Dec. 22, 2012
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New Mexico Basketball Postgame Notes
(16 AP/17 Coaches) UNM vs. South Dakota State
Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012 *** The Pit/Bob King Court *** Albuquerque, N.M.
New Mexico drops to 12-1 after losing 62-56 to South Dakota State (10-4)
The loss means that six teams remain undefeated in NCAA Div. I: Arizona, Cincinnati, Duke, Illinois, Michigan, and Wyoming. New Mexico was one of seven remaining.
The most New Mexico trailed was 12 at 35-23…UNM closed the half on an 11-3 run to make it 38-34 at the break, but never got closer than three in the second half
Junior G Kendall Williams scored 21 points to become the 30th Lobo to score 1,000 in a career…it came at the 46.0 mark of the second half on a free throw….he has 1,008 points in 82 career games
Attendance was 15,278. It was the fourth straight lower bowl sell-out, and the fourth straight game of 15,000+ in attendance. UNM is now averaging 14,655 per game, or 95.1% of capacity.
It was 8 years ago to the day that UNM last lost a home game in the month of December. On Dec. 22, 2004, the Lobos fell to No. 5 Wake Forest 81-64. UNM had won 35 straight games at home in December.
UNM used its fifth different starting lineup of the season, starting Cleveland Thomas and Cameron Bairstow instead of Kendall Williams and Chad Adams. Last season UNM used four lineups in going 28-7, and in 2009-10, it used only one in going 30-5.
The start was the first of Cleveland Thomas’ career, and he became the first freshman to start a game this season, and the ninth Lobo to start a game this year.
The loss was only the eighth at home (113-8) when nationally ranked. The last time it happened was January 9, 2010, to UNLV, 74-62.
UNM was outrebounded 36-28, its largest deficit of the season. It’s the first time UNM was outrebounded in back-to-back games since last March when UNM was outrebounded in the Mountain West Championship game by San Diego State (39-37) and by Long Beach State (36-31).
The Lobos’ 12-0 start was the second time in the past four seasons under head coach Steve Alford…the 2009-10 team also started 12-0.
| 17-0 | 1967-68 | WAC champs, NCAA Tournament (0-2), 23-5 final record for Bob King |
| 12-0 | 2009-10 | MWC champs, NCAA Tournament (1-1), 30-5 final record for Steve Alford |
| 12-0 | 1973-74 | WAC champs, NCAA Tournament (2-1), 22-7 final record for Norm Ellenberger |
| 12-0 | 2012-13 | ??? for Steve Alford |
The 12-game winning streak tied for the 3rd-longest under Steve Alford…the longest:
15 Jan. 13 – March 11, 2010
13 Nov. 25, 2011 – Jan. 14, 2012
12 Nov. 14 – Dec. 19, 2009
12 Nov. 12 – Dec. 19, 2012
The 12-game winning streak tied for the 5th-longest in school history…Steve Alford-coached Lobo teams have produced 4 of UNM’s top-8 winning streaks
The Lobos committed 9 turnovers, and have been guilty of just 34 the past four games
New Mexico shot just .370 from the field. UNM has won 14 straight games – and is 36-2 in its last 38 games since 2010-11 – when shooting 40% or better from the field…the most recent loss was last year at TCU when it shot 41.8%, but fell 83-64…the Lobos shot 41.1% (23-56) tonight
UNM is 164-68 all-time when nationally ranked, 113-8 in The Pit, 36-37 on the road and 15-13 neutral
UNM has made a 3-point FG in 706 straight games…the last game without a 3 was Jan. 3, 1991 at Colorado State (0-for-8)
New Mexico has a 92-26 record since the start of the 2009-10 season, a winning percentage of 78.0%
Head coach Steve Alford
446-230 in his 22nd season as a head coach
138-47 in his 6th year at New Mexico
23-9 with nationally ranked UNM teams, 13-2 in The Pit, 7-4 on the road and 3-3 on neutral floors
84-11 in The Pit overall, 52-4 against non-conference opponents
37-6 in all December games at UNM, 23-1 in The Pit, 11-4 on the road and 3-1 at neutral sites
40-26 on the road overall, 16-10 in non-conference road games
had won 27 straight December home games going back to the 2006-07 season when he was at Iowa
Junior G Kendall Williams
scored 21 points, giving him 1,008 in his career
28 assists vs. 6 turnovers the past 5 games
2 assists from becoming the 7th Lobo with 1,000 points and 350 assists
Junior G Tony Snell
Had 13 points as the only other Lobo in double figures