Feb. 23, 2008
Albuquerque, N.M.
UNM nips Utah 72-71, extending its winning streak to 6 games and snapping an 18-game losing streak to the Utes in Salt Lake City…the last win at the Huntsman Center was 79-76 on Feb. 16, 1989…the Lobos are now 22-6 overall and 9-4 in the MWC…the Utes are 15-10 overall, 6-6 in the league
The Lobos have won 6 straight conference games for the first time since a 6-game streak from Feb. 14-March 5, 2005…the last 7-game streak was 8 in a row from Jan. 24-Feb. 19, 1998
Steve Alford has tied Dave Bliss for most wins by a New Mexico head coach in his rookie season…Bliss was 22-11 in 1988-89
After going 3-19 in true road games the past two seasons and 8-43 in five seasons from 2003-07, UNM is 7-5 this year and has won 3 consecutive conference road games for the first time since 2000…the 7 true road wins are the most by New Mexico in 12 years, since the 1995-96 team was 8-3
The game featured 9 ties and 12 lead changes
Trailing 38-35 at halftime, UNM won for only the 2nd time in 5 games this season when down at the break…the only other win came at Wyoming when the Lobos trailed 48-32, but ended up winning 99-92 in double overtime
The Lobos trailed 57-52 with 5:19 left in the game, but J.R. Giddens scored 5 points during an 8-0 run, including a 3-pointer that gave UNM a lead (60-57) it would never relinquish
New Mexico made its last 3 FGs of the game, and all were 3-pointers from Chad Toppert, J.R. Giddens and Jamaal Smith to take a 63-59 lead
New Mexico made 9 of its last 12 FTs in the final 1:11 of the game, 8 of 10 by Jamaal Smith
Although UNM is shooting just 67% from the FT line for the season, it has made 81% of its charities (59-73) in the last 3 minutes and in overtime in 13 MWC games
The bench scored half of UNM’s points: 17 from Jamaal Smith, 10 from Darren Prentice and 9 from Chad Toppert
New Mexico’s first 3-point attempt did not come until the 10:39 mark of the 1st half when Chad Toppert connected from the corner…the Lobos were 8 of 14 from 3-point range, or 57%…UNM came into the game 1st in the nation in 3-point shooting at 43.4%…the season percentage is now 43.7%
UNM started 5 of 21 from the floor, but finished the game 24 of 56 (43%), its lowest percentage during the 6-game winning streak
The Lobos had 7 turnovers, the 13th time this year with 10 or less in a game, and the 8th time in 13 MWC games
Senior J.R. Giddens
finished with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals
scored 5 points during an 8-0 run, including a 3-pointer that gave UNM a lead it would never relinquish
Senior Jamaal Smith
off the bench, he scored 14 of his 17 points in the 2nd half, including 8 of 10 in the final 1:11
also 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 turnover in just 20 minutes
was 2 of 2 from 3-point, and is now 10 of 13 in the past 6 games…season percentage is now 55% (35-64)
veraged 11.6 ppg the past 5 games, making 20 of 24 FTs
UNM is now 11-1 this year when he scores in double figures
Senior Darren Prentice
10 points on 3-4 FGs, 1-2 from 3-point and 3-3 FTs in 16 minutes…also 2 assists and 0 turnovers
Junior Chad Toppert
9 points on 3-4 shots from 3-point
has 175 3-pointers in his career, passing Royce Olney for 6th place all-time at UNM
has made a 3-pointer in 21 straight games, tying Lamont Long (1999-2000) for the 5th-longest streak in school history
season accuracy is now 49.3% (76-154) in all games and 52% (39-75) in MWC action
career accuracy from 3-point is 46% (175-380), 1st all-time at UNM
Junior Daniel Faris
tied a career-high with 3 steals
Sophomore Roman Martinez
6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 0 turnovers in 27 minutes
Freshman Jonathan Wills
Lobos are 12-0 when he starts