Jan. 8, 2007
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The New Mexico Lobos face a daunting challenge Tuesday when they visit nationally-ranked Air Force. Tipoff is 7:05 p.m. Mountain Time from Clune Arena at the United States Air Force Academy. There is no television coverage for the game.
New Mexico is 11-6 overall, but 0-2 in Mountain West Conference games. UNM has not started 0-3 in conference since an 0-4 beginning in 1979-80. The Lobos have lost three in a row and four of six.
Air Force was picked to finish 3rd in the MWC, but is off to its best start in school history at 15-1 in all games and 2-0 in the MWC. The Falcons’ current 11-game winning streak is tied with North Carolina, New Mexico State and Wisconsin for the second longest active skein. Clemson has won 16 in a row.
The Falcons were ranked 20th in last week’s AP poll and 16th in the coaches poll. Air Force’s only loss is 71-56 to then-No. 5 Duke in Kansas City on Nov. 20. The Falcons have won 24 in a row at Clune Arena, currently tied with BYU for the third-longest homecourt winning streak in the nation behind Gonzaga (46) and UConn (31).
The Lobos are 1-5 away from Albuquerque this year, the lone win a 71-68 upset over 8th-ranked and previously undefeated Wichita State in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Classic on Dec. 22. The last true road win for UNM came last February at TCU by a 53-42 margin.
LOBOS ON TV
New Mexico will have 13 regular-season conference games televised live this year, including the last 12. That equals the most since UNM joined the Mountain West Conference in 1999-2000. A total of 10 games were shown live last year, 11 in 2004-05, eight in 2003-04 and 10 in 2002-03. The last time for 13 was 2000-01 and 2001-02.
REDEEM THOSE UNUSED TICKETS
A reminder that Lobo season ticketholders may redeem any unused tickets from the 2006-07 season for upcoming games against Wyoming (Jan. 30) or San Diego State (Feb. 20). This offer if valid only to season ticketholders. Tickets must be redeemd at the ticket office at The Pit during normal business hours.
NEW MEXICO-AIR FORCE SERIES
It’s the 58th meeting and the Lobos have a 41-16 advantage, although Air Force has won 5 of the past 7 overall and 6 straight at the Academy. The series is tied 7-7 in MWC games. New Mexico’s last win at Air Force was 81-67 in 2000.
IMPRESSIVE NUMBERS FOR THE FALCONS
The team-oriented Falcons have all five starters averaging in double figures. Dan Nwaelele leads the team at 14.8 ppg and is shooting 61% from the floor, including 55% from 3-point. All five starters also have at least 34 assists. Before last Saturday’s win against UNLV, Air Force had the following national rankings:
Field Goal Pct. – 2nd at 54.2%
3-Point FG Pct. – 2nd at 45.7%
Turnovers – 3rd at 10.6 a game
Scoring Defense – 5th at 53.4 ppg
3-Pt. FGs – 6th at 10.6 a game
Scoring Margin – 7th at 22.1 ppg
Air Force was 24-7 last season, 12-4 in the MWC and in second place behind San Diego State. The Falcons lost to Illinois in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 78-69.
Air Force is coached by Jeff Bzdelik, who is in his second season as head coach. Bzdelik returned to the college game last year after 15 seasons as a coach and scout in the NBA, most recently as head coach of the Denver Nuggets. Bzdelik has a collegiate career record of 64-39, including a 39-8 mark at Air Force. Bzdelik was the head coach at Maryland-Baltimore County for two years from 1986-88.
UNM VS. RANKED TEAMS
Tuesday’s match-up against Air Force will be New Mexico’s second game against a ranked team this season. The Lobos upset No. 8 Wichita State 71-68 Dec. 22 on a neutral floor in Las Vegas.
UNM has an all-time record of 50-110 against ranked teams: 35-49 at home (33-28 in The Pit), 10-51 on the road and 5-10 on neutral floors.
The last time New Mexico knocked off a ranked team on its home floor was Dec. 21, 1999, when it shocked No. 2 Arizona in Tucson, 70-68. The Lobos have lost three straight since, at No. 19 Utah in 1999-2000, at No. 1 Stanford in 2000-01 and at No. 6 Wake Forest in 2003-04.
Head coach Ritchie McKay is 4-4 against ranked teams in his career at UNM, 2-1 at home, 0-1 on the road and 2-2 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.
ROUGH START FOR McKAY AT UNM
It was a daunting challenge for Ritchie 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 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 McKay was able to add five scholarship players, reaching the full complement of 13.
McKAY AND THE LOBOS SINCE 2004-05
The Lobos are 54-26 since the start of the 2004-05 season, the most wins of any school in the Mountain West Conference. They are 68-40 since 2003-04. UNM is also 43-4 at home since the start of the 2004-05 season.
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.
The Lobos have produced a first team all-MWC performer all four years that McKay has been at UNM, a claim no other program in the league can make
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 54-26 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
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
The Lobos are 4-4 against ranked teams under McKay
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.
McKAY’S CAREER
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.
McKay has a career record of 161-147, 78-58 in his fifth season at New Mexico. He is 67-15 in Albuquerque, 51-25 in all non-conference games, 45-7 in non-league games at The Pit and 6-18 in road/neutral games. He is 27-33 in the MWC, 22-8 at home, 5-25 on the road.
McKay had previous two-year stops at Portland State (1996-98), Colorado State (1998-2000) and Oregon State (2000-02).
COLORADO STATE REVIEW AND NOTES
Jason Smith had a double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds and Colorado State put on a torrid first half shooting display in an 88-79 win over New Mexico on Saturday afternoon.
CSU beat New Mexico in The Pit for only the fourth time in 39 tries. The Rams did it with the 7-footer Smith’s dominating play and soft touch jumpers inside and 11 3-pointers – seven of them in the first half.
New Mexico played without leading scorer J.R. Giddens. Giddens, who practiced on Friday, was in street clothes and wearing a boot on his injured left foot, which he hurt in the Lobos’ win over Wichita State two weeks ago.
Tony Danridge led New Mexico with 17 points. Reserve Kellen Walter scored a career-high 13 – 10 of them over a span of 65 seconds late in the game when the Lobos used a 17-3 run to trim an 81-60 CSU lead to 84-77 with 55 seconds left.
The Rams hit 19 of 26 shots in the first half, including 7 of 11 3s.
CSU scored 13 straight points early in the first half to take a 19-8 lead. Guard Cory Lewis, who scored 10 straight points in the midst of that run, got the Rams rolling with a 3-pointer. He added a jumper in the lane and another 3-pointer and Smith hit a 10-footer and Tyler Smith connected on a 3.
Jason Smith, who matched his career scoring high – he also had 28 against the Lobos in Albuquerque a year ago – hit 11 of 15 shots, many of them lay-ups over the shorter New Mexico front line.
Lewis, who scored 15 points in the first half, finished with 17 and Tim Denson scored 15. Stephen Gilling added 12 on four 3-pointers.
New Mexico, which trailed 46-30 at halftime, scored the first seven points of the second half on a 3-pointer by Darren Prentice and back-to-back field goals by Danridge. Smith halted the rally with a 3-point play and New Mexico would get no closer than the seven-point margin in the final minute.
CSU won at The Pit for only the 4th time in 39 games, and the first time since 1993…the Rams had lost 11 straight in Albuquerque
Colorado State also halted New Mexico’s 11-game home winning streak…UNM’s last loss in Albuquerque was 73-66 to San Diego State on Feb. 25, 2006
UNM employed its 8th different starting lineup of the season…sophomore G Chad Toppert made his first career start in his 45th career game
Colorado State set season-highs with 11 3-pointers, 3-point percentage (55.0%) and FG% (63.3%)…the Rams came into the game averaging 5.4 3s a game
Tony Danridge scored a game-high 17 points…he also had a career-high 2 blocks and tied a career-best with 4 assists
Kellen Walter scored a career-high 13 points on 4-6 shooting in just 5 minutes…he was 3 of 5 from 3-point
Ryan Kersten had a career-high 4 steals
Jeffrey Henfield had a career-high 5 assists
Chad Toppert matched a career-high 5 rebounds