. McKay is 54-12 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 22-25 in MWC games, 19-5 at home and 3-20 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 37-13 record since 2004-05, a .740 winning percentage. That ties Utah for most wins among Mountain West Conference schools over that span. 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.
GOOD START TO ATHLETICS SEASON – New Mexico’s fall sports all posted .500 records or better, highlighted by men’s soccer, which advanced to the NCAA title game before falling to Maryland 1-0. Head coach Jeremy Fishbein’s squad finished 18-2-3 in their fourth NCAA appearance in the past five years.
Football went 6-5, giving head coach Rocky Long his fifth consecutive non-losing season. Women’s soccer was 8-7-4 and made it to the championship match of the MWC Tournament. Volleyball had its best record in nine years, finishing 14-14.
AIR FORCE RECAP & NOTES – Mark Walters scored 20 points and made up for a late turnover by taking a charge as New Mexico extended its homecourt winning streak to 21 games with a 62-59 win over Air Force.
New Mexico has lost to the Falcons only once in the 40-year history of The Pit but this time needed the clutch scoring of Walters, some tenacious defense down the stretch and solid free throw shooting – 13-of-15 in the second half. New Mexico is 24-1 against the Falcons since The Pit opened in 1966.
Still, the Falcons, off to their best start in school history, took the Lobos to the final buzzer. Jacob Burtschi, who scored a career-high 28 points, came up short on his off-balance 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
Burtschi hit his fifth 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to get the Falcons within 60-59. On the ensuing New Mexico possession, Walters threw the ball right into the hands of Air Force guard Antoine Hood. Hood drove into the lane and tried to force his way past Walters, who stood his ground and drew a charging call.
New Mexico freshman Ryan Kersten was fouled with 8 seconds left and hit both free throws, setting up Burtschi’s last-second airball.
New Mexico led 60-56 with 30.6 seconds after Kris Collins, a career 59 percent free throw shooter, hit two free throws with 30.6 seconds remaining. Collins finished 5-for-5 from the line and was part of a five-point turnaround late in the second half that hurt the Falcons’ chances.
Trailing 49-47, Air Force came up with a steal and had a 3-on-1 break. Dan Nwaelele found Hood open underneath, but Hood missed the open layup. New Mexico got the rebound and Collins hit a layup and was fouled. His three-point play put the Lobos up 52-47.
Air Force managed two ties in the final 2:17, the first at 54-54 on a 3-pointer by Matt McCraw and at 56 when McCraw hit two free throws after being fouled by Lobo Tony Danridge on a 3-point shot with 1:14 remaining.
Danridge scored 12 points and Kersten 11 for New Mexico which hit a season-high 58.3 percent of its shots against the best defensive scoring team in the country. Walters made four 3-pointers.
UNM leads the series with Air Force 41-15, including 25-3 in Albuquerque and 24-1 in The Pit
Attendance was a season-high 16,311
New Mexico shot a season-high 58.3% from the floor, making 21 of 36 shots…the previous high was 56.3% (27-48) at home against Colorado State
UNM won for only the 4th time in the past 35 games when trailing at halftime, a record that dates to the start of the 2002-03 season
New Mexico trailed at halftime (25-24) for only the third time during the current 21-game home winning streak…the Lobos were behind Colorado State (38-33) on March 5, 2005, but won 72-61…they trailed New Mexico State (32-28) earlier this year, but won 71-68 in overtime
The Lobos came into the game averaging 12 turnovers a game…that’s what they committed in the first half, but they only had 5 in the second period…the 17 turnovers were the most since 21 against New Mexico State on Dec. 13
UNM made at least half its 3-point FGs (5-10) for only the second time this year: 14-27 vs. Ole Miss…the Lobos came into the game shooting 34.5% from 3-point in all games and just 31% in four MWC contests
The Lobos were 15 of 18 from the FT line, making their last 12 on the night…UNM is shooting 74% from the stripe in home games this season
New Mexico won despite season-lows for offensive rebounds (4) and assists (5)…the assist total is the lowest since 5 at Utah on Feb. 23, 2004…UNM lost that game 73-43
Senior G Kris Collins came into the game as a career 59% shooter from the FT line, including 61% this season…Collins was 5-5, including 2 pressure-cooker tosses with UNM clinging to a 58-56 and 30 seconds left
Senior G Mark Walters (20 points, 15 in the 2nd half) moved into 20th place on the Lobos’ career scoring list with 1,025 points…he has 2 more points than teammate David Chiotti, who has 1,023
Chiotti is now tied with Lewis LaMar for 21st all-time at UNM with 540 career rebounds