Nov. 11, 2009
<>Saturday: UC Riverside at Lobos, 7:05 p.m.
Online: GameTracker, stats, game story on GoLobos.com
Radio: 770-AM KKOB; Lobo Radio Network<>
Complete Release in PDF Format 
The University of New Mexico opens its 107th season of men’s basketball Saturday evening by hosting UC Riverside. Tipoff is 7:05 p.m., from The Pit/Bob King Court in Albuquerque. The game will be broadcast live over the 12-station Lobo Radio Network. This is the first meeting between the two schools.
The Lobos have played one exhibition in 2009-10, taking down New Mexico Highlands 98-68 on Nov. 3. UC Riverside whipped Redlands 109-74 in an exhibition on Nov. 5.
UNM has won 9 straight home games and is 39-2 in its last 41 non-conference contest at The Pit. The losses were last season against Central Florida and UTEP.
Citadel Communications is the media sponsor while the first 5,000 fans will receive Lobo men’s basketball schedule card magnets courtesy of Verizon Wireless.
EARLY GAME AGAINST THE AGGIES – Following Saturday’s tilt against UCR, the Lobos will meet New Mexico State Tuesday on the earliest date (Nov. 17) in the 105-year history of the series. Prior to 2009-10, the earliest calendar date for the rivals’ first game of a season was Nov. 19, 1997.
Tipoff next Tuesday is 7:05 p.m. from the Pan American Center in Las Cruces. The game will be televised over AggieVision, which is channel 77 on Comcast cable in Albuquerque.
Last year, UNM swept the season series for the first time since December of 2004. The Lobos have won three straight over NMSU. They have not won four in a row since a seven-game run from 1995-99.
SCOUTING UC RIVERSIDE – UC Riverside was 17-13 last year and 8-8 in the Big West. Five of their top-six scorers return led by 6-8 junior forward Kyle Austin, who averaged 16.2 ppg last season.
Jim Wooldridge enters his third season at UCR after being named the sixth head coach in UC Riverside history on May 2, 2007. His 20-plus year career includes stops as head coach at Central Missouri State, Texas State, Louisiana Tech and Kansas State and two years as an assistant to Tim Floyd with the Chicago Bulls.
Wooldridge spent six years at Kansas State, leading the Wildcats to their first winning season in six years in the 2004-05 season when the team posted a 17-12 record in the Big 12 Conference.
LOBOS PREDICTED FOR 5TH-PLACE FINISH IN MWC – Like last year, New Mexico was picked to finish fifth in this season’s Mountain West Conference race during the league’s preseason media gathering in Denver on October 6. Voters were a combination of head coaches and media.
UNM AMONG THE NATION’S YOUNGEST TEAMS – According to a survey by the University of Central Florida media relations office, only two schools have fewer upperclassmen than New Mexico in 2009-10. St. Louis has one player in its junior-senior class while Toledo lists two. UNM, George Mason, UCF and Wyoming have three. There are 346 schools in NCAA Div. I this year.
The Lobos have one senior (Roman Martinez), two juniors (Dairese Gary and Darington Hobson), four sophomores and five freshmen on their 12-man roster in 2009-10.
My50-TV TO SHOW 6 MEN’S GAMES – UNM and Lobo Sports Properties announced Nov. 4 that KASY-TV (My50-TV) in Albuquerque will televise three home games and pick up the feed for three road games in 2009-10. That means 28 of the Lobos’ 31 regular season games will be televised.
My50-TV will show home games against Nicholls State (Nov. 20), Louisiana Tech (Nov. 21) and Miami, Ohio (Nov. 22). Scott Stiegler and former Lobo great Hunter Greene will call the action. My50-TV will also pick up the feed for road games at Hawai’i (Nov. 27), San Diego (Dec. 9) and Oral Roberts (Dec. 23).
LOBOS IN SEASON/HOME OPENERS – New Mexico is 77-29 in season openers, but 41-6 since the 1962-63 season. The Lobos are 77-25 in home openers and have won 43 of their last 47. The last time UNM lost a season opener was Nov. 23, 2002, a 76-68 setback to California in The Pit.
|
LOBOS ROSTER |
HEAD COACH Steve Alford – Steve Alford, 44, begins his third season in charge of Lobo hoops and 18 years as a collegiate head coach. He was named UNM’s 19th head coach on March 23, 2007.
The 2008-09 MWC Coach of the Year after leading the Lobos to their first conference title in 15 seasons, Alford has a 354-204 (64%) career record in 18 seasons as a head coach, 46-21 at New Mexico. His teams have qualified for postseason play 13 times, produced 15 winning seasons and reached 20 wins on 10 occasions. Alford has never been an assistant coach is his career.
Prior to New Mexico, Alford spent eight seasons at the University of Iowa where he compiled a 152-106 record, including a school-record seven consecutive winning seasons and six postseason appearances. The Hawkeyes won two Big Ten Conference tournament titles (2001 and `06).
Prior to Iowa, Alford posted a 78-29 record in four seasons (1992-95) at NCAA Division III Manchester (Ind.) College and a four-year (1996-99) record of 78-48 at Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State). The Bears defeated Wisconsin and Tennessee to advance to the Sweet 16 of the 1999 NCAA Tournament before losing to top-ranked Duke in the regional semifinals. In 1997 Alford led the Bears to a 24-9 record (second in the Missouri Valley Conference) and a trip to the National Invitation Tournament.
Manchester advanced to the 1995 NCAA Division III championship game before suffering its first defeat in 32 games to place second in the nation. Alford was named Indiana Collegiate Conference coach of the year in 1993, 1994 and 1995 and his record was 74-13 over his final three seasons.
Steve Alford – 2008-09 MWC COACH OF THE YEAR – Steve Alford was named the 2008-09 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Lobos to a share of the league title, their first in 15 years.
Alford is the first Lobo head coach to earn the award in the MWC. The last UNM coach to be so honored was Dave Bliss, who was recognized by the Western Athletic Conference in 1993-94 and 1995-96.
Surprisingly, it’s Alford’s first accolade at the NCAA Div. I level. He was a three-time Indiana Collegiate Conference coach of the year in 1993, `94 and `95 while at NCAA Div. III Manchester (Ind.) College.