March 1, 2007
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The final game of the regular season is Saturday afternoon when New Mexico visits Wyoming. Game time is 1:05 p.m. from the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie. It will be televised over The mtn., Channel 276 on Comcast Cable in Albuquerque.
After Wednesday’s 85-83 loss to UNLV, New Mexico is 15-15 overall and 4-11 in league play. The Lobos are now assured of playing TCU Tuesday in the opening game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. Tipoff is 8:35 p.m. MDT with television coverage on The mtn.
Wyoming is 15-14 overall and 6-9 in the MWC after a 77-58 loss at TCU. The Pokes, who have lost six of eight, are in a three-way tie for fifth place with Colorado State and Utah.
The Lobos look to prevent losing 12 conference games for the first time since the 1958-59 season when they finished 1-13 in the Skyline Conference. UNM is also trying to avoid only its second losing season since 1983-84.
The Lobos beat Wyoming 91-83 in The Pit on Jan. 30. However, both teams will be short two players Saturday after an altercation late in the game in Albuquerque resulted in suspensions by the MWC office . UNM’s Darren Prentice and Jamaal Smith and Wyoming’s Brad Jones and Joseph Taylor will not play.
Prentice has arguably been playing the best basketball of his Lobo career since late January. A starter the past 18 games, Prentice has scored in double figures in four straight contests, averaging a team-high 18.3 points over that span, and he’s scored at a 13.4 clip the past nine games. Prentice has been running the show at the point as well, averaging 5.3 assists the past seven outings. He’s averaged a team-high 32.3 minutes a game in 15 MWC games. Smith is averaging 7.9 points overall, 6.8 in MWC games.
For Wyoming, Jones has started all 28 games and is one of the top scorers in the league at 17.6 ppg. He had 21 points against the Lobos in The Pit on Jan. 30. Additionally, Jones averages 36.96 minutes a game, second-highest in the Mountain West, and he leads the Cowboys with 126 assists and 40 steals. Taylor has started 24 of 26 games at forward, averaging 4.8 points and 5.3 boards.
New Mexico is 2-10 away from home this season, 1-9 in true road games. The lone win was 70-66 at Colorado State on Feb. 3. Wyoming is 11-2 at the Arena-Auditorium this year.
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 Feb. 22 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 82-66 overall record into his fifth season at UNM, 31-41 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 165-155, including two-year stints at Portland State, Colorado State and Oregon State.
NEW MEXICO-WYOMING SERIES
It’s the 114th meeting and the Pokes have a 61-52 lead. UNM has won two straight and four of the past six, including a 91-83 victory in The Pit on Jan. 30.
Wyoming has taken 10 of the 15 MWC games played, and has won nine straight in Laramie. UNM’s last win at the Double-A was Feb. 18, 1995, by a 62-61 count. Last year, Wyoming won 77-70 in Laramie while UNM took a 47-45 decision in The Pit.
UNLV REVIEW AND NOTES
Kevin Kruger scored a career-high 29 points and his late block of a shot by New Mexico’s best 3-point shooter sealed UNLV’s 85-83 win over the Lobos on Wednesday night.
New Mexico used a furious second half rally to nearly pull out a win. The loss marked the first time New Mexico has lost five conference games in a season in The Pit.
Kruger hit seven 3-pointers and had 9 assists, but his biggest play was his block of New Mexico guard Chad Toppert’s 3-point shot with four seconds left. Toppert got a chance for a game-winner after teammate Darren Prentice missed the second of two free throws with 6.4 seconds remaining for the game’s final point.
Kruger’s block sent the ball out of bounds and New Mexico got one more shot with 0.5 seconds remaining. J.R. Giddens, who led the Lobos with a career-high 28 points and scored 11 of the Lobos’ last 12 points, put up an off-balance 3-pointer that was short.
UNLV used a 17-0 run to open up a 58-42 lead with 13:11 left. Kruger hit a pair of 3-pointers and added two free throws off a technical call on McKay in the midst of the run. McKay was hit with the technical after slamming his clipboard to the court while arguing with an official during a timeout.
But New Mexico, which has lost close games all season, wasn’t finished. The Lobos answered with an 11-2 run. A short jumper in the lane by Tony Danridge cut the UNLV lead to 60-53 with 10:15 left. Moments later the Lobos put together another 11-2 run to get within 68-66. Prentice finished the run with five straight points on a 3-pointer and then a layup after he stole a Rebels pass.
The teams traded leads, Giddens carrying the Lobos’ offense with a variety of drives to the basket and outside jumpers and Kruger hit a pair of clutch shots. Joel Anthony gave the Rebels the lead for good (80-78) with a dunk with 1:27 left and 20 seconds later Kruger followed with his final 3-pointer.
Giddens countered with a 3-pointer to make it 83-81 and had a chance to tie it with 23.7 seconds left but missed the first of two free throws. UNLV guard Wink Adams then hit two free throws with 20.4 seconds left.
New Mexico led 29-16 in the first half after scoring nine straight points but the Rebels closed out the first half with a 12-2 run to tie it at 37-37 at halftime.
UNLV has won 3 straight against the Lobos and 11 of the past 14
New Mexico used its 16th different starting lineup of the season…senior Kellen Walter made his first career start in his 79th career game
UNM had a season-low 6 turnovers
New Mexico went 3-5 in home conference games this season…that’s the most league losses in 40 years of play in The Pit
UNM has made 287 shots from 3-point this year, the 3rd-highest total in school history…the record is 301 set by the 1997-98 team in 32 games
J.R. Giddens came off the bench to score a career-high 28 points, including 20 in the second half and 11 of the Lobos’ final 12 points of the game…UNM lost for the first time (6-1) when he has scored 20 or more points in a game
Giddens’ 28 points ties for the 2nd-most by a Lobo reserve…Larry Belin came off the bench for 29 at Utah on Jan. 11, 1979 while Willie Banks had 28 against George Washington on Dec. 27, 1988
Aaron Johnson had 15 points and 11 rebounds for his 4th double-double of the season and 23rd of his career…the 15 points is his best output since a season-high 18 against Alcorn State…it’s his first double-double since posting 14 points and 11 rebounds vs. Longwood
Darren Prentice scored 14 points, 12 of those coming in the second half…he has scored in double figures for the 4th straight game and 6th time in the past nine games…he has averaged 18.3 ppg the past four games and 13.4 points the past nine games…Prentice has become the first Lobo since Marlon Parmer in 2000-01 to have 100 assists in a season; Prentice has 100
Chad Toppert tied his career-high with 6 rebounds…he ranks tied for 7th on UNM’s single-season list with 83 3-pointers made and 4th on UNM’s single-season list by making 48.3% (83-172) of his 3-point attempts
SLIPPERY LEADS; NICE COMEBACKS
New Mexico has watched three 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 28-1 blast. UNM lost 65-57. The Lobos led Air Force 19-9 at home, but came up short 60-51. They also had a 59-49 advantage at Utah before falling 93-91 in double overtime.
Against Utah in The Pit, 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 led UNLV at The Pit 29-16, then fell behind by 16 (58-42) in the second half. The Lobos rallied for a 1-point lead, but fell 85-83 when a 3-pointer by J.R. Giddens at the buzzer came up short.