Dec. 31, 2009
Friday: Dayton at Lobos, 7 p.m., The Pit
On The Air: The Mtn.; 770-AM KKOB / Lobo Radio Network
Online: Game story, stats, game notes on GoLobos.com
New Mexico – Dayton Game Notes
One of the nation’s youngest teams (New Mexico) opens the New Year Friday by hosting one of college basketball’s most experienced squads (Dayton). The nationally-ranked Lobos (13-1) and Flyers (10-2) tip-off at 7:02 p.m. Mountain Time from The Pit / Bob King Court in Albuquerque. The game will be televised nationally on The mtn; channel 276 on Comcast in Albuquerque and 616 on DirecTV.
No. 19/17 New Mexico, with just one senior and two juniors, meets a Dayton team that is stocked with seven seniors and four juniors.
The Lobos are 13-1 after taking care of No. 20/24 Texas Tech 90-75 in front of a sellout crowd on Tuesday night. UNM has won 18 straight games at The Pit. Dayton is 10-2 and riding an 8-game winning streak following a 74-60 home victory over Boston U. on Tuesday. The Flyers’ only two losses have come against teams – Villanova (8th) and Kansas State (12th) – currently ranked in the top-12 in this week’s A.P. poll. Both of the setbacks occurred at the Puerto Rico Tip-off before Thanksgiving.
Dayton is positioned at No. 28 in this week’s A.P. poll and 32nd by ESPN/USA Today. The Flyers were ranked 22nd in the preseason A.P. poll.
The two teams have two common opponents this season. The Lobos blitzed Miami (Ohio) 85-60 on Nov. 22 and rallied to defeat Creighton 66-61 on Dec. 19. Dayton beat Creighton at home 90-80 on Nov. 14 and won at Miami 65-58 on Dec. 2.
Steve Alford is meeting Dayton for the first time in his career as a head coach.
SCOUTING DAYTON – Some quick notes about the Flyers:
Dayton is allowing just 63.1 points a game
4 starters and 10 of top 11 scorers return from last year’s team that finished 27-8
UD advanced to the 2nd round of last year’s NCAA Tournament before losing to Kansas
Dayton was picked to win the 14-team Atlantic 10 Conference in 2009-10
The 16-player roster features 7 seniors and 4 juniors
The roster lists 7 players who are 6-foot-8 or taller
Junior Chris Wright is arguably one of the nation’s most electrifying players, possessing a 43 1/2″ vertical leap
Wright was named to the 2009-10 Preseason Naismith Trophy watch list and to the John Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list
Dayton is 6-3 against ranked opponents with Wright in the lineup during his UD career
Dayton has won a school-record 27 straight home games
The Flyers have been nationally ranked at some point in each of the past three seasons
NEW MEXICO-DAYTON SERIES – This will be the 3rd game between the two schools. UNM and UD are tentatively scheduled to play at Dayton on Jan. 1, 2011. The previous two meetings:
March 16, 1974 (17) UNM 66, (20) Dayton 61, Tempe, Ariz. (NCAA Tournameent)
Nov. 19, 1999 Dayton 70, UNM 57, Albuquerque (CoSIDA Tournament
NOTES TO KNOW BEFORE FRIDAY’S GAME
With Tuesday’s win over Texas Tech, the Lobos have beaten three ranked non-conference opponents (Cal, Texas A&M, Texas Tech) is the same season for the first time since 1992-93…17 years ago, UNM toppled New Mexico State twice, 69-62 in Las Cruces when the Aggies were No. 25 and 71-66 in The Pit when they were No. 24…the Lobos also handed No. 25 BYU a 68-59 defeat in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City
New Mexico has won 18 straight home games and is 48-2 in its last 50 non-conference games at The Pit…the last loss was 73-60 to UTEP on Jan. 6, 2009…the 18-game streak is the 8th-longest current string in the nation…Kansas is 1st at 50
After a 10-year hiatus from the national rankings, the Lobos are ranked for the third week in a row…before the loss to Oral Roberts, UNM was No. 13 in the Associated Press poll and 12th in the ESPN/USA Today rankings
New Mexico is ranked for the first time since the 1998-99 season when it spent every week in the polls
It’s 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
After making 16 of 32 3-pointers against Northern Arizona, the Lobos are just 15 of 63 (24%) the past 3 games
Protecting the Ball: Through games of Dec. 20, New Mexico was 2nd in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (9.8) and 2nd in assist-turnover ratio at 1.66
It’s Never Happened, But…Junior guard Darington Hobson leads New Mexico in scoring (16.9), rebounding (8.1) and assists (4.3)…assists have been tracked since 1969 and never has one player led in all three categories for an entire season
New Mexico leads the MWC in 3-point FGs per game (8.9), fewest turnovers (10.1 pg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.5), and is 2nd in scoring offense (81.5 ppg) and 3-point FG pct. (38.9%)
Under Steve Alford, New Mexico is 29-1 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
THREE WINS OVER RANKED TEAMS – New Mexico has posted wins over No. 25 Cal (ESPN/USA Today), No. 16/18 Texas A&M on a neutral floor in Houston and No. 20/24 Texas Tech. The Lobos have beaten three ranked non-conference opponents in the same season for the first time since 1992-93. 17 years ago, UNM toppled New Mexico State twice, 69-62 in Las Cruces when the Aggies were No. 25 and 71-66 in The Pit when there were No. 24. The Lobos also handed No. 25 BYU a 68-59 defeat in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
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 144-60 record as a ranked team, 103-6 at home/in The Pit, 29-44 on the road and 12-10 at neutral sites.
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, 59-22 at New Mexico. His teams have qualified for postseason play 13 times, produced 15 winning seasons and reached 20 wins on 10 occasions.