March 8, 2008
New Mexico at Colorado State
March 8, 2008 – Fort Collins, Colo.
UNM beats Colorado State 71-52…New Mexico is 24-7 overall, and finishes 11-5 and in 3rd place in the MWC…the 11 conference wins are the most by UNM in 10 years…the Lobos were 4-12 in the MWC last year, tying TCU for last place…CSU is 6-24 overall, 0-16 in the league
The 19-point win is New Mexico’s largest over Colorado State in Fort Collins…the previous was 91-74 in 1995
New Mexico has equaled its most wins (24) during a regular season…the 1977-78 Lobos were 24-3 heading into the NCAA Tournament while the 1995-96 team was 24-4 going into the Western Athletic Conference tournament
The Lobos, 8-1 in their last 9 games, will be the No. 3 seed in next week’s MWC Tournament…UNM will play either TCU or Utah Thursday at 9:30 MDT
After going 8-43 in true road games – played on the opponents’ home floor – the past five seasons (2003-07), UNM is 8-5 this year, which ties a school record set three previous times: 8-4 in 1972-73, 8-2 in 1977-78 and 8-3 in 1995-96…the MWC record for road wins is eight as well set by UNLV in 2006-07 and Air Force in 2003-04…BYU could tie the mark as well this year if it wins Saturday at TCU…UNM has won 4 straight conference road games for the first time since a 5-game run in 1998
New Mexico has won 3 in a row over CSU, and 23 of the past 26 against the Rams since Feb. 12, 1994…UNM has a 15-3 lead in MWC games and is 10-2 in its last 12 games against the Rams in Fort Collins
New Mexico came into the game 2nd the nation in 3-point percentage at 42.1%…the Lobos were 10 of 17 today, increasing the season percentage to 42.6%
UNM trailed 24-20 with 6:34 left in the 1st half, but outscored the Rams 19-6 to take a 39-30 lead at halftime…New Mexico opened the 2nd half with a 15-6 run to take a 54-36 advantage…the Lobos outscored CSU 32-22 in the 2nd half
The Rams shot just 31.1% for the game, including 5 of 22 after halftime
The Lobos opened the game missing 10 of their first 12 shots from the floor, but closed the half by making 11 of their last 19…UNM finished at 45.5% (25-55)
The Lobos had 7 turnovers, the 16th time this year with 10 or less in a game, and the 11th time in 16 MWC games…UNM averaged 10.4 turnovers in MWC and just 8.9 the past 9 contests
UNM is 21-0 this year when holding the opponent to less than 70 points
New Mexico has won 21 straight games when allowing less than 60 points
UNM improved to 20-3 on the year when leading at halftime and 18-3 when out-rebounding its opponent
Senior J.R. Giddens
picked up 3 fouls in the 1st half and was limited to just 4 points, 0 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in 9 minutes
finished with 13 points to take the scoring title in MWC games over Colorado State’s Marcus Walker…Giddens scored 293 points (18.3 ppg) in 16 conference games, 2 more than Walker
had a season-low 1 rebound, plus 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal in a season-low 21 minutes
Junior Daniel Faris
a team-high 15 points and 8 rebounds in 22 minutes with 11 points and 6 boards coming in the 1st half
Junior Chad Toppert
14 points for his first double-figure scoring game since 18 points against Wyoming on Feb. 9, a span of 8 games
4-5 from 3-point, plus 4 assists and 0 turnovers in 30 minutes
season 3-point accuracy is now 48.5% (82-169) in all games and 50% (45-90) in MWC action
career accuracy from 3-point is 45.8% (181-395), still 1st all-time at UNM
Senior Darren Prentice
5 points and an MWC-high 6 assists
Freshman Dairese Gary
5 points and an MWC-high 7 rebounds