Jan. 22, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
New Mexico (11-8, 2-2 MWC) stays on the road when its faces surprise Mountain West Conference leader TCU (13-6, 4-1 MWC) Saturday in Fort Worth. Tip-off is 6 p.m. Mountain Time from the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. There is no TV or live streaming for the game.
Picked to finish last in the MWC preseason poll, TCU sits atop the conference standings after slipping past Wyoming 79-78 in overtime on Wednesday. Kevin Langford led the Horned Frogs with 36 points and had a key block in the closing seconds. TCU has won six of its last seven.
San Diego State and Utah are a half-game behind TCU at 3-1. The Aztecs are at BYU Saturday while Utah travels to UNLV. It’s possible that six teams could each have two conference losses after the dust settles on Saturday.
The Horned Frogs are 9-1 at home this season and have won nine in a row since losing their home opener to Nebraska (62-50) on Nov. 19.
New Mexico is looking for win No. 1,300 in the history of the program. UNM is 1,299-1,014 in its 106th season of hoops.
The Lobos saw their MWC record fall to 2-2 following an 81-76 loss at San Diego State. UNM trailed 64-53 with 7:48 to play, but twice cut the gap to two points: 75-73 with 1:18 to go and 77-75 with 40 seconds left in the game. The Aztecs countered with four free throws and a layup in the final 50 seconds to hold on to the win.
New Mexico jumped out to a 16-5 lead, but went cold from the floor the rest of the half as SDSU led 37-32 at the break. Freshman Phillip McDonald and sophomore Dairese Gary led UNM’s furious comeback by scoring the Lobos’ final 18 points. The teams combined for 58 fouls and 74 free throw attempts. McDonald tied a career-high with 17 points. Senior Tony Danridge tallied 14 to become the 25th Lobo to score 1,000 points. UNM had no answer for Kyle Spain and Lorrenzo Wade. Spain went for 30 and Wade 21. The duo combined to make 23 of 29 FTs. The Lobos were also stung in the middle as SDSU had a 24-8 scoring advantage in the paint and 18-7 on second-chance points.
THE NEW MEXICO-TCU SERIES – New Mexico has a 9-5 lead in a series that started in 1964, although the Horned Frogs have taken three of the last five. UNM trails 4-1 in Fort Worth, the lone win 53-42 in 2006. TCU is 0-6 all-time in Albuquerque.
Last year, TCU overcame an 18-point second-half deficit to stun the Lobos 74-72 in Fort Worth. A former Lobo – Ryan Wall – sank a 3-pointer from the corner with four seconds left to win it. UNM got the return game in The Pit, winning 64-48.
SCOUTING THE HORNED FROGS – TCU returns two starters and four letterwinners from last year’s team that finished 14-16 and 6-10 (7th) in the MWC. In MWC games only, the Horned Frogs lead the MWC in FG percentage at 48.1%.
First-year head coach Jim Christian has a 151-64 in his seventh year overall. He was 138-58 in six seasons at Kent State – and average of 23 wins a year – with four Mid-American Conference regular season titles and two NCAA appearances. The Golden Flashes lost to UNLV 71-58 in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament.
NOTES TO KNOW BEFORE THE GAME
Senior Tony Danridge became the 25th member of New Mexico’s 1,000-point club when he scored 14 points at San Diego State…he has 1,005 for his career and needs 12 points to pass Ron Becker, Rob Loeffel and Ira Harge for the 22nd spot
Danridge has already set personal season highs for assists (50) and steals (25), and needs just 1 rebound to establish a new standard in that category…he leads the team in rebounding in MWC games at 6 a game
A 3-pointer against San Diego State gave UNM a 3-ball in 600 consecutive games…the last time the Lobos failed to connect was Jan. 3, 1991, going 0-8 against Colorado State
The Lobos are 2-4 in true road games this year, and 10-10 in head coach Steve Alford’s tenure at New Mexico…in the five seasons before Alford arrived, UNM had an 8-43 road record…UNM went 8-6 in 2007-08, tying a school record
Dating to last season, the Lobos are 4-2 in their last 6 MWC road games
FG% defense has been a strength of UNM teams under Steve Alford…last year, New Mexico held opponents to 41.0%, the 4th-lowest by a Lobo team in the past 43 years…it’s even better this season at 39.6%, which currently ranks 3rd in the MWC…the last time New Mexico held the opposition to under 40% for an entire season was 1964-65 (36.7%)…opponents have shot just 40.5% (1,062-2,621) in 52 games against Alford’s Lobo teams
In MWC games only, New Mexico leads the conference in 3-pt. FG% defense (30.1%, 25-83) and turnover margin (+4.75)
Opponents are shooting 30.7% (40-130) from 3-point the past 7 games
The Lobos have turned the ball over only 29 times the past 3 games, including a season-low 7 last Saturday against BYU
New Mexico was 2nd in the nation in 3-point percentage last year at 42%…accuracy is 37.7% this season, but the Lobos have made 41% (21-51) the past 3 games
Last year, UNM’s 8th loss did not come until the next-to-last game of the season – to Utah in the MWC Tournament
The Lobos have won 26 straight games when allowing less than 60 points, and they are 47-2 in such games since 2004-05
Of UNM’s 33 games in 2007-08, six were decided by 3 points or less, and it went 2-4…the 2008-09 squad has already equaled that total for nail-biters, recording a 4-2 mark
Woeful from the FT line for most of the season, UNM has made 75.4% (89-118) of its FTs the past 4 games, increasing the season average to 67.6%…the number, however, is just 61.7% (42-68) in the last 3 minutes of games
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 has the top-3 single-game assist totals in the MWC this year: 29 vs. Ole Miss, 26 vs. Southeast Missouri and 25 vs. Grambling
Senior Chad Toppert ranks No. 1 at UNM by making 45% of his career 3-point attempts…he is 3rd all-time at UNM and 5th in the MWC record book with 233 career 3s
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
ALL 3 LOBO SENIORS TO GRADUATE IN MAY – All three of UNM’s three seniors – Tony Danridge, Daniel Faris and Chad Toppert – will graduate in May with their bachelor’s degree. Danridge is majoring in University Studies, Faris in Mass Media/Communications and Toppert in Business. Each of the three has surpassed 100 games played in their careers at New Mexico: Danridge (114), Toppert (112) and Faris (108).
UNM-TCU LAST YEAR IN FORT WORTH – Former Lobo Ryan Wall hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to give TCU a 74-72 victory. Wall’s shot from the corner gave the Horned Frogs their first lead since New Mexico went up 9-8 on a 3-pointer by Dairese Gary with 11:25 left in the first half. New Mexico led by 18 (48-30) at the 17:14 mark of the second half.
Jason Ebie tied the game for TCU at 59-59 on a 3-pointer with 5:20 left. But Chad Toppert responded with a 3-pointer of his own.
Brent Hackett hit a jumper with 18 seconds left to cut New Mexico’s lead to 72-71 and Ebie got a steal, setting up Wall’s only points of the night.
Kevin Langford and Henry Salter each scored 16 points for TCU. Langford got 11 of his 16 in the second half. John Ortiz and Hackett each had 13 for the Horned Frogs.
Darren Prentice came off the bench to score 19 for New Mexico, with all but one of those coming on 3-pointers. J.R. Giddens added 12. Daniel Faris scored 11 and Roman Martinez had 10.
UNM-TCU LAST YEAR AT THE PIT – J.R. Giddens scored 25 points and Jonathan Wills had six during a 19-0 run to open the second half as New Mexico beat TCU 64-48.
The Lobos held the Horned Frogs scoreless for the first 6:27 of the second half to notch their fourth consecutive conference victory and improve their homecourt record this season to 15-1. Henry Salter had 13 points for TCU.
Willis hit a 3-pointer and three free throws as New Mexico took a 45-23 lead after its early second-half run.
The Horned Frogs used an 11-0 spurt to close within 47-38 midway through the second half but got no closer.
POSTGAME NOTES FROM SAN DIEGO STATE
Senior Tony Danridge became the 25th member of New Mexico’s 1,000-point club with eight seconds left in the first half on a jump shot…he finished the game with 14 points and now has 1,005 career points
With 5 3-pointers at San Diego State, UNM has made a 3-pointer in 600 consecutive games…the last time the Lobos failed to connect was Jan. 3, 1991, going 0-8 against Colorado State
San Diego State shot 50% from the field, ending a streak of 22 games since the Lobos had allowed an opponent to make at least half their shots…the last time it happened was Feb. 23, 2008, 52.4% by Utah (22-42) in Salt Lake City
Opponents are shooting 30.7% (40-130) from 3-point range in the past 7 games
Freshman Phillip McDonald and sophomore Dairese Gary combined to score the Lobos’ last 18 points of the game
Senior Tony Danridge
Had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals
Has set a new season mark with 25 steals and has tied a season high for rebounds with 79
Freshman Phillip McDonald
Tied a career-high with 17 points with 11 of those coming in the final 8:01…had 17 earlier in the season against Texas Tech
Freshman Nate Garth
9 points and a game-high 5 assists…8th game this season with 5+ assists
Sophomore Dairese Gary
Helped fuel the Lobos’ comeback with all 10 of his points in the final 4:15…it’s his first game in double figures since scoring 13 against Southern Miss on Dec. 10, a span of 11 games
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 343-200 (63%) career record in his 18th season as a head coach, 35-17 at New Mexico. His teams have qualified for postseason play 12 times, produced 14 winning seasons and reached 21 wins on nine occasions.