Nov. 23, 2008
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Cal State Northridge Matadors at New Mexico Lobos
The Pit Albuquerque, N.M.
7:05 p.m. (M.S.T.)
Radio: KKOB 770 AM, www.770kkob.com, Lobo Radio Network
Online: GameTracker on GoLobos.com
Television: None
Series History: UNM leads 3-0
Last Time: UNM won 86-73 on on Dec. 28, 1994, in The Pit
New Mexico completes a 3-game home stand Monday, playing hosting to an experienced Cal State Northridge team. Tip-off is 7:07 p.m., Mountain Time from The Pit/Bob King Court in Albuquerque. The game sponsor is Albuquerque Tortilla Company.
New Mexico fell to 2-2 on the season following Saturday’s tough 72-71 loss to Central Florida in the second round of the Cancun Challenge. The setback snapped the Lobos’ 33-game winning streak in non-conference games in The Pit, dating to December of 2004. UNM head coach Steve Alford had been 12-0 in such matchups.
Cal State Northridge, with four seniors in a starting lineup that includes Albuquerque native Josh Jenkins, is 1-2 after being surprised by Cal State Bakersfield 67-65 on Friday. Jenkins leads Northridge in scoring at 15.7 points a game.
The athletic Matadors will pose a stiff challenge. CSN was 20-10 last year, advanced to the NCAA Tournament and is picked by many to win the Big West Conference this season. This will be the third of six straight road games for the Matadors.
After Northridge, the Lobos are off to the Yucatan Peninsula for the Thanksgiving break and the resumption of the Cancun Challenge. UNM meets Virginia Commonwealth, currently 2-1, on Saturday, Nov. 29, followed the next evening by either Drake or Vanderbilt.
All told, UNM is in a stretch of playing five contests in 11 days. It’s a busy opening month for the Lobos as they have seven games in a 17-day period from Nov. 14-30.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY COACH ALFORD
UNM head coach Steve Alford turned 44 on Sunday, Nov. 23. He was born in 1964 in Franklin, Ind.
LOBOS VS. CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE / BIG WEST
UNM has a 3-0 lead in the series. The last meeting was Dec. 28, 1994, when the Lobos took an 86-73 victory in the first round of the Lobo Invitational. New Mexico also won in 1969 and 1976. The Lobos are 10-5 against current members of the Big West Conference.
Steve Alford is facing the Matadors for the first time as a head coach.
MORE ON CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE
Cal State Northridge captured its first Big West regular reason title – shared or outright – with a 12-4 mark last year. The 12 wins tied the school record (12-6 in 2004-05).
Bobby Braswell is in his 13th season as the men’s head basketball coach at Cal State Northridge. With the return of three starters and 10 lettermen from last year’s team that recorded a 20-10 overall record, and a share of the Big West title at 12-4, Braswell has directed the Matadors onto a solid foundation. In directing an exciting and highly competitive team in 2007-08, Braswell earned Big West Coach of the Year honors.
UNM HEAD COACH Steve Alford
Steve Alford, 44, is in his second season in charge of Lobo hoops and his 18th year as a collegiate head coach. He was named UNM’s 19th head coach on March 23, 2007.
Alford, who has never been an assistant coaching is his career, has a 334-194 (63%) career record in his 18th season as a head coach, 26-11 at New Mexico. His teams have qualified for postseason play 12 times, produced 14 winning seasons and reached 21 wins on nine occasions. Alford’s maiden voyage at New Mexico was something to behold:
A 24-9 record, tying the school mark for wins during the regular season and a 9-win improvement from the previous year
most wins by a New Mexico head coach in his rookie season
8-6 on the road after an 8-43 mark in five seasons before Alford arrived at UNM
a +7 in conference victories, the 2nd-greatest jump of all-time
INTO THE TEETH OF THE SCHEDULE
The remainder of the Lobos’ non-conference schedule looks to be extremely daunting, at least based on last year’s numbers:
Cal State Northridge (Monday): 20-10 overall and tied for 1st place in the Big West regular season at 12-4…final RPI of 99…picked to win Big West this season.
Virginia Commonwealth (Saturday): 24-8 overall and won the Colonial League regular-season title at 15-3…lost in the first round of the NIT…final RPI of 54.
Drake (Sunday): 28-5 overall and won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season (15-3) and tournament titles…lost to Western Kentucky 101-99 on a buzzer-beater in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament…final RPI of 11.
Vanderbilt (Sunday): 26-8 overall…lost to Siena in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament…final RPI of 17.
Southern Miss (Dec. 6): 19-14 overall…final RPI of 116.
at San Diego (Dec. 10): 22-14 overall and won the West Coast Conference Tournament title…beat UConn in 1st round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Western Kentucky…final RPI of 87…all 5 starters are back.
Ole Miss (Dec. 13): 24-11 overall…lost to Ohio State in semifinals of the NIT in New York…final RPI of 46.
Oral Roberts (Dec. 17): 24-9 overall and won the Summit League regular season (16-2) and tournament titles…lost to Pittsburgh in the1st round of the NCAA Tournament…final RPI of 43.
Texas Tech (Dec. 20): 16-15 overall…final RPI of 92.
New Mexico State (Dec. 23 & 30): 21-14 and tied for Western Athletic Conference regular-season title at 12-4…final RPI of 142.
UTEP (Jan. 6): 19-14 overall…lost to Utah in the 1st round of the College Basketball Invitational…final RPI of 114.
LOBOS’ GAMES FROM CANCUN ON CBS COLLEGE SPORTS
Both of next week’s games in Cancun will be televised live over CBS College Sports. That’s channel Ch. 274 on Comcast Cable in Albuquerque, channel 603 on DirecTV and channel 152 on Dish Network.
UNM meets Virginia Commonwealth Nov. 29 at 9 p.m. Mountain Time, then either Drake or Vanderbilt on Nov. 30. The consolation game starts at 6:15 MT, the championship game at 8:30 p.m.
CENTRAL FLORIDA RECAP
Chris Baez hit a 3-pointer from the baseline with 4.6 seconds left to cap a Central Florida comeback in the final two minutes and give the Knights a 72-71 win over New Mexico on Saturday night.
After Phillip McDonald made one free throw for New Mexico, Baez found himself unguarded on the near baseline for the game-winning shot for the Knights. Dairese Gary got off a hurried 3-pointer at the final buzzer that was well off the mark for the Lobos.
New Mexico led 69-60 with 2:07 left after Gary hit two free throws as part of his career-high 20 points. But Baez followed with a 3-pointer and a minute later, Jermaine Taylor dropped in another one as Central Florida cut its deficit to 70-67.
On the ensuing in-bounds pass, Taylor intercepted the ball at the top of the key and went in for a dunk with 25.5 seconds left. Taylor finished with 18 points to pace the Knights.
Central Florida’s last lead before the closing seconds came at 19-18 at the 7:37 mark of the first half. The Knights never trailed by more than seven points until less than five minutes remained. Gary’s 3-pointer with 4:28 left put New Mexico up 59-50 for the Lobos’ largest lead.
New Mexico struggled from the line all game, at one point of the second half missing eight of 10 free throws. Down the stretch, the Lobos missed three of their eight foul shots.
CENTRAL FLORIDA POSTGAME NOTES
The Lobos had won 33 consecutive non-conference home games, the 5th-longest streak in the nation…the last loss was 81-64 to 5th-ranked Wake Forest on Dec. 22, 2004
New Mexico led 69-60 with 2:07 left in the game, but was outscored 12-2 the rest of the way…UCF’s Chris Baez hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds left
The Lobos shot 61.5% (24-39) from the FT line and are now shooting 64.4% (67-104) on the season
Sophomore Dairese Gary
scored a career-high 20 points
also set career-highs with 10 FTs made and 13 FTs attempted
Senior Tony Danridge
13 points, a career-high-tying 6 rebounds and he set a career-best with 4 steals
tied a career-high with 7 FTs made and set a career-best with 13 FTs attempted
Senior Chad Toppert
scored 9 points, making 3 of 7 3-pointers
made 194 3s in his career, still No. 6 on the UNM career list; Kevin Henry is 5th with 197