Dec. 18, 2006
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The second round of the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic continues Tuesday on four campus sites. The New Mexico Lobos (7-2) entertain Charleston Southern (5-5) at 7:05 p.m. MST from The Pit/Bob King Court in Albuquerque. Here’s the results and schedules for the upcoming tournament that ends this weekend in Las Vegas:
Sunday at campus sites
New Mexico 79, Longwood 60
Wichita State 102, Maryland-Eastern Shore 46
Kansas State 82, Kennesaw State 54
USC 70, Charleston Southern 58
Tuesday at campus sites
Charleston Southern at New Mexico
Longwood at USC
Kennesaw State at Wichita State
Maryland-Eastern Shore at Kansas State
Friday at Orleans Arena at Las Vegas (all times MST)
Longwood vs. Charleston Southern, 1 p.m.
Kennesaw State vs.Maryland-Eastern Shore, 3:30 p.m.
USC vs. Kansas State, 6 p.m.
New Mexico vs. Wichita State, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday at Orleans Arena at Las Vegas
Longwood-Charleston So. loser vs. Kennesaw St.-Maryland-Eastern Shore, 1 p.m.
Longwood-Charleston So. winner vs. Kennesaw St.-Maryland-Eastern Shore winner, 3:30 p.m.
USC – Kansas St. loser vs. New Mexico – Wichita State loser , 6 p.m.
USC-Kansas St. winner vs. New Mexico-Wichita State winner, 8:30 p.m.
The Lobos are stuffing five games into eight days between Dec. 16-23 before taking a few days off for the Christmas holiday. After losing a pair of road games at UTEP and New Mexico, UNM has won two in a row, including a 79-60 triumph over Longwood on Sunday. Charleston Southern fell at Southern Cal 70-58 on Sunday. Senior guard Donnell Covington scored 18 points and had 8 assists and 3 steals.
The Lobos have won eight straight at The Pit and are 40-3 on their home floor since the start of the 2004-05 season. UNM’s winning margin at home this season is 24 points in seven games.
New Mexico has lost eight straight non-conference games away from Albuquerque. The last win came against Utah in the championship game of the 2005 MWC Tournament.
ABOUT CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
New Mexico is facing Charleston Southern for the first time. All five of the Buccaneers’ losses have come on the road at Furman, Tulane, Clemson, Mercer and USC.
Members of the Big South Conference, Charleston Southern was 13-16 a year ago, 7-9 in league play. Junior guard Chris Moore is one of four Bucs scoring in double figures at 14.2 points a game.
Head coach Barclay Radebaugh is 18-21 in his second season with Charleston Southern.
NEW MEXICO-WICHITA STATE SERIES
The Lobos and Shockers meet for the fifth time, but it’s the first game in 28 years. A look at the series record which is all even at 2-2:
Dec. 17, 1951 – Wichita State – 84-58 – Albuquerque
Jan. 4, 1958 – Wichita State – 81-63 – Wichita
Dec. 30, 1975 – New Mexico – 86-80 – Albuquerque
Dec. 1, 1978 – New Mexico – 95-81 – Tempe, Ariz.(Fiesta Classic 1st Rd.)
ABOUT WICHITA STATE
A big challenge lies ahead Friday when New Mexico meets nationally-ranked Wichita State. The undefeated Shockers (8-0) are currently No. 8 in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN polls. WSU can match its school-record 9-0 start from 2004-05 with a second-round victory Tuesday against Kennesaw State.
Wichita State’s 102-46 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore in the first round of the Las Vegas Classic was the third-most lopsided victory in school history. The margin of victory was the widest since a 105-46 win over Hardin-Simmons on Dec. 1, 1980.
Senior forward Kyle Wilson leads a balanced scoring attack, averaging 13.8 ppg. Five Shockers are averaging more than 9 points a game. It’s a nationally-ranked WSU defense as opponents are averaging just 57.6 points a game.
Head coach Mark Turgeon is 119-76 in his 7th year at Wichita State, including a 26-9 record last year when WSU won the Missouri Valley regular-season title and advanced to the Sweet 16. The Shockers beat Seton Hall and Tennessee before falling to George Mason 63-55 in an NCAA regional semifinal.
UNM VS. RANKED TEAMS
Friday’s match-up against Wichita State will be New Mexico’s first game against a ranked team since facing No. 13 Washington last year. Like UNM and WSU playing in Las Vegas, the Lobos and Huskies also met on a neutral in the Wooden Classic in Anaheim, Calif. UW won 81-71.
UNM has an all-time record of 49-110 against ranked teams. 35-49 at home (33-28 in The Pit), 10-51 on the road and 4-10 on neutral floors.
The last time New Mexico played a team ranked as high as Wichita State was Dec. 22, 2004, when it lost to No. 5 Wake Forest 81-64 in The Pit. The last time the Lobos knocked off a team ranked 8th or higher was nearly six years to the day of Friday’s game. On Dec. 21, 1999, UNM shocked No. 2 Arizona in Tucson, 70-68.
Head coach Ritchie McKay is 3-4 against ranked teams in his career at UNM, 2-1 at home, 0-1 on the road and 1-2 on neutral sites.
The Lobos beat No. 22 Utah (76-69) during McKay’s first season and lost at 6th-ranked Wake Forest (70-61) in 2003-04. New Mexico went 2-2 against ranked teams in 2004-05, taking out Utah twice (13th and 15th-ranked). The losses were at home to No. 5 Wake Forest and to 22nd-ranked Villanova (55-47) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Nashville.
LOBO HEAD COACH Ritchie McKay
Ritchie McKay is in his fifth season in charge of Lobo hoops and 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 157-143, 74-54 in his fifth season at New Mexico, The Lobos are 50-22 since the start of the 2004-05 season, the most wins of any school in the Mountain West Conference. They are 64-36 since 2003-04.
McKay is 64-14 in Albuquerque, 47-23 in all non-conference games, 42-7 in non-league games at The Pit and 5-16 in road/neutral games. He is 27-31 in the MWC, 22-7 at home, 5-24 on the road.
The 26-7 record in 2004-05 is 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 46-20 record since 2004-05.
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
The Lobos have produced a first team all-MWC performer all four years that McKay has been at UNM
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 is 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
New Mexico won five straight games away from The Pit in 2004-05, a feat last accomplished in 1977-78
Seven Lobo seniors who completed their eligibility at UNM between 2003-06 are – or have – playing professionally: Javin Tindall, Ruben Douglas, Alfred Neale, Troy DeVries, Danny Granger, David Chiotti and Mark Walters
The team combined for a 2.97 grade-point-average during the 2006 spring semester. That’s the highest semester GPA by the program since UNM began charting grades in the fall of 1988. In fact, two of the team’s top-three GPAs have been registered under McKay’s guidance.
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.
LONGWOOD REVIEW
J.R. Giddens scored 25 points and Aaron Johnson got his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds in New Mexico’s 79-60 win Sunday night over Longwood in the first round of the Las Vegas Classic.
New Mexico trailed 33-32 at halftime, then broke it open with a 13-3 run in the second half. Giddens scored six points, Tony Danridge four and Chad Toppert hit a 3-pointer in the run to put the Lobos up 56-45 with 11:37 left.
The Lancers led 33-32 at halftime despite going more than 7 1/2 minutes without a field goal late in the first half. New Mexico took advantage of Longwood’s scoring drought for a 13-1 run, but Williams scored three straight baskets in the final 1:39 to give Longwood the halftime lead.
Johnson, who has been struggling offensively, repeatedly got around Longwood’s Clayton Morgan for easy baskets and hit 6 of 9 shots. Giddens was too quick for the Lancers and created his own scoring opportunities with drives to the basket.
The Lobos have won 8 in a row at The Pit and are 40-3 at home since the start of the 2004-05 season
New Mexico trailed at halftime (33-32) for the second straight game at home…the last time that happened was Dec. 15 and 21, 2002…the Lobos trailed New Mexico State 36-27 and Southern Utah 35-24 and lost both games
UNM led just 43-42 with 16:00 left in the game, then outscored the Lancers 36-18 the rest of the game
New Mexico shot a season-high 82.4% (14-17) from the FT line…they came into the game making just 65% on the season, including 61.5% the past 4 games
The Lobos were 10-of-21 from the floor in the first half…they attempted their 21st FG of the second half at the 10:44 mark…UNM shot 56% (18-32) from the field in the second half, while holding Longwood to 37% accuracy
New Mexico allowed its fewest points in 6 games, since a 78-54 victory over Kansas State…the 41% shooting by Longwood is also the lowest since K-State made 29% on Nov. 21
Aaron Johnson recorded his 3rd double-double of the season with a season-high 14 points and 11 rebounds…had just 10 points and 16 rebounds in the previous 3 games before tonight
J.R. Giddens tied his career high with 25 points…he also had 25 against Colorado…also contributed 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block
Chad Toppert came off the bench to score 9 points on 3 of 5 attempts from 3-point…he is 13 of 22 (59%) from beyond the arc the past 4 games
< li=””> Jamaal Smith equaled his season high with 4 assists…was 6-27 (22%) from 3-point for the season through the first 7 1/2 games, but has made 4 of 7 in the past 3 halves
Darren Prentice tied a career-high with 3 rebounds