Jan. 30, 2006
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The Lobos reach the halfway point of the Mountain West Conference regular season Wednesday as BYU make its annual trek to Albuquerque. It’s the 700th game for New Mexico in The Pit since the doors first opened on Dec. 1, 1966. UNM has a 566-133 record, including a 21-game winning streak.
Game time is 7:07 p.m. from The Pit/Bob King Court. 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.
New Mexico, 12-8 overall and 3-4 in the MWC after dropping a pair of road games last week at San Diego State and UNLV, resides in sixth place in the conference. The Lobos have won five straight games in the month of February and went 6-1 last year.
The Cougars are 12-6 overall, 4-3 in the league and tied with Wyoming for fourth place. Last Saturday, BYU snapped a seven-game losing streak in conference road games with an 86-84 victory at Colorado State. Guard Jimmy Balderson came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points.
GAME SPONSORS/PROMOTIONS – The first 2,500 fans attending the BYU game will receive foam noodles while the first 1,000 UNM students will receive Lobo cinch sacks. Game sponsors are Lovelace, UPN 50 and New Mexico’s WB.
GAME PREVIEW – The Lobos and Cougars are meeting for the 118th time. BYU has a 67-50 series edge, although UNM won the last two games a season ago, 91-72 in The Pit and 85-71 in the opening round of the MWC Tournament in Denver. The Cougars’ last win in Albuquerque was in 2003.
BYU’s roster is comprised of one senior, nine juniors, no sophomores and five freshmen. Redshirt freshman center Trent Plaisted (6-11, 245) is leading the team in scoring (13.1 ppg) and rebounding (5.6 rpg).
The Cougars lead the MWC in scoring, averaging 77.1 points, but they are allowing 71.1 points, which is next to last in the conference. New Mexico is second in the league in scoring defense at 63.7 ppg, but the Lobos are the worst team in the loop in field-goal percentage defense. UNM is allowing opponents to shoot 46.1% overall, 48.5% in seven conference games and 54% over the past four contests.
David Rose is in his first season as head coach of the Cougars after spending eight years as the lead assistant to Steve Cleveland, who went to Fresno State after last season. Rose was head coach at Dixie College from 1990-97. He is a 1983 graduate of the University of Houston and was a shooting guard and co-captain on the Phi Slamma Jamma team that lost to North Carolina State in the NCAA championship game in The Pit.
COUGARS ARE PIT STREAK-BUSTERS – If you’re a Lobos fan wanting to see a home winning streak continue, the last team you want to see enter the building is BYU. Why? Because the two longest streaks in Lobo history have both been stopped by Cougars teams with less than stellar records.
On Feb. 26, 1998, New Mexico had its school-record 41-game run halted by a BYU team that entered the game with an overall mark of 7-20 and 2-10 in conference play. The Cougars had lost 10 of their last 11 games under first-year head coach Steve Cleveland.
The Lobos came into the contest 21-4, 11-1 in the Western Athletic Conference and ranked 16th in the nation. However, they were playing without the services of senior guard Royce Olney, who five days earlier had suffered a torn knee ligament at TCU, prematurely ending his collegiate career.
Perhaps feeling the mental anguish as a result of Olney’s injury, the Lobos were ripped by BYU 83-62, at the time the fourth-worst home defeat on the Pit floor. It was also the first time in 25 years that UNM had lost at home as a ranked team, ending a run of 39 consecutive games.
New Mexico’s second-longest winning streak of 24 games started on Dec. 3, 1973, against Oregon State. Less than two years later on Jan. 25, 1975, BYU put a halt to that skein with a resounding 96-78 victory. Norm Ellenberger’s Lobos were 10-5 coming into the contest (9-0 at home, 1-5 on the road). The Cougars, however, were only 7-8 and had lost four straight under head coach Glenn Potter.
THE HOME WINNING STREAK – New Mexico’s 21-game home winning streak ties for the 3rd-longest streak in school history and is currently 4th in NCAA Div. I hoops through games of Jan. 28. Illinois, Southern Illinois and Gonzaga lead with 33 in a row.
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 13 months 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
The Lobos have also 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.
LOBO NITTY-GRITTY – The Lobos have a 38-15 record since 2004-05, tied with Utah for the most wins among Mountain West Conference schools during that span.
New Mexico is 0-8 away from The Pit this year and has lost nine 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’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 51 caroms shy with at least 10 games remaining
GOV. RICHARDSON MAKES FINANCIAL PLEDGE TO PIT RENOVATION – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson announced at a news conference Jan. 28 that he is pledging $15 million to improving athletics facilities at the University of New Mexico. The focal point of Richardson’s capital outlay is an $8 million down payment for the renovation and modernization of The Pit/Bob King Court. The venerable arena is currently in its 40th year of existence.
Additionally, Richardson said $6 million will be provided to construct an indoor workout complex for Lobo football and other Olympic sports, while $1 million is targeted to build lockerrooms and meetings rooms for men’s and women’s soccer.
The preliminary scope of work at The Pit includes the expansion of the north, east and west concourses. The north concourse will house a new entrance, ticket office and Lobo Store. The expansion of the east and west concourses will provide new restrooms and concessions areas and easier mobility for fans.
Richardson said he would like to see the project at The Pit completed in the next two years.
“It has been almost 23 years since Jim Valvano and North Carolina State won the national championship in The Pit,” said Gov. Richardson. “If it is to continue to be one of the best arenas in college basketball, it has to be updated, and this is the first step in that effort. The Pit is nearly 40 years old. This money will be used to provide fan conveniences that have become necessary to continue UNM’s storied history with NCAA men’s and women’s tournament games.”
“One of the last things Con Colbert (UNM deputy athletics director) and I wanted to see happen before we retired was a renovation plan for The Pit,” said University of New Mexico director of athletics Rudy Davalos. “Governor Richardson’s extremely generous commitment to not only the arena, but to the indoor facility and soccer facility, has made this possible. The modernization of The Pit is a benefit not only to Lobo athletics and our fans, but to the entire state of New Mexico. It will greatly enhance the state boy’s and girl’s high school basketball tournaments, NCAA basketball tournaments that UNM plans to host, plus other events like concerts and shows.”
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 145-136, 62-47 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 22-27 in MWC games, 19-5 at home and 3-22 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 39-15 record since 2004-05. That’s the 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
UNLV RECAP & NOTES – Wendell White scored a career-high 16 points to lead UNLV over New Mexico 67-56. White, a junior guard, went 8-of-10 from the field and the Rebels used a 12-0 run to pull away late. New Mexico did not score in the final 5:03.
JoVan Adams had 13 points and six rebounds for UNLV, while Louis Amundson added 12 points and 8 rebounds. The Rebels out-rebounded New Mexico 35-24.
After the Lobos took their first and only lead of the second half at 56-55 with 5:03 left, the Rebels took the lead for good on a White field goal with 4:23 left. Curtis Terry and Jason Petrumoulx both hit 3-pointers in the next 2:10 to pull away.
David Chiotti led New Mexico with 13 points. Mark Walters added 11 points and 7 rebounds. UNLV shot 26-of-50 (52 percent), while the Lobos were 22-of-53 (42 percent).
The game remained close in the first half with neither team grabbing more than a five-point advantage. UNLV ended the half with an 11-4 run and led 37-32 at halftime.
The road losing streak is now 9 games for UNM, dating to last year’s NCAA Tournament loss to Villanova…UNM is 0-8 away from The Pit this season, 12-0 at home
The Lobos, who trailed 41-31 early in the second half, took a 56-55 lead with 5:03 remaining on freshman Ryan Kersten’s second straight driving layup…however, UNM never scored again as UNLV finished with the last 12 points of the game…the Lobos missed their last 11 shots from the floor, plus one free throw, and they committed 3 turnovers on their final 11 possessions of the night
UNLV shot 52%, making 26 of 50 shots…the past four games, UNM has a 1-3 record, and opponents have shot 54% (97-181) from the field, including 45% (29-64) from 3-point…the Lobos are 0-6 this year when allowing the opposition to shoot 50% or better from the floor
UNM was out-rebounded 35-24…the Lobos’ rebound margin in eight road games is a negative 8.5 and they are 4-9 when getting out-boarded in a game this year
Sophomore Tony Danridge hit the first 3-pointer of his career…it came at the end of the shot clock early in the second half…Danridge had been 0 for 6 from 3 in his career
Freshman Ryan Kersten had 8 points, his best effort in a road game this year…he had scored just 5 points in three conference road games before UNLV
Senior G Mark Walters had 3 steals, moving him into sole possession of 10th place at UNM with 133…he had been tied with Royce Olney…Walters came into the game leading the MWC in 3-point FG% in conference games only at 52%, but was just 1 of 5…he also committed 6 turnovers, the highest total of his career
Senior F David Chiotti had 3 rebounds to move past Francis Grant for 20th place all-time at UNM with 548 boards…Chiotti needs 7 caroms to reach No. 16 ahead