Feb. 9, 2009
Danridge Named MWC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week
Lobos Men’s Basketball at Air Force Game Notes
New Mexico (15-9, 6-3 MWC) has only one game this week and it’s Wednesday at Air Force (9-13, 0-9 MWC). Tip-off is 8:05 p.m. Mountain Time from Clune Arena at the United States Air Force Academy. UNM will be at BYU on Tuesday, Feb. 17, before returning home to face San Diego State on Feb. 21. Wednesday’s game will be televised live nationally by CBS College Sports, which is channel 274 on Comcast cable in Albuquerque, channel 613 on DirecTV and channel 152 on Dish Network. Tom Hart and Steve Lappas will call the game.
After a thrilling 73-69 overtime victory over UNLV last Saturday, the Lobos find themselves all alone in third place in the MWC at 6-3. San Diego State and Utah continue to lead the league at 7-2. Those two teams meet Wednesday in Salt Lake City. BYU (5-3) is a half-game behind UNM while UNLV is 5-4, one game in back of the Lobos.
Senior Tony Danridge was at his best in the second half of UNM’s triumph over the Runnin’ Rebels. After taking only one shot and scoring two points in the first half, Danridge scored 24 of his career-high 26 points after halftime. His biggest basket was the eventual game-winner, a running bank shot with 5.4 seconds left that provided the Lobos with a 71-69 advantage. Danridge made 9 of 12 field goals in the second half. He added nine rebounds and a steal in a season-high 41 minutes of action. Danridge did not come out of the game in the second half or in overtime. Senior Chad Toppert added 15 points while freshman Nate Garth chipped in with 10.
Air Force lost at San Diego State 65-34 last Saturday. The Falcons have lost 10 in a row.
THE NEW MEXICO-AIR FORCE SERIES
It’s the 63rd meeting and UNM has a 44-18 advantage, including a 78-53 win in The Pit on Jan. 10. The Lobos have won three straight for the first time since a seven-game run between 1996-2001. UNM leads 16-12 in Colorado Springs, 15-12 at Clune Arena. The Lobos prevailed there last year 68-51. New Mexico has a commanding 26-2 edge in The Pit. The Falcons’ only two wins here were 60-51 in 2007 and 68-42 in 2004.
GRANGER SELECTED TO NBA ALL-STAR GAME
Former University of New Mexico All-American Danny Granger (2003-05) was chosen as a Eastern Conference reserve for the 58th NBA All-Star Game this Sunday in Phoenix. He will also participate in Saturday’s 3-point shooting contest. Granger is in his fourth year with the Indiana Pacers. He was a 1st-round draft pick in 2006. Granger is 5th in the league in scoring, averaging more than 25 points a game. Only Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki are scoring at a higher clip that Granger. Granger is the first former Lobo to play in an NBA All-Star game. Mel Daniels (1965-67) was a 7-time ABA All-Star, ironically, six times when he played with the Indiana Pacers.
NOTES TO KNOW BEFORE THE GAME
The Lobos’ 6 conference wins have been by an average of 18.7 points while their 3 losses – all on the road – have been by a combined 8 points, or 2.7 points
The Lobos are 3-5 in true road games this year, and 11-11 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 5-3 in its last 8 MWC road games
UNM is shooting 38.3% from the 3-point line this season, but an impressive 43% (55-128) in 8 true road games…the number is even better in four MWC road games at 45% (23-51), including a startling 68% (15-22) the past two at TCU and at Utah…Chad Toppert has converted 50% (17-34) and Roman Martinez 46% (18-39) in visiting arenas
The Lobos are 5-0 in home conference games this season…in the first four games, UNM held Air Force (53), BYU (62), Colorado State (50) and Wyoming (57) to their lowest scoring totals of the season
Hovering around 65% from the FT line during the preseason, UNM has made 81% (81-100) of its tosses the past 5 games and 76.2% in MWC games…the season average has climbed to 69.9%
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 39.6%, 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% (1,155-2,856) in 57 games against Alford’s Lobo teams
New Mexico is 3-3 when trailing at half this year, but 3-0 at home…the wins came over Southern Miss, Oral Roberts and UNLV
In MWC games, Chad Toppert leads the league in FT% (93%, 27-29) and in 3-point accuracy (51%, 21-41)
Chad Toppert passed Utah’s Johnnie Bryant for 3rd place on the MWC 3-point list with 246 made…that’s also 3rd at UNM behind Clayton Shields (285) and Ruben Douglas (264)…Toppert is 1st at UNM and 3rd in MWC history with 3-point accuracy of 45%
The Lobos are 10-1 this season – with 10 consecutive wins – when junior Roman Martinez plays more than 30 minutes a game…the only loss was at Creighton on Nov. 16
The Lobos have won 28 straight games when allowing less than 60 points, and they are 48-2 in such games since 2004-05
Only one time in the past 29 games has an opponent made 50% of its FG tries against the Lobos…San Diego State hit an even 50% (23-46) on Jan. 21, 2009
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 1,079 points for his career to rank No. 22 on the all-time list…he needs 8 points to pass Ike Williams for the 21st spot
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 more than 113 games in their careers at New Mexico: Danridge (119), Toppert (117) and Faris (113). They have combined to score 2,799 points.
UNM-AIR FORCE JAN. 10 IN ALBUQUERQUE
Phillip McDonald scored 11 of his 15 points during a key 15-0 run that carried New Mexico to a 78-53 win. The Lobos had four players reach double digits in scoring with Tony Danridge and Chad Toppert each getting 15 points. It was the most points that Air Force has allowed in any game this season. McDonald had been mired in a scoring slump with just 10 total points in the past three games. But he hit three 3-pointers during the decisive span that pushed New Mexico’s first-half lead from 9-6 to 24-6. Air Force didn’t get closer than 15 points the rest of the game despite Matt Holland’s 14 points. The Lobos displayed sharp shooting throughout the game, hitting 9-of-16 from 3-point range and connecting on 54 percent from the field.
UNM-AIR FORCE LAST YEAR AT THE ACADEMY
J.R. Giddens scored 14 points to lead New Mexico to a 68-51 win. With the scored tied 35-35 at the intermission, the Lobos began pulling away early in the second half. Roman Martinez opened the scoring with a three-point basket, and Giddings and Daniel Faris began scoring from beneath the basket. The Lobos opened a 15-point margin with some five minutes to play, and coasted home for the win.
The teams battled on even terms early, until the Lobos opened a 14-point bulge midway through the first half behind the three-point shooting of Chad Toppert, who canned three shots from beyond the arc, and Jamaal Smith who added another three-pointer. Not to be outdone, Air Force answered with a long-range basket by Henke and a pair of three-pointers from Eric Kenzik, to narrow the margin to 27-22, and eventually tied the game at 29-29. Three-pointers by Dairese Gary and Darren Prentice gave the Lobos the lead, but Henke tied the game with a three-pointer shortly before the halftime buzzer.
POSTGAME NOTES FROM THE UNLV WIN
1st overtime game of the season for New Mexico and 4th overtime game of the series (tied 2-2)…UNLV had won the previous two OT games in the series
UNM improved to 6-0 (4-0 in MWC) when committing fewer than 10 turnovers
Attendance of 17,407 is the highest since 18,018 last year vs. UNLV…the Lobos improve to 12-2 in the Pit and 5-0 in the conference at home this season
The game featured 12 ties and 10 lead changes, including 10 ties and 8 lead changes in the final 25 minutes
New Mexico outrebounded UNLV 40-32, including 21-12 after halftime
The Lobos missed their first 12 3-pointers before Chad Toppert connected at the 7:40 mark in the second half…UNM finished 2-17
The three New Mexico seniors – Tony Danridge, Daniel Faris and Chad Toppert – scored all 14 of UNM’s points in overtime
Senior Tony Danridge
career-high 26 points on 10-13 shooting…24 in the second half, including UNM’s first 11
scored the game-winning basket with 5.4 seconds left in OT and the game-tying basket with 36.5 seconds left in regulation
played 41 minutes and did not come out of the game in the second half/OT
36 points and 19 rebounds in two games against UNLV this year
team-high nine rebounds, one shy of his career-high 10
shooting 85% (44-52) on FTs the past 9 games
Senior Chad Toppert
15 points…UNM is 12-3 when he scores in double figures (5-0 MWC)
10-17 (59%) on 3-pointers in the past 3 games
shooting 51.2% (21-41) from 3-point range in conference games
moved into 3rd place in MWC history with 246 3-point field goals made
Senior Daniel Faris
finished with eight points after starting 1-9 from the floor…2-2 with a steal and a block in OT…game-tying FG with 47.5 seconds remaining in OT
Junior Roman Martinez
the Lobos are 10-1 when he plays more than 30 minutes
collected eight rebounds
Freshman Nate Garth
10 points for second game in double figures on the season
19 points and seven assists in two games vs. UNLV
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 347-201 (63%) career record in his 18th season as a head coach, 39-18 at New Mexico. His teams have qualified for postseason play 12 times, produced 14 winning seasons and reached 21 wins on nine occasions.