Jan. 19, 2009
New Mexico junior Roman Martinez has been named the Mountain West Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the second time this season. He also got the award Dec. 15 after games against San Diego and Ole Miss.
A 6-6 wing from El Paso, Texas, Martinez had a big second half to lead the Lobos past BYU (81-62), giving the Cougars their first loss in MWC play. In the first half, Martinez scored only two points on a pair of free throws in 16 minutes of action. In the decisive second half, he scored 13 points by making four three-pointers and a free throw, while grabbing four rebounds. After BYU tied the game at 44 with 16 minutes left, Martinez nailed his first shot from beyond the arc to give the Lobos a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. His second and third treys of the half pushed the Lobos’ lead back to six after BYU cut the margin to three on two separate occasions.
For the game, Martinez scored 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field (57.1 percent), including a 4-for-6 performance from beyond the arc. He also grabbed seven rebounds and added one block in 31 minutes.
The Lobos (11-7, 2-1 MWC) play at San Diego State Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. Mountain Time.