Dec. 14, 2009
No. 19 New Mexico vs. Northern Arizona Game Notes
Game 11 (19) New Mexico vs. Northern Arizona
Day/Date: Wednesday, Dec. 16
Time: 7:05 p.m. MST
Location: The Pit / Bob King Court (14,586) Albuquerque, N.M.
Tickets: golobos.com
Ticket / Game Promotion: Youth Night with all tickets just $5 for ages 2-18…tickets available online, at all outlets and at the door Wednesday night…Mascot Mania at halftime
Records: New Mexico 10-0 (6-0 home, 3-0 road, 1-0 neutral); Northern Arizona 3-5, (2-1 home, 1-4 road)
Radio: 770 KKOB / Lobo Radio Network (Scott Galetti and Scott Didrickson) with air time at 6:30 p.m.
Live Stats: GoLobos.com / GameTracker
Series: 83rd meeting…tied 41-41
Last Meeting: Nov. 27, 2004…UNM 81, NAU 70 at Albuquerque
Game Sponsors: Bernalillo County Substance Abuse and Metro Detention Center, 104.1 The Edge & 104.7 Classic Country
LOBOS RANKED FOR 1ST TIME SINCE 1999 – Arguably one of college basketball’s most surprising teams to date, New Mexico will play its first game as a ranked team in 11 seasons when its hosts Northern Arizona Wednesday. Game time is 7:05 p.m. Mountain Time from The Pit / Bob King Court in Albuquerque.
Buoyed by last week’s 84-81 victory over nationally-ranked Texas A&M in Houston, the Lobos are No. 19 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls.
New Mexico, 10-0 and off to its best start since 1995-96, is ranked for the first time since March 8, 1999, when it was 25th by AP and No. 24 by the coaches heading into the NCAA Tournament.
The current ranking of No. 19 is the Lobos’ highest since Feb. 1, 1999, when they were 17th in AP and 18th in the coaches’ poll.
On Wednesday, the current Lobo squad will try to become just the third UNM team in 107 seasons of basketball to start a season 11-0. The last 11-0 beginning was 1973-74 when UNM opened 12-0. The best start in school history is 17-0 in 1967-68.
It’s a pretty nice story for a team that has just one really special senior and two juniors, and was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference.
A victory Wednesday would also be the best start for Steve Alford in 15 seasons as a Div. I head coach. His 1996-97 Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) also started 10-0. The last time Steve Alford was in charge of a ranked team was during the 2005-06 season at Iowa. The Hawkeyes got as high as No. 12 that year.
Northern Arizona is 3-5 overall, 0-2 in the Big Sky. The Lumberjacks whipped UC Riverside Sunday 68-56. UNM dumped UCR 67-51 in the season opener on Nov. 14.
LOBOS’ HISTORY IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS – The Lobos’ first national ranking came during the 1964-65 season under head coach Bob King. UNM was 19-3 after a 70-66 win over Arizona on Feb. 20, 1965. The ranking was short-lived, however, as the Lobos lost their last five games to finish 19-8. The Lobos have a 141-59 record as a ranked team, 100-6 at home/in The Pit, 29-43 on the road and 12-10 at neutral sites.
NOTES TO KNOW BEFORE WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Home Win Streak at 15: New Mexico has won 15 straight home games and is 45-2 in its last 47 non-conference games at The Pit…the last loss was 73-60 to UTEP on Jan. 6, 2009…the 15-game streak is tied with North Carolina for the 8th-longest current string in the nation…Kansas is 1st at 47
Tough Away From The Pit, Too: UNM has won its first four games away from home for only the 7th time in school history…the 1967-68 team – on its way to a school-record 17-0 start – won it’s first 5 (at Oregon, Seattle, Texas Tech, New Mexico State and Arizona State) before losing at Arizona…the other five times were all before 1945…the longest run is 6 in a row in 1932-33: 2 wins apiece at Northern Arizona, UTEP and New Mexico State before a loss at Arizona
Hot Shooting on the Road: In last week’s successful 2-game road swing to San Diego and Houston (against Texas A&M), the Lobos shot 51.4% (54-105) from the floor, including an amazing 63% (22-35) from 3-point…the FT line? Surprisingly, not so good at just 62% (36-58)
New Mexico leads the MWC in scoring offense (82.3 ppg), 3-point FGs per game (9.3), 3-point FG pct. (40.6%), fewest turnovers (10.8 pg) and defensive rebounds per game (26.0)
Under Steve Alford, New Mexico is 27-1 when scoring 80 or more points…the only loss was 82-80 to Utah in overtime in the quarterfinals of the 2008 MWC Tournament in Las Vegas…UNM is 28-0 when holding the opponent under 60 points
The Lobos have won their 10 games by an average of 14.8 points and they are out-rebounding foes by 5.7 per contest
The Lobos have won 35 straight games when allowing less than 60 points, and they are 55-2 in such games since 2004-05…the last loss was 51-46 at Air Force on Feb. 22, 2006
TWO WINS OVER RANKED TEAMS – New Mexico has posted wins over No. 25 Cal (ESPN/USA Today) and No. 16/18 Texas A&M on a neutral floor in Houston in 2009-10. The last time New Mexico recorded two wins over ranked teams in one season was 2004-05. The Lobos beat Utah twice, the first time when the Utes were ranked No. 13, the second time when they were No. 15
The last time UNM had two wins over ranked non-conference competition in one season was 1992-93. Both the victories came against New Mexico State, 69-62 in Las Cruces (No. 25) and 71-66 in Albuquerque (No. 24).
When New Mexico beat No. 25 Cal 86-78 on Dec. 2, it marked the Lobos’ first home win over a ranked, non-conference opponent since Jan. 16, 1999. No. 16 UNM edged 7th-ranked Arizona 79-78 more than 10 years ago.
HEAD COACH Steve Alford – Steve Alford, 45, is in his third season in charge of New Mexico hoops and his 19th 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 collegiate career, was 26 when he became head coach at Manchester (Ind.) College.
The 2008-09 MWC Coach of the Year after leading the Lobos to their first conference title in 15 seasons, Alford has a 364-204 (64%) career record, 56-21 at New Mexico. His teams have qualified for postseason play 13 times, produced 15 winning seasons and reached 20 wins on 10 occasions.