Feb. 22, 2007
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The New Mexico Lobos visit the Wasatch Range Saturday when they play Utah. Game time is 3:35 p.m. from the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. It will be televised over The mtn., Channel 276 on Comcast Cable in Albuquerque.
The Lobos play their final regular-season home game Wednesday against UNLV followed by a road game at Wyoming next Saturday. The MWC Tournament is March 6-10 in Las Vegas.
UNM fell to 15-13 overall and 4-9 in the Mountain West Conference Tuesday following a tough 81-74 overtime loss to San Diego State. The Lobos are tied with Utah for seventh place in the MWC. The Utes are 9-17 overall after an 86-78 setback at Wyoming on Wednesday.
The Lobos are 2-9 away from Albuquerque this season, including 1-8 in true road games. The lone win came Feb. 3 at Colorado State, 70-66. UNM has lost 17 straight games to Utah in Salt Lake City.
Saturday’s game will display three of the top 3-point shooters in the conference. Utah’s Johnnie Bryant leads the MWC, averaging 3 treys a game, while his teammate, Shaun Green, ranks 1st in 3-point accuracy at 54% (59-109). New Mexico’s Chad Toppert is 2nd in the loop in 3s per game (2.71) and 3rd in accuracy (48.1%).
McKay and Utah head coach Ray Giacoletti have known each other awhile, serving as assistant coaches at the University of Washington from 1993-95.
New Mexico is 13-4 at home this season with all four home losses coming in league play. The last time the Lobos dropped four conference games in The Pit was 1981 when they finished 4-4. UNM is 3-4 in MWC home games with one game remaining. The Lobos have never lost five conference games in The Pit, which opened during the 1966-67 season.
New Mexico has its fifth losing season in conference play in the past seven years. The Lobos’ only winning record in league play since 2000 was 10-4 in 2005. UNM was 8-8 last year. New Mexico never had a losing conference record from 1984-2000, a span of 17 seasons.
LAST SEASON FOR McKAY AT UNM
University of New Mexico director of athletics Paul Krebs announced Thursday that the contract of head coach Ritchie McKay will be terminated at the end of the season. McKay and his staff will oversee the program through the final game of the 2006-07 season.
McKay was hired as New Mexico’s 18th head men’s basketball coach on March 28, 2002. He has an 81-66 overall record into his fifth season at UNM, 31-40 in Mountain West Conference play.
After records of 10-18 and 14-14 in McKay’s first two years at UNM, the Lobos finished 26-7 in 2004-05. They won the Mountain West Conference tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years. New Mexico was 17-13 last year, but lost in the first round of the MWC Tournament in Denver.
McKay is in his 11th season as a collegiate head coach. He has a career mark of 164-155, including two-year stints at Portland State, Colorado State and Oregon State.
NEW MEXICO-UTAH SERIES
It’s game No. 119 in a series that started Jan. 3, 1952. The Utes have a commanding 75-43 lead, although it’s 6-3 in the Lobos’ favor the past nine games. UNM won 86-82 in overtime in The Pit last month.
Utah has a staggering 50-5 lead in games played in Salt Lake City and it has won 17 straight at the Huntsman Center. UNM last won in Salt Lake on Feb. 16, 1989, by a 79-76 count.
New Mexico has won the last five in The Pit. Utah was ranked 21st in 2004 and 13th in `05.
SAN DIEGO STATE REVIEW AND NOTES
Brandon Heath scored 30 points and Jerome Habel’s back-to-back layups in overtime put San Diego State in front for good in an 81-74 win over New Mexico on Tuesday night. San Diego State won for the sixth time in the last seven games. New Mexico lost its fourth conference game at home for the first time since 1981.
New Mexico had a chance to win in regulation, but Chad Toppert missed on a 3-pointer with just over two seconds left. San Diego State couldn’t control the rebound and the Lobos got the ball back with half a second left. Guard Darren Prentice found center Aaron Johnson open, but Johnson missed the easy layup. Johnson gave New Mexico its last lead (74-72) with two free throws with 3:40 left in overtime.
Habel, who got his first career double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds, scored inside, then intercepted a New Mexico pass and went in for another layup to make it 76-74.
New Mexico’s Tony Danridge, who tied his career-high with 24 points, had his short jumper in the lane partially blocked and Heath countered with a 10-foot baseline jumper, his first field goal since the 11:45 mark of the second half. Lobo guard Ryan Kersten had his shot deflected and Heath then added two free throws for a 78-74 lead with 1:21 left.
New Mexico led 33-24 with 2:22 left in the first half after a 12-2 run, but the Aztecs scored the final nine points. Wade scored seven of the nine, including a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left.
Heath found his shooting touch over a 2 1/2 minute span early in the second half, during which he hit three 3-pointers, the last one giving the Aztecs a 47-41 lead with 15:58 left.
New Mexico steadily cut into the deficit and two free throws by Danridge tied it at 62 with 3:55 left in regulation. A 3-pointer by Richie Williams put the Aztecs up 69-65 with 2:10 left but Danridge got a short jumper to roll in with 37.7 seconds left to put the Lobos up 70-69. San Diego State reserve forward Kyle Spain hit the first of two free throws with 17.1 seconds left for the final point in regulation.
Prentice scored 15 points for New Mexico and had 7 assists.
New Mexico is 1-2 in overtime games this season, all in the MWC and all in the past 10 games…the Lobos beat Utah 86-82 in The Pit and lost at UNLV 76-72
The Aztecs have won 4 straight games against New Mexico for the first time since a 7-game run between 1981-84
New Mexico is 3-4 in home conference games this season…the four losses are the most in The Pit since the 1980-81 season when it went 4-4 in the Western Athletic Conference
UNM attempted 33 3-pointers, the 2nd-highest total this season…the most is 39 against Abilene Christian
San Diego State’s Brandon Heath has scored 62 points in his past two games against UNM in The Pit…he’s made 20-43 FGs and 13-27 shots from 3-point
Tony Danridge tied a career-high for the 3rd time with 24 points…he came into the game having averaged just 5.7 points over the past 3 games
Chad Toppert ranks 11th on UNM’s single-season list with 76 3s…he had a career-high 6 rebounds and has 11 in the past 2 games
Darren Prentice had 7 assists and has 33 the past 5 games, or 6.6 a game…he needs 4 assists to become the first Lobo in 6 years to have 100 assists in a season; Marlon Parmer had 182 in 2000-01…Prentice has scored in double figures for the 4th time in the past 7 games; he has averaged 11.3 points the past 7 games
Roman Martinez tied a career-high with 7 rebounds