Feb. 1, 2007
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The second half of the Mountain West Conference season begins Saturday when New Mexico visits Colorado State. Tipoff is 4:05 p.m. Mountain Time from Moby Arena in Fort Collins. The game will be televised live on CSTV, Channel 274 on Comcast Cable in Albuquerque and available nationally on DirecTV and Dish Network.
Colorado State beat New Mexico 88-79 in Albuquerque on Jan. 6, just the Rams’ fourth win in 39 tries in The Pit. CSU’s Jason Smith tied a career-high with 28 points and added 11 rebounds.
The Lobos (13-10, 2-6 MWC), 8-10 following a 5-0 start, stopped a 3-game losing streak Tuesday with a rugged 91-83 victory over Wyoming. UNM avoided equaling its worst conference start in 45 years. The Lobos are tied with TCU and Utah for seventh place in the MWC.
While New Mexico is 12-2 at home this season and 45-5 in The Pit since the start of the 2004-05 campaign, it is 1-8 away from Albuquerque this year, including 0-7 in true road games. UNM’s most recent road win was last season at TCU. The Lobos have lost nine straight in other team’s arenas.
UNM snapped a nine-game road losing streak last year at Colorado State with an 80-78 triumph.
New Mexico has dropped all four of its conference road games so far, but it has led in the second half in all four.
Colorado State is 14-6 overall and 4-4 in MWC play after suffering a 76-59 loss to UNLV Tuesday in Fort Collins. The Rebels held CSU to 36.5 percent shooting from the floor, and 22 percent behind the arc. Colorado State made only 4-of-18 three-point tries.
The Rams are tied with Wyoming and San Diego State for 4th place in the MWC. CSU has lost two in a row and three of five.
UNM’s Ritchie McKay worked for current Colorado State boss Dale Layer at Queens College in North Carolina during the 1989-90 season when Layer was the head coach. Layer was McKay’s assistant at CSU from 1998-2000, then Layer succeeded McKay at CSU. McKay was 37-23 in two years with the Rams, including 2-1 in the 1999 NIT.
FINAL STUDENT TICKET PICK-UP IS NEXT WEDNSDAY
UNM students can pick up free tickets Wednesday for the final three home games: TCU (Feb. 17), San Diego State (Feb. 20) and UNLV (Feb. 28).
Tickets are available at the Center for the Arts ticket window outside of Popejoy Hall Wednesday from 7:30-11 a.m. After that time, tickets can be picked up at the UNM Bookstore or the Lobo Ticket Office at The Pit.
REDEEM UNUSED TICKETS
A reminder that Lobo season ticketholders may redeem any unused tickets from the 2006-07 season for the San Diego State on Feb. 20. This offer if valid only to season ticketholders. Tickets must be redeemed at the ticket office at The Pit during normal business hours.
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 56-30 since the start of the 2004-05 season, the 2nd-most wins in the Mountain West Conference behind Air Force. UNM has a 70-44 mark since 2003-04. UNM is also 45-5 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 56-30 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 4-5 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 at UNM 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 163-151, 80-62 in his fifth season at New Mexico. He is 69-16 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 29-37 in the MWC, 24-9 at home, 5-28 on the road.
McKay had previous two-year stops at Portland State (1996-98), Colorado State (1998-2000) and Oregon State (2000-02).
SLIPPERY LEADS; NICE COMEBACKS
New Mexico has watched a pair of second-half, double-digit leads go by the wayside in MWC games. The Lobos led at nationally-ranked Air Force 37-16 in the first half and 41-24 early in the second period only to have the Falcons embark on a monstrous 28-1 blast. UNM lost 65-57.
Against Utah, New Mexico led 40-25 right after halftime, but the Utes rallied to eventually tie the game. UNM squeaked out an 86-82 overtime win.
The Lobos held a 44-28 advantage over rival New Mexico State only to have the Aggies trim it to one with 21 seconds remaining. UNM hung on to win 79-76.
On the other hand, the Lobos have erased some big deficits this season. UNM trailed Pepperdine 36-23 in the first half before taking off on a 19-0 run and an eventual 101-96 victory. At Texas Tech on Jan. 1, New Mexico fell behind 33-13 and trailed 48-35 early in the second half. The Lobos rallied to take a 66-63 before coming up on the short end of a 70-68 decision, giving Bob Knight his 880th career win, tops among NCAA Div. I-A coaches.
NEW MEXICO-COLORADO STATE SERIES
It’s the 101st meeting and the Lobos have a 59-41 lead. CSU took an 88-79 win on Jan. 6, just the Rams’ 4th victory in 39 games at The Pit, and the first since 1993.
The Lobos have still won 4 of the last 5, 6 of 8 and 20 of 23 since Feb. 12, 1994. UNM has a 12-3 lead in MWC games. CSU leads 29-18 in Fort Collins, but just 18-17 at Moby Arena. New Mexico is 8-2 in its last 10 games against the Rams in Fort Collins.
WYOMING REVIEW AND NOTES
Aaron Johnson tied his season-high with 14 rebounds and Darren Prentice’s 3-pointer started a second-half scoring run by New Mexico that carried the struggling Lobos to a 91-83 win over Wyoming Tuesday night.
New Mexico won for only the second time in the last nine games as Johnson, who added 9 points, had his best game in conference play.
Wyoming got 21 points from Jones and James Spencer, but Ewing, the leading scorer in the conference with a 20.4 average, was held to a season-low 4 points. It was only the second time this season Ewing has failed to score in double figures.
The Cowboys led through most of the first half but New Mexico took the lead for good on Prentice’s 3 with 10:40 left. That snapped a 44-44 tie and kicked off a 12-3 run by the Lobos.
After Cowboys center Bienvenu Songondo hit a free throw, Lobo Roman Martinez hit a shot inside and Johnson followed with a 3-point play. Jones hit a pair of free throws for the Cowboys and New Mexico’s J.R. Giddens countered with an offensive rebound basket. Giddens beat the Cowboys to the rim to retrieve his missed free throw and rolled the ball over the front of the rim. Martinez closed out the run with a layup off a steal.
Ewing found very few open shots against New Mexico’s trapping and switching defense. He finished 2-of-12 from the field, 0-of-5 on 3-pointers. An 80 percent free throw shooter, Ewing was 0-for-3 at the line.
Reserve Ryan Kersten scored a career-high 20 points for New Mexico and Prentice 12. It was Prentice’s ballhandling and passes to open teammates that kept New Mexico’s offense in sync much of the night.
New Mexico trailed 42-38 with 15:18 left in the game, then used an 18-5 spurt to take a 56-47 lead and never trailed a again
UNM started the second half 2 of 6 from the floor when Wyoming led 42-38…the Lobos then made 13 of their last 19 attempts (68%) to finish the game at 48% (25-52)…New Mexico shot 60% (15-25) in the second half
New Mexico was 36 of 50 from the FT line…that’s the most FTs made and attempted since the Utah game on March 1, 2003, when it was 40 of 53…the two teams combined for 57 fouls, 31 by the Cowboys and 26 by UNM
The Lobo bench contributed 43 of the team’s 91 points and 20 of the 36 individual rebounds
New Mexico scored 61 points in the second half, the highest-scoring half for the Lobos in a regulation game since logging 61 vs. Texas-Pan American on Dec. 8, 1998…UNM won that game 101-94
UNM attempted a season-low 14 shots from 3-point, making 5…the Lobos entered the game averaging 25 attempts from beyond the arc
The Lobos used their 13th different starting lineup of the season
New Mexico limited MWC leading scorer Brandon Ewing to a season-low 4 points (2-12 FGs, 0-5 3FGs) in 35 minutes…Ewing came into the game averaging 20.4 points
Ryan Kersten scored a career-high 20 points off the bench, making 14 of 16 FTs…his previous high was 16 last year vs. Texas-Arlington
Aaron Johnson tied a season-high with 14 rebounds…he came into the game averaging 6.3 boards in MWC games…he scored 9 points, his best output in 9 games
Chad Toppert scored 10 points, all in the 2nd half…he did not make a 3-pointer for the first time in 11 games, and only the 3rd time in 23 games he has failed to convert
Tony Danridge finished with 11 points…he scored in double figures for the 7th straight game, extending the longest streak of his career