Sept. 21, 2006
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. –
As a part of the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of The Pit, the University of New Mexico athletics department announced today that tickets for Lobo men’s basketball will be free for all full-time UNM students (enrolled in 6+ hours) during the 2006-07 season. Students will be able to pick up tickets on six distribution dates and student guest tickets will be available for $10. The UNM student seating will remain in sections 26 and 27 on the north end of The Pit.
Distribution Dates for Lobo Men’s Basketball Student Tickets
| Initial Distribution Dates | Games Available |
|---|---|
| Wed., Oct. 25 | Western N. M. (11/2), Abilene Christian (11/10), Sacramento St. (11/12), Colorado (11/14) |
| Wed., Nov. 15 | Kansas State (11/21), New Mexico State (11/28) |
| Wed., Dec. 6 | North Carolina A&T (12/16), Longwood (12/17), Charleston Southern (12/19) |
| Wed., Dec. 13 | Comcast Lobo Invitational (2 games Dec. 28-29), Colorado State (1/6), Utah (1/13) |
| Wed., Jan. 17 | BYU (1/24), Wyoming (1/30), Air Force (2/10) |
| Wed., Feb. 7 | TCU (2/17), San Diego State (2/20), UNLV (2/28) |
Tickets will first be available at the Center for the Arts ticket window outside of Popejoy Hall on each distribution date from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. After that time, tickets can be picked up at the UNM Bookstore or the Lobo Ticket Office at The Pit. Students tickets will be available from the distribution date until the start of the game, subject to availability.
Full-time UNM students must show a valid student ID to pick up tickets and must show their ID and ticket when entering The Pit. The student section will be assigned seating, not general admission. The earlier you get your tickets, the better your seats.
One student can get up to four tickets per game. For example, on the first distribution date, one student can bring four valid student IDs and get four tickets for all four games being distributed on that date, totaling 16 tickets. One student can use any combination of student IDs and student guest tickets, but may only get four tickets for any game at one time.
Sections 26 and 27 include approximately 1,100 seats. If the demand for student tickets excedes the capacity of these sections for any given game, additional seating will be in other bench and standing room sections, up to the capacity of The Pit. Students will not be turned away as long as there are available seats for a given game. Capacity of The Pit is 18,018.
Student entrance will be door 12 on the north side of The Pit.
“I think this is a great way to get our students more involved at The Pit,” stated UNM head coach Ritchie McKay. “We need the students to be at every game and to be as loud as they can. This will certainly help strengthen our already formidable home court advantage.”
“Student support of our athletics program is incredibly important,” stated UNM athletics director Paul Krebs. “All of our coaches and staff are working very hard to get our students to rally around Lobo athletics. This change in ticket policy, in conjunction with the support of (ASUNM President) Brittany Jaeger and the student government, will benefit both our students and our men’s basketball program. We want a loud and engaged crowd and we think fans will take their cues from the student body. Anything we can do to encourage more students to come to games will benefit our entire athletics program.”
Today’s announcement marks the first time UNM students will receive free admission to Lobo men’s basketball game since the 1994-95 season. Prior to this announcement, student season tickets for the 2006-07 season were to go on sale on Sept. 25 for $75 each, while individual students tickets would have cost $5 each for the upcoming season. Last year, student season tickets sold for $104 each.