Jan. 29, 2009
Lobo Basketball Game Notes – at Utah
Two teams trying to get inside position in the conference race square off Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City as New Mexico (13-8, 4-2 MWC) visits Utah (13-7, 4-2 MWC). Tip-off Saturday is 1:35 p.m. Mountain Time from the Hunstman Center. UNM has won four of its last five. The Utes have won three of four after beating BYU 94-88 in overtime on Tuesday. The Lobos will be home next week for games against Wyoming and UNLV. Saturday’s game will be televised live 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.
Seven MWC teams are separated by just one game heading into Saturday’s games. New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah and UNLV are tied for the top spot at 4-2. TCU is 4-3 while BYU and Wyoming are 3-3.
After edging the Utes 72-71 last year at the Huntsman Center, the Lobos seek to do something that’s happened just one other time in the history of this series: win consecutive games over the Utes in Salt Lake City. New Mexico, 6-51 all-time at Utah, turned the trick in 1972-73.
The Lobos upended Colorado State 68-50 Wednesday in The Pit. It’s the third straight home game that UNM has held the opponent (Air Force, BYU, CSU) to a season scoring low. Chad Toppert led three Lobo seniors in scoring with 18 points. Tony Danridge added 16 with Daniel Faris chipping in 14. After missing four of their first five free throws, the Lobos finished the game by canning 24 of their last 27, including a perfect 17-of-17 in the second half. UNM forced CSU into a season-high 20 turnovers.
Senior Luke Nevill led the Utes over BYU with 32 points and 10 rebounds. Luka Drca added 18 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists. Utah, carrying an RPI of No. 25 before the win over the Cougars, is 7-2 since Dec. 27.
THE NEW MEXICO-UTAH SERIES
Four of the last five games between the two rivals have gone into overtime – one requiring double OT – and the one that didn’t was decided by a single point last year in Salt Lake City.
It’s game No. 123 in a series that started Jan. 3, 1952. The Utes have a 77-45 lead, although it’s 8-5 in the Lobos’ favor the past 13 games. New Mexico has won the last 6 meetings in The Pit, including 77-67 in overtime last year.
Utah has an overwhelming 51-6 lead in games played in Salt Lake City, however, UNM snapped an 18-game losing skid at the Huntsman Center last year with a 72-71 victory. The Utes got revenge in the MWC Tournament quarterfinals, taking an 82-80 overtime win.
Current Lobo head coach Steve Alford has a chance to do what no other Lobo head man has done and that’s beat Utah twice in Salt Lake City.
SCOUTING THE UTES
Utah returns all five starters and 10 letterwinners from last year’s team that finished 17-14 and 7-9 (6th) in the MWC. The Utes lost to UNLV in the semifinals of the MWC Tournament and to Tulsa in the second round of the College Basketball Invitational postseason tournament. Jim Boylen is 31-22 in his second season as a collegiate head coach.
NOTES TO KNOW BEFORE THE GAME
The Lobos are 3-4 in true road games this year, and 11-10 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, UNM is 5-2 in its last 7 MWC road games
FG% defense has been a strength of UNM teams under Steve Alford…last year, UNM held opponents to 41.0%, the 4th-lowest by a Lobo team in the past 43 years…it’s even better this season at 39.7%, which currently ranks 1st 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% (1,093-2,696) in 54 games against Alford’s Lobo teams
The Lobos have won 27 straight games when allowing less than 60 points, and they are 48-2 in such games since 2004-05
Woeful from the FT line for most of the season, UNM has made 77.1% (128-166) of its FTs the past 6 games, increasing the season average to 68.8%
Senior Tony Danridge became the 25th member of New Mexico’s 1,000-point club when he scored 14 points last week at San Diego State…he has 1,033 points for his career to rank No. 22 on the all-time list…Ike Williams is No. 21 with 1,086 points
UNM head coach Steve Alford is 26-4 all-time in The Pit, 9-2 in MWC 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
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
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
The Lobos are 38-2 in their last 40 non-conference home games
New Mexico had to rally from 12 or more points twice during a 4-game winning streak in December…UNM trailed Southern Miss 30-18, before prevailing 60-58…there was a 34-19 hole against Oral Roberts, but the Lobos rallied for a 66-63 victory
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 4th in the MWC record book with 236 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 New Mexico 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. All three have participated in at least 110 games in their careers at New Mexico: Danridge (1156), Toppert (114) and Faris (110).
UNM-UTAH LAST YEAR IN SALT LAKE CITY
J.R. Giddens scored 19 points, including one of three straight 3-pointers down the stretch as New Mexico pulled ahead and then held on for a 72-71 win. The Lobos snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Utes at the Hunstman Center, dating to 1989. Chad Toppert and Jamaal Smith also hit 3-pointers during a late 11-2 run for the Lobos, mostly while Utah’s Luke Nevill was on the bench after picking up his fourth foul. By the time Nevill returned for the final 1:49, the Utes trailed 63-59 and never recovered.
The Lobos led 72-69 with 8.8 seconds left after Dairese Gary missed the second of two free throws and Utah’s Shaun Green got the rebound. The Utes rushed downcourt, but Tyler Kepkay drove for a layup instead of taking a 3-pointer, which could have tied it. Kepkay missed the layup and put back his own rebound as the horn sounded with the Lobos holding the 1-point edge.
Smith finished with 17 points, including 8 of 10 free throws in the final 1:11 as the Lobos extended their season-long winning streak to six games. Darren Prentice added 10 points for New Mexico. Johnnie Bryant scored 17 points for the Utes, including a steal and 3-pointer with 15.6 seconds left that allowed the Utes to make it close. Nevill added 16 points and five rebounds. The game featured 9 ties and 12 lead changes.
UNM-UTAH LAST YEAR IN THE MWC TOURNAMENT
Luke Nevill made all the plays down the stretch despite playing with four fouls over the final 11 1/2 minutes and the Utah Utes put a crimp in New Mexico’s NCAA plans with an 82-80 overtime victory in the Mountain West Conference quarterfinals. Nevill scored 26 points, including a slam dunk with 21 seconds left that put the Utes ahead 81-80. The 7-foot Australian then rejected a shot by 6-1 guard Darren Prentice as he circled into the lane.
Lawrence Borha got the outlet pass for Utah and was fouled with 5.6 seconds left. He sank one of two free throws, leaving the Lobos with time to tie it or even win it on a 3-pointer. J.R. Giddens, who led New Mexico with 28 points and 17 rebounds, darted right past the three-point line and put up a runner that rimmed out at the buzzer.
The Utes had a chance to avoid overtime on this night after Chad Toppert’s two free throws tied it at 72 with 13 seconds left in regulation. But Luke Drca threw it away with 1.5 seconds left and Jamaal Smith’s desperation heave from three-quarters court was way short. Nevill picked up his fourth foul with 6:31 left in regulation but never fouled out even though a couple of times he went hard to the basket and might easily have been whistled for the charge.
Lawrence Bohra added 13 points for the Utes, Shaun Green had 12 and Johnny Bryant 11. For the Lobos, Dairese Gary had 14, Roman Martinez 12, Smith 11 and Toppert 10. The Lobos jumped out to a nine-point lead in the opening minutes but trailed by 11 with 10 minutes to go in regulation before their furious comeback fell short.
UNM-UTAH LAST YEAR IN ALBUQUERQUE
Daniel Faris scored 15 points and J.R. Giddens and Chad Toppert both had 14 to lead New Mexico to a 77-67 overtime victory.
Jamaal Smith had five points and Giddens and Dairese Gary both added four in the overtime for the Lobos, who beat the Utes for the sixth straight time at The Pit. Giddens and Smith both missed potential game-winning shots in the final 15 seconds of regulation and Tyler Kepkay missed one for Utah. The Lobos had nine free throws as they outscored Utah 17-7 in the overtime.
New Mexico held Utah center Luke Nevill, who came into the game averaging a team-high 13.6 points, without a shot in taking a 31-21 halftime lead.
The New Mexico bench was called for a technical foul with 12:04 left. It erased a 3-pointer by Roman Martinez and helped spark an 18-1 run that put Utah up 53-45. The Lobos responded with a 13-3 run, regaining the lead on two free throws by Martinez with 3:15 left.
POSTGAME NOTES FROM COLORADO STATE
Freshman Phillip McDonald (sick) was not in UNM’s starting lineup for the first time all season…McDonald, Roman Martinez, Daniel Faris, Dairese Gary and Tony Danridge had started the last 14 games…Gary is now the only Lobo to start every game this season
New Mexico held Colorado State to a season-low 50 points, matching the lowest score by a Lobo opponent this season (Grambling)
The senior trio of Chad Toppert (18), Tony Danridge (16), and Daniel Faris (14) combined for 48 of New Mexico’s 68 points
After hitting just 8-15 free throws in the first half (and a 1-5 start), UNM hit 24 of its last 27, including a perfect 17-17 after halftime
UNM has made 77.1% (128-166) of its free throws the past 6 games, increasing the season percentage to 68.8%
The Lobos forced the Rams into a season-high 20 turnovers…the miscues resulted in 25 points for New Mexico
New Mexico missed its first 6 3-pointers before Nate Garth connected 6 minutes into the 2nd half…UNM has now made a 3-pointer in 602 consecutive games; the last time it didn’t connect was Jan. 3, 1991, going 0-8 against Colorado State
New Mexico has won four in a row over Colorado State and 24 of the past 27 since 1994…UNM has a 37-4 lead in games played in The Pit
24 points in the first half was the fewest for UNM this season
Senior Chad Toppert
First start since Feb. 2, 2008 at UNLV…28th start of his career
18 points in a season-high 33 minutes…13th game with 10+ points this season…UNM is 3-0 when he leads them in scoring and 10-3 when he scores in double digits
Has averaged 18 points in his last 3 games against Colorado State
Set season-highs for free throws made with eight on a season-high nine attempts …ended streak of 19 consecutive free throws with miss at the 8:52 mark in the first half
Moved into fourth place all-time in the MWC with 236 career 3s
Senior Daniel Faris
14 points – his 14th game in double figures this season – 2 shy of his season high
Game-high 8 rebounds…most rebounds in six games
Senior Tony Danridge
16 points for 14th straight game in double figure scoring, averaging 14.6 in that span
A perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line…shooting 85% (34-40) in the past six games
Sophomore Dairese Gary
Game-high 5 assists …7th game with 5+ assists this season
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 345-200 (63%) career record in his 18th season as a head coach, 37-17 at New Mexico. His teams have qualified for postseason play 12 times, produced 14 winning seasons and reached 21 wins on nine occasions.