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Dec. 20, 2006
A big challenge awaits New Mexico (8-2) Friday when it meets nationally-ranked and undefeated Wichita State (9-0) in the semifinals of the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic. Tipoff is 8:30 p.m. MST from the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. There is no television coverage.
The other semifinal game matches Kansas State (8-3) against Southern Cal (9-2) at 6. Friday’s winners and losers will play each other Saturday, also at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Mountain Time.
New Mexico has already faced K-State this year. The Lobos won 78-54 in Albuquerque on Nov. 21. UNM’s last meeting against USC was Nov. 11, 1997, a 98-76 Lobo victory in The Pit.
The Lobos won their third straight game Tuesday with a 76-69 victory over Charleston Southern. Eighth-ranked Wichita State, one of five remaining undefeated teams in Div. I college hoops, got past Kennesaw State 74-65 on Tuesday. UCLA, Clemson, Connecticut and Oregon are also without a loss through Tuesday’s games. At 9-0, Wichita State has equaled the 2004-05 team for best start in school history.
Friday’s game between the Lobos and Shockers appears to be a contrast in styles. Through games of last Sunday, New Mexico was 17th in the nation in scoring offense at 82.9 points a game (now 82.2 ppg) while Wichita State was tied for 23rd nationally in scoring defense at 57.6 points (now 58.4 ppg), a difference of 25.3 points.
The Lobos are stuffing five games into eight days between Dec. 16-23 before taking a few days off for the Christmas holiday.
New Mexico has lost eight straight non-conference games away from Albuquerque, including two this year against UTEP and New Mexico State by a combined 55 points. The Lobos’ last win came against Utah in the championship game of the 2005 MWC Tournament.
On the other hand, the Lobos have won nine straight at The Pit and are 41-3 on their home floor since the start of the 2004-05 season. UNM’s winning margin at home is 21.9 points in eight games.
NEW MEXICO-WICHITA STATE SERIES – The Lobos and Shockers meet for the fifth time, but it’s the first game in 28 years. The series is all even at 2-2. The last meeting was Dec. 1, 1978, New Mexico winning 95-81 at the Fiesta Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
ABOUT WICHITA 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 13.0 ppg. Five Shockers are averaging more than 9.7 points a game. It’s a nationally-ranked WSU defense as opponents are averaging just 58.4 points a game.
Head coach Mark Turgeon is 120-76 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 eventual Final Four participant 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 at 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.
NEW MEXICO VS. KANSAS STATE – The Lobos are 2-3 against the Wildcats, including last month’s 78-54 win in The Pit. KSU prevailed 68-56 last year in Manhattan. UNM’s other win came in the 1st round of the 1996 NCAA Tournament in Richmond, Va. UNM took a 69-48 decision, outscoring KSU 38-18 in the second half. Clayton Shields led the Lobos with 25 points and 10 rebounds. K-State won 81-64 in Albuquerque on Dec. 12, 1960, and 94-52 in Manhattan on Dec. 2, 1961.
NEW MEXICO VS. SOUTHERN CAL – The Lobos and Trojans have met nine times with USC holding a slim 5-4 advantage. The first game was Dec. 18, 1954, in Los Angeles and USC bombarded UNM 103-39, the second-worst loss in school history. New Mexico leads the series 3-1 in Albuquerque while USC has a 4-0 margin in Los Angeles. The Lobos won the only neutral-court game between the two schools: a 74-60 decision in the seventh-place game of the 1983 Great Alaska Shootout.
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 158-143, 75-54 in his fifth season at New Mexico, The Lobos are 51-22 since the start of the 2004-05 season, the most wins of any school in the Mountain West Conference. They are 65-36 since 2003-04.
McKay is 65-14 in Albuquerque, 48-23 in all non-conference games, 43-7 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.
McKay is 1-1 in his career against Kansas State. He is 1-3 against USC with all four games coming while he was head coach at Oregon State in 2001-02.
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.
LAS VEGAS CLASSIC REVIEW – Longwood: 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 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.
Charleston Southern: J.R. Giddens scored 18 points and New Mexico hit 12 3-pointers in a 76-69 win over Charleston Southern in a second round game of the Las Vegas Classic. New Mexico won its third straight. Charleston Southern had four players in double figures, led by guard Chris Moore with 18 points. Giedrius Knysas scored 11 and Dwayne Jackson and Donnell Covington each scored 15 points. Covington, a guard, also had 12 assists and 7 rebounds.
Jackson gave the Buccaneers their only lead of the game with a 3-pointer in the opening minute. New Mexico scored the next eight points on back-to-back 3-pointers by Jamaal Smith, both off assists from Giddens, and on a Giddens layup on a drive through the lane. New Mexico hit its first five 3s and 9 of its first 11 shots.
The Lobos and Buccaneers traded 3-pointers through much of the game and combined for 23 3s. At one point in the second half, six of the seven baskets scored were 3-pointers. Five New Mexico players had at least two 3s, with Chad Toppert hitting four. New Mexico got 30 points from its reserves.
Tony Danridge scored 13 points and Toppert had 12 for New Mexico. Charleston Southern got within 53-48 on a layup by Covington with 13 minutes left but the Lobos then scored seven straight points on 3-pointers by Danridge and Darren Prentice and a free throw by Daniel Faris.
The Lobos have won 9 in a row at The Pit and are 41-3 at home since the start of the 2004-05 season
UNM took a 24-13 lead in the first half by making 9 of its first 11 FGs, including 5-5 from 3-point
After making its first 5 shots from 3-point, UNM went 7 of 25 the rest of the game…the 12 3-pointers made and 30 attempts are the 2nd-most this season…UNM was 16 of 39 in the opener against Abilene Christian
After shooting 63% (19-36) in the first half, the Lobos made 35.5% (11-31) in the 2nd stanza…they started the 2nd half by missing 7 of their first 9 shots
In the 1st half, offensive rebounds were 5-3 in Charleston Southern’s favor…it was 11-3 Lobos in the 2nd half…UNM out-rebounded CSU 39-27 for the game, 27-14 in the 2nd half
New Mexico had 20 assists on 28 baskets…eight Lobos had assists
Charleston Southern made 11 FGs from 3-point, the most allowed by UNM this year
The first 4 games of the season, opponents averaged 57.3 points and shot 32.8% (87-265) from the floor and 23.5% (21-89) from 3-point…the past 6 games, the numbers are 78.8 points allowed on 49.4% (173-350) accuracy, including 39.3% (48-122) from 3-point
Tony Danridge made more than one 3-pointer in a game for the first time in his 73-game career…he was 1 of 12 from 3-point the first 65 games as a Lobo, but is 4 of 5 in the past 7 games
J.R. Giddens had 5 assists and has 16 the past 3 games after 14 in the first 7 games…he leads the Lobos in assists with 30
Chad Toppert had a career-high 3 steals…he scored 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting from 3-point…he is 17 of 30 from 3-point the past 5 games…28 of his 29 field goals this year have been 3-pointers where he is shooting 52%…despite not starting a game and averaging just 17.4 minutes a game, Toppert is 3rd on the team in scoring at 8.6 ppg…he’s averaged 13.7 ppg the past 3 games
Jamaal Smith tied a career-best with 2 FGs from 3-point…he had a career-high 6 assists against just 1 turnover…he has 10 assists and 2 turnovers the past 2 games…Smith was 6-27 (22%) from 3-pt. for the season through the first 7 1/2 games, but has made 6 of 11 in the past 5 halves
Roman Martinez tied a career-high with 7 rebounds