Dec. 21, 2009
No. 13/12 New Mexico at Oral Roberts
Day/Date: Wednesday, Dec. 23
Time: 6 p.m. MST
Location: Mabee Center (10,575) Tulsa, Okla.
Records: New Mexico 12-0 (8-0 home, 3-0 road, 1-0 neutral);
Oral Roberts (4-0 home, 1-5 road, 1-1 neutral)
Radio: 770 KKOB / Lobo Radio Network (Scott Galetti and Scott Didrickson) with air time at 5:30 p.m.
TV: My50-TV in Albuquerque / DirecTV 617 (Fox College Sports) / ESPN Full Court pay-per-view / simulcast at ESPN360.com www.espn360.com/basketball
Live Stats: Link on GoLobos.com / Live Stats
Series: UNM leads 1-0, 1-0 in The Pit
Last Meeting: Dec. 17, 2008…UNM 66, Oral Roberts 63
Next Game: Tuesday, Dec. 29 vs. Texas Tech (SOLD OUT!)
TRYING TO MAKE IT 13-0
No. 13 (AP) / No. 12 (ESPN/USA Today) New Mexico (12-0) puts its unbeaten streak on the line Wednesday, traveling to Oral Roberts (6-6). Game time is 6 p.m. Mountain Time from the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Okla. The Lobos are the highest ranked team to play ORU at home since No. 3 Oklahoma State on Jan. 25, 1992.
Wednesday’s game will air on My50-TV, which is picking up the local feed. The game can also be seen on DirecTV channel 617 (Fox College Sports), on ESPN’s Full Court subscription package and simulcast online at ESPN360.com.
Getting to 12-0 was anything but easy for the Lobos, as they had to rally from a 31-15 hole before holding off Creighton 66-61 Saturday in The Pit. Junior guard Darington Hobson led the furious UNM comeback with a phenomenal second-half performance. Hobson had a hand in all 13 of New Mexico’s baskets after the break by making eight field goals and assisting on the other five. His second-half numbers were 19 points (out of UNM’s 38), 11 rebounds and five assists.
At 12-0, New Mexico has its best start since 1973-74, also 12-0. Wednesday, the current Lobo squad will try to become just the second UNM team in 107 seasons to open 13-0. The best start in school history is 17-0 in 1967-68.
After a 10-year hiatus from the national rankings, the Lobos are ranked for the second week in a row. UNM moved up six spots to No. 13 in the Associated Press poll and vaulted seven places to 12th in the ESPN/USA Today rankings. New Mexico was 19th in both polls last week.
The current ranking of No. 13 (A.P.) is the Lobos’ highest since Jan. 18, 1999, when they were 12th in the A.P. and 13th by the coaches.
It’s all a pretty nice story for a team that has just one senior and two juniors, and was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference.
Head coach Steve Alford is guiding a ranked team for the first time since 2005-06 when Iowa got as high as No. 12.
SCOUTING ORAL ROBERTS
Oral Roberts is 6-6 on the season, 2-0 in the Summit League and undefeated at home (4-0). The Golden Eagles, however, have faced some adversity of late. In their most recent game, a 94-57 loss at Louisville last Wednesday, injuries limited their participation to just six scholarship players for the second straight game. ORU dressed only eight players and used seven total, including two who saw all 40 minutes of action and another who played 39.
Guard Kyron Stokes, a starter in the first 11 games, suffered a severe ankle sprain Dec. 13 against Indiana State and did not play at Louisville.
Oral Roberts has lost three players to season-ending ACL injuries: Hunter McClintock, Tim Morton and Roderick Pearson. Javier Nasarre is out with a fractured wrist and Beloved Rogers quit the team over the Thanksgiving weekend. Only five players have played in all 12 games this season.
Despite the issues, ORU has impressive wins over Stanford and Missouri. The Golden Eagles were picked to finish second in the Summit League.
Dominique Morrison leads four players scoring in double figures at 15.4 ppg. The Golden Eagles are shooting 43% from the floor and just 28% from 3-point. However, they are only allowing 66.8 points a game, holding opponents to 33% accuracy from 3-point and out-rebounding their fies by 4.3 a game.
UNM-ORU LAST YEAR IN ALBUQUERQUE
Tony Danridge hit 20 points and Daniel Faris had 16 to lead New Mexico to a 66-63 comeback win over Oral Roberts. Oral Roberts led throughout the first half, including 34-19 with 3 minutes before halftime and 37-25 at the break.
But the Lobos came out for the second half shooting much better, using a 16-2 run to take their first lead at 41-39. Faris had six in the run, including the finishing four, one coming on a turnaround and the other on a put back of a Danridge miss.
Faris also put New Mexico ahead for good with 2:12 remaining, tapping in a wayward Roman Martinez over-the-back shot.
New Mexico also overcame an uncharacteristically poor night from long-distance sharpshooter Chad Toppert, who missed all seven shots and came up scoreless. The Lobos finished 2-15 from behind the 3-point arc.
New Mexico matched the 6th-largest comeback for a victory in program history and the 2nd-largest in The Pit. The lead changed hands 7 times and there were 2 ties – all in the final 15 minutes. The Lobos closed the game with a 6-2 run over the final 1:45.
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 143-59 record as a ranked team, 102-6 at home/in The Pit, 29-43 on the road and 12-10 at neutral sites.
LOBOS SALTY ON THE ROAD
UNM has won its first 4 games away from home 7 times…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 5 times were all before 1945…the longest run to start the season is 6 in a row in 1932-33: 2 wins apiece at Northern Arizona, UTEP and New Mexico State before a loss at Arizona
Dating to last season, the Lobos are 5-1 in their last 6 true road games and 6-2 in the past 8 including neutral sites
ALFORD’S LOBO TEAMS IMPRESSIVE ON THE ROAD
The Lobos are 17-13 in true road games under third-year head coach Steve Alford. To put Alford’s road success in perspective, it took the Lobos 79 games over 7-plus seasons (2000 to 2007) to reach 17 road wins before he came to Albuquerque. UNM was 14-60 on the road in seven seasons before Alford arrived.
NOTES TO KNOW BEFORE WEDNESDAY’S GAME
The Lobos made a season-high 16 3-pointers (on 32 attempts) against Northern Arizona, good for 50%…it’s the most 3s since making 17 in a 93-91 double-OT loss at Utah on Feb. 24, 2007…despite making only 6 of 27 against Creighton, UNM is still 44-94 (47%) from beyond the arc the past 4 games
And Really Hot in the 2nd Half: In the 2nd half of the past 4 games, New Mexico has converted 59% (64-109) of its FGs, 55% (22-40) of its 3-point tries and averaged 48 points
Home Win Streak at 17: New Mexico has won 17 straight home games and is 47-2 in its last 49 non-conference games at The Pit…the last loss was 73-60 to UTEP on Jan. 6, 2009…the 17-game streak is tied with Western Kentucky for the 7th-longest current string in the nation…Kansas is 1st at 48
The 12-game winning streak ties for the 3rd-longest in school history and is the best by a Lobo team since posting 14 in a row in 1977-78
New Mexico leads the MWC in scoring offense (82.1 ppg), 3-point FGs per game (9.6), 3-point FG pct. (39.9%), fewest turnovers (9.8 pg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.7)
Under Steve Alford, New Mexico is 28-1 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 29-0 when holding the opponent under 60 points
The Lobos have won 36 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 366-204 (64%) career record, 58-21 at New Mexico. His teams have qualified for postseason play 13 times, produced 15 winning seasons and reached 20 wins on 10 occasions.
CREIGHTON RECAP
Even in its worst-shooting game of the season, No. 19 New Mexico managed to stay unbeaten. Darington Hobson had 22 points and 16 rebounds, and helped the Lobos rally in the second half to beat Creighton 66-61 on Saturday night.
New Mexico (12-0) trailed by 16 points in the first half and still were down 40-28 at the break. But the Lobos opened the second half with a 17-4 run, taking their first lead at 45-44 on Hobson’s putback with 11:47 left.
The teams traded the lead until Hobson’s layup broke a 57-57 tie. Dairese Gary helped seal the victory with two steals and 3 FTs in the final minute.
Roman Martinez added 11 points and 10 rebounds for New Mexico, which struggled from the field all night. The Lobos finished 20 of 67 from the floor, including 3 of 15 on 3-pointers in the first half.
Martinez had one of the game’s bigger plays with about a minute left. After Hobson missed two foul shots, Martinez slipped underneath, grabbed the rebound and quickly fed it back to Hobson for a dunk to increase the lead to 61-57.
“We have a senior that just won’t let this team lose,” Alford said of Martinez. “He dives on the floor to get a huge loose ball that leads to a basket. Darington misses two free throws and he gets the rebound off that and throws it to Darington.”
The play was indicative of how the Lobos came back. They had a 22-7 advantage on the offensive glass, and the Bluejays committed 18 turnovers to five for New Mexico.
CREIGHTON POSTGAME NOTES
The Lobos get to 12-0 on the season by recording their 2nd-largest comeback in the 766-game history of The Pit…UNM trailed by 16 (31-15) with 5:55 remaining in the 1st half
UNM’s biggest comeback in The Pit (which opened Dec. 1, 1966) is 18 points vs. UT Pan American on Dec. 8, 1998…the Lobos trailed 58-40 with 19:05 left in the game, but came back to win 101-94
UNM started 4 of 10 from the floor in the 1st half, then missed 19 of its next 20…the Lobos shot 20.6% (7-34) in the 1st half and a season-low 29.9% (20-67) for the game
The last time a Lobo team shot less than 30% from the floor and won was Feb. 16, 1997…UNM shot 28.3% (17-60) in a 57-51 win over Tulsa in The Pit
The Lobos got their first lead at 45-44 and outscored Creighton 38-21 in the second half…that’s a 98-52 scoring edge in the 2nd half the past 2 games
Creighton missed its first 9 shots of the second half and did not make its first basket until the 10:46 mark…the Bluejays shot 20.8% (5-24) after halftime and 6.7% (1-15) from 3-point
New Mexico had a 44-40 rebounding edge, including 22-7 on the offensive glass
UNM committed just 5 turnovers, giving them 9 in the past 2 games…the season average is down to 9.8 a game
Two Lobos had double-doubles in the same game for the second time this season…Darington Hobson had 22 points and a career-high 16 rebounds while Roman Martinez recorded 11 points and 10 boards…Hobson (21-10) and A.J. Hardeman (10-10) did it at Hawai’i
Junior forward Darington Hobson
4th double-double of the season with 22 points and a career-high 16 rebounds (9 offensive), plus 6 assists
2nd half numbers: 19 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists while playing all 20 minutes
leads the team in scoring, rebounding and assists, something no Lobo has ever done for an entire season
Senior forward Roman Martinez
1st double-double of the season with 11 points and a season-high 10 rebounds
played the entire 2nd half
just 2-9 from 3-point, but still 60% (26-43) from 3-point the past 6 games
UNM is 26-4 when he plays more than 30 minutes in a game
Junior guard Dairese Gary
12 points and 2 steals
first time as a Lobo he has scored in double figures in 4 straight games
averaging 14.5 ppg the past 4 games…also 14 assists and just 2 turnovers the past 4 games
started his 74th straight game
Sophomore forward Will Brown
27 minutes, 2nd-most of his career…5 points, 3 rebounds and tied a career-high with 3 blocks