March 14, 2008
Recap |
Box Score |
Photo Gallery 
New Mexico vs. Utah
Phillips 66 Mountain West Conference Basketball Championship Quarterfinals
March 13, 2008 Las Vegas, Nev.
- UNM loses to Utah 82-80 in overtime…New Mexico falls to 24-8 while Utah improves to 17-13
- The Lobos and Utes play overtime for the 4th time in the past 5 meetings between the two teams
- New Mexico has now played a school-record 5 overtime games in 2007-08
- The Lobos trailed 70-62 with 4:14 left in regulation, but outscored the Utes 10-2 to force overtime at 72-all
- New Mexico has now lost in the 1st round of the MWC Tournament 6 of the past 7 years and 7 times in 9 MWC seasons overall
- UNM was out-rebounding teams by 3 a game, but Utah had a 38-30 edge tonight, the Lobos’ largest deficit in 12 games, since 42-34 at BYU on Jan. 26
- UNM had a 32-25 lead after a J.R. Giddens dunk with 5:14 left in the 1st half, but Utah closed with a 15-5 run to take a 40-37 halftime lead…the Lobos did not regain the lead again until there was 2:23 to go in overtime when 2 free throws by J.R. Giddens gave UNM a 78-77 advantage
Senior J.R. Giddens
- 28 points and 17 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season and 6th against MWC competition this year; played 44 of a possible 45 minutes
- moves into a tie with Willie Long (1970-71) for 12th
- place on the UNM single-season list with 277 rebounds
Freshman Dairese Gary
- 14 points and 4 assists; made his first 5 shots from the floor and finished 5 of 6
- scored UNM’s first 8 points and 10 of its first 14
- 4 assists, giving him 102 for the season; is the 5th Lobo freshman to reach 100 assists in a season
Sophomore Roman Martinez
- 12 points with 9 coming in the 2nd half
Senior Jamaal Smith
- 11 points on 2-6 FGs and 7-8 FTs
- averaged 13.3 points in 3 games against Utah this season
Junior Chad Toppert
- 10 points on 2-5 shots from 3-point and 4-4 FTs
- 18-of-32 from 3-point in last 5 games against Utah
- has made 84 3-pointers this season, No. 8 in the UNM record book