March 1, 2010
New Mexico moved up two spots to No. 8 in this week’s Associated Press poll. It’s the program’s highest AP ranking since being 8th on Dec. 1, 1997. UNM has been ranked 10 weeks this season since making its debut at No. 19 on Dec. 14. UNM jumped to No. 10 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll. It was 12th last week.
Also, New Mexico junior Dairese Gary has been named the Mountain West Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for games through February 28. This is the first weekly career accolade for Gary. A 6-1 guard from Elkhart, Ind., Gary led the Lobos to a pair of road wins over Colorado State and nationally-ranked BYU last week to clinch at least a share of the MWC regular-season crown. In the 72-66 triumph over the Rams, Gary tied for a game-high 23 points, hitting 7-of-7 free throws in the second half and 4-of-4 in the final 29 seconds to seal the victory. He also contributed three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 36 minutes of action. Gary followed that performance with a game-high 23 points in the 83-81 win at BYU as the Lobos ended the Cougars’ 21-game home win streak and collected their first victory in Provo in 10 years. The junior added two rebounds and six assists with just one turnover in 37 minutes of play. Gary, who entered the week with an 11.5 scoring average, shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field and 71.4 percent (15-of-21) from the charity stripe over the two games while averaging 4.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds and just 1.5 turnovers.
White-hot New Mexico (27-3, 13-2 MWC), owners of a 13-game winning streak, can clinch its first outright league title in 16 years Wednesday when it hosts TCU (13-16, 5-9 MWC).
Tip-off is 6:32 p.m. Mountain Time from The Pit / Bob King Court. The game will be televised nationally on The mtn., channel 276 on Albuquerque Comcast and 616 on DirecTV.
A win Wednesday would be New Mexico’s 28th of the season, tying the school record. The 1995-96 Lobos finished 28-5.
It’s the Lobos’ final regular-season game as Lobo Nation will pay tribute to this season’s lone senior, Roman Martinez.
Last Saturday’s dramatic 83-81 victory at BYU clinched no worse than a share of a second straight MWC crown for New Mexico. UNM has guaranteed itself the No. 1 seed in the MWC Tournament, which starts next week in Las Vegas. The Lobos will play the winner of Air Force and Wyoming on Thursday, March 11 at 1 p.m.
UNM shared last year’s regular season championship with BYU and Utah. The Lobos’ last outright title was 1994 in the Western Athletic Conference. They also won WAC titles in 1964 (shared with Arizona State), `68, `74 and `78.
On hand Wednesday will be UNM’s fifth consecutive sellout (14,586) and ninth capacity crowd in 18 home games in 2009-10. The game has been sold out since Monday, Feb. 22.
Additionally, UNM will surpass the 12-million mark in all-time attendance on Wednesday. A total of 11,995,587 fans have witnessed 775 games since the doors first opened on Dec. 1, 1966