New Mexico Basketball Postgame Notes at Alabama
March 21, 2011
New Mexico loses 74-67 at Alabama in the 2nd round of the NIT…UNM finishes the season 22-12
The Lobos are 0-8 in NIT road games…including neutral sites, UNM’s last NIT win away from Albuquerque was in 1967, a 66-64 decision over Syracuse in New York City
Alabama made 15-20 (75%) of its FGs in the 2nd half and 19 of its last 24 since late in the 1st half…the Crimson Tide shot 53% for the game (26-49) compared to UNM’s 37.9% (22-58)
Alabama had a 15-2 scoring advantage in fast break points
UNM was outrebounded 37-32, ending a streak of 15 games that the Lobos had gathered more rebounds than their opponents
Head coach Steve Alford
406-222 record in his 20-year coaching career
98-39 in 4 seasons at New Mexico, an average of 24.5 wins
4-7 in his career in the NIT, 2-3 while at New Mexico
0-2 in his career against Alabama
53-20 in non-conference games at UNM
30-23 in all road games at UNM, 11-10 in non-conference road games
Freshman G Kendall Williams
Team-high 18 points, tying a career high with 4 3-pointers…also tied a career high with 6 rebounds
406 points in 2010-11, 2nd-most by a UNM freshman, and the 6th-highest total by a freshman in the history of the Mountain West Conference
Broke Phil Smith’s (1981-84) school record for steals by a freshman with 49
Junior F Drew Gordon
11 points and 4 rebounds, his fewest rebounds since 3 at Colorado State on Feb. 12
Finished the season averaging 12.9 points and 10.5 rebounds, the 1st Lobo in 35 years to average a double-double for an entire season
Junior G Phillip McDonald
12 points on 4-9 from 3-point
Finishes his junior season with 954 career points
UNM is 13-3 in 2010-11 and 41-7 in his career when he makes 2 or more 3-pointers in a game
10th all-time at UNM with 160 career 3-pointers made
Sophomore G Jamal Fenton
7 points and tied a career high for the 2nd straight game with 6 assists
46 points the last 5 games, an average of 9.2 ppg, compared to 2.4 ppg his previous 11 games
Freshman F Cameron Bairstow
6 points, making a career-high 4 FTs, plus 3 rebounds in 10 minutes off the bench