Dec. 22, 2008
Lobo Men’s Basketball vs. New Mexico State Game Notes
The 201st edition of New Mexico (7-5) and New Mexico State (5-5) men’s basketball will be staged Tuesday night in Albuquerque. Tip-off is 6:35 p.m. Mountain Time from The Pit / Bob King Court. The return game in the long-standing series is Dec. 30 in Las Cruces.
The game will be televised nationally by The mtn., which is channel 276 on Comcast Cable in Albuquerque and channel 616 on DirecTV. Rich Cellini and Joe Cravens will call the game.
On Saturday, the Lobos came up on the short end of an 86-78 decision at Texas Tech, putting an end to UNM’s 4-game winning streak. It’s the most points UNM has allowed this season.
Thanks to hot shooting to begin the game, UNM surged to leads of 17-8 and 24-17. However, the Lobo hands cooled and Texas Tech went on a 14-0 run for a 31-24 edge. The Red Raiders led 35-31 at halftime.
UNM started the second half with five points in 29 seconds for a 36-35 lead. Five minutes later, Texas Tech had a 47-40 advantage, but the score remained close the rest of the way. UNM trailed by four points four times in the final four minutes, but the Red Raiders always had an answer. UNM was also hurt iby a couple of turnovers in the final two minutes.
Freshman Phillip McDonald led four Lobos in double figures with a career-high 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Senior Chad Toppert added 15 on five 3-pointers. Junior Roman Martinez scored 14 points while senior Tony Danridge tossed in 13 and had a career-high 6 rebounds for the second straight game.
New Mexico State is 5-5 after an 84-69 loss at UTEP on Saturday. That snapped the Aggies’ three-game win streak. Stefon Jackson had 33 points for the Miners while freshman center Hamidu Rahman led NMSU with 19. UTEP held the Aggies to just 32% shooting from the field.
THE UNM-NMSU SERIES
It’s the 201st game in a series that started almost 104 years to the day: Dec. 22, 1904. New Mexico has a 106-94 lead, and has won 6 of the past 9, including 5 in a row in The Pit.
UNM has a 66-36 lead in Albuquerque, 30-13 in The Pit. The Aggies’ last win in The Pit was 72-60 on Dec. 15, 2002. That’s also the last time they swept the season series. The last sweep for UNM was Dec. 1 and 4, 2004.
RIO GRANDE RIVALRY UPDATE
The winner of Tuesday’s game will receive 1.5 points in the Rio Grande Rivalry. After the UNM women’s basketball team won last Saturday in Las Cruces, UNM now leads the 2008-09 standings, 10.5 to 3.
The Rio Grande Rivalry began in the 2007-08 academic year. UNM and NMSU conduct competitions in 12 sports with points being awarded to the winner. The school with the most points is the winner. The Lobos won the inaugural competition, 16.25 to 6.75.
PROMOTIONS AND GAME SPONSORS
The first 2,000 fans will receive foam fingers courtesy of Wells Fargo. Halftime entertainment is Art Explosion by Michael Ostaski, an internationally renowned speed painter who uses only his hands and a few simple brushes to transform a blank canvas into a mural sized masterpiece in less than 7 minutes.
Game sponsors are Wells Fargo and NewsRadio 770-KKOB.
TICKET OFFICE HOURS DURING THE HOLIDAYS
The ticket offices at The Pit and at the UNM Bookstore will be closed Dec. 24-Jan. 4 for the holidays. Both will open again at 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2009.
Tickets are always available at www.GoLobos.com or from outlets at select Albertson’s stores.
NOTES TO KNOW BEFORE THE GAME
The Lobos are 37-1 in their last 38 non-conference home games and are 6-1 in The Pit this season, the only loss to Central Florida on Nov. 22.
The Lobos are 1-2 in true road games this year, and 9-8 in head coach Steve Alford’s tenure at New Mexico…in the 5 seasons before Alford, UNM had an 8-43 record in road games…UNM went 8-6 in 2007-08, tying a school record.
New Mexico had to rally from 12 or more points twice during the recent 4-game winning streak…UNM trailed Southern Miss 30-18, before prevailing 60-58…it was a 34-19 hole against Oral Roberts, but the Lobos rallied for a 66-63 victory.
The Lobos have won 25 straight games when allowing less than 60 points, and they are 46-2 in such games since 2004-05.
New Mexico is 2nd in the MWC in FG pct. defense (38.9%)…opponents have shot just 40.4% (937-2,319) in 45 games against Steve Alford Lobo teams.
Senior Chad Toppert was 5 of 8 from 3-point at Texas Tech to tie Ruben Douglas for 3rd place all-time at UNM with 218 treys…Toppert continues to rank No. 1 at UNM by making 45% of his career 3-point attempts.
Last year, UNM’s 5th loss did not come until the 21st game of the season – a 16-5 start – on Jan. 26 at BYU.
It certainly looks like four true scholarship freshmen will letter for UNM in 2008-09: Will Brown, Nate Garth, A.J. Hardeman and Phillip McDonald…that has happened only one other time in the history of Lobo basketball: 1983-84 when five Lobos – Paul Connery, Hunter Greene, Larry Markland, Kelvin Scarborough and Mike Winters – all saw time…freshmen became eligible to play with the varsity in 1973-74.
Three Lobos did not play basketball last season: senior Tony Danridge was out with a broken leg while freshmen Will Brown and A.J. Hardeman were tending to academics.
UNM-NMSU LAST YEAR IN ALBUQUERQUE
Roman Martinez scored a career-high 24 points and Chad Toppert added 16, leading fired-up New Mexico to an 83-69 win in the 200th meeting with rival New Mexico State.
Jamaal Smith had 12 points and Daniel Faris 10 for the Lobos, who avenged a 71-62 loss in Las Cruces earlier in the month.
Jonathan Gibson scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field for New Mexico State, while Justin Hawkins returned from a one-game absence because of a strained left hamstring and scored 18.
But this one was all New Mexico, which extended its lead in the series to 106-94.
New Mexico was outrebounded 44-28 in New Mexico State’s earlier victory, and that statistic prompted New Mexico coach Steve Alford to tape a newspaper headline — “Lobos Bullied” — on each player’s locker.
The tactic worked, as the Lobos finished with a 36-24 edge this time against the taller Aggies. It was a game of streaks, though, and that made things bumpy for New Mexico until the Lobos seized control midway through the second half.
New Mexico went without a field goal for a 9 1/2 -minute span on each side of halftime, then offset that shortage with seven straight baskets during a key second-half stretch, extending a 35-34 halftime lead to 69-54 with 7:04 remaining.
Toppert hit two 3-pointers and Darren Prentice got a layup to put the Lobos in control. Earlier, New Mexico used a 16-0 burst to open the second half after Hatila Passos made a layup to give the Aggies their final lead.
The Lobos led 51-36 with 13:32 to play after New Mexico State center Martin Iti was called for an intentional foul in the backcourt. Martinez made two free throws, and on the ensuing possession Smith hit a 3-pointer.
UNM-NMSU LAST YEAR IN LAS CRUCES
Justin Hawkins recovered from an 0-for-5 first-half shooting effort, scoring 12 points, and freshman Wendell McKines had 15 rebounds as New Mexico State beat New Mexico 71-62.
With Hawkins struggling to a 3-of-14 shooting performance from the floor, his teammates picked things up. Hatila Passos was a force inside, scoring 12 points, Chris Cole added 11 and Jonathan Gibson 10, including a 3-pointer and a dunk during an 11-5 burst that stretched New Mexico State’s lead to 57-44 with 5:11 remaining.
The Lobos cut it to 67-60 on a three-point play by Jamaal Smith with 39.1 seconds to go, but New Mexico State made all 12 of its free throws in the final 2:14 to seal it up. Hawkins was 6-for-6 from the line in that stretch.
Chad Toppert led the Lobos with 20 points, hitting 6-of-7 from 3-point range, and Smith scored 17. New Mexico standout J.R. Giddens was held to four points on 2-of-10 shooting.
New Mexico State used a 44-28 rebounding advantage to control the interior and relied on a backcourt press to disrupt New Mexico’s guards, nullifying the Lobos’ dangerous transition game.
The Lobos shot 38 percent from the field, hitting 21-of-55.
MORE ON THE AGGIES
New Mexico State was 21-14 a year ago, and 12-4 in the Western Athletic Conference which was good for a four-way tie for first place. One starter and five lettermen return in 2008-09. Head coach Marvin Menzies is 26-19 in his second season at NMSU.
POSTGAME NOTES FROM TEXAS TECH
UNM started the game making 7 of its first 10 FGs, then 11-18, before going cold…the Lobos missed 8 of their last 10 attempts the final 7:41 of the 1st half and ended the game at 47% (28-60).
The 86 points by Texas Tech are the most allowed by UNM this season (previous mark was 82 at Creighton).
UNM was guilty of 19 turnovers, second-most this season…the Lobos had 20 at Creighton.
The Lobos are now 2-1 this season when trailing at halftime.
New Mexico has made a 3-pointer in 593 consecutive games; the last time it didn’t connect was Jan. 3, 1991, going 0-8 against Colorado State.
Freshman Phillip McDonald
set career-highs with 17 points, 3 steals, 7 field goals made, 17 field goals attempted and 30 minutes played; previous scoring high was 15 vs. Grambling State
Senior Chad Toppert
15 points on 5 of 8 from 3-point, tying Ruben Douglas for 3rd place all-time at UNM with 218 treys…was 0-6 from 3-point last Wednesday against Oral Roberts.
continues to rank No. 1 all-time at UNM by making 45% of his career 3-point attempts.
Senior Tony Danridge
13 points, scoring in double digits for the 5th straight game…averaging 15.8 points/game in his last 5 outings.
tied a career-high for the second straight game with 6 rebounds; also had 3 offensive boards for the second straight game.
Freshman Nate Garth
Scored 9 points, all in the second half…made 2 3-pointers for the first time as a Lobo.
Freshman A.J. Hardeman
had a career-high 2 steals to go along with 4 points and 5 rebounds in 15 minutes.
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 coach is his career, has a 339-197 (63%) career record in his 18th season as a head coach, 31-14 at New Mexico. His teams have qualified for postseason play 12 times, produced 14 winning seasons and reached 21 wins on nine occasions.