Lobos Open Regular-Season Home Slate Tuesday
New Mexico vs Iona
Tuesday, November 13, 2018 – 7 p.m. MT
Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit (Capacity: 15,411)
Live Stream: The Mountain West Network (TheMW.com/live)
Radio: 770 KKOB-AM
Promos: Freshman Night – UNM Freshmen lead the Lobos out of the ramp
Youth Night – Tickets for ages 18 and under are just $5 in rows 1-10
UNM NOTES | WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team is set to host its regular-season home opener against 2018 NCAA Tournament participant Iona on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
Exciting promotions for Tuesday night’s game include Freshman Night and Youth Night. UNM freshman will have the opportunity to lead the Lobos out of the Pit ramp (meet 20 minutes before game time at the top of Section Y) and youth ages 18 and under will be admitted for just $5 for rows 1-10.
The Lobos (1-0) are entering the matchup coming off of an exhibition contest against Northern New Mexico on Saturday in which UNM put up 115 points led by senior Anthony Mathis who went 5-for-5 from behind the arc and 10-for-10 from the free throw line. UNM has just one regular-season game under its belt thus far, an 87-84 win on the road at CSUN in which Mathis scored the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Iona (1-0) opened its season at home against Albany, earning a 72-68 victory. The Gaels return just two players from last season’s MAAC Championship squad that advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Lobos and the Gaels have faced off just once in program history, on Dec. 21, 1949 when UNM traveled to Rochelle, N.Y. Iona took the game, 61-56.
LAST TIME OUT
The Lobos’ last time on the court was Saturday’s home exhibition matchup against Northern New Mexico. The Lobos put up 115 points and won by a 49-point margin.
The Lobos fired at a clip of 63.6 percent from the floor in the matchup and 55.6 percent from 3-point range while going 69.8 percent from the free throw line.
UNM also held NNMC to just 22 points in the second half.
UNSTOPPABLE MATHIS
Senior Anthony Mathis was unstoppable on Saturday night, going a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the arc and 10-for-10 from the free throw line.
Though the stats do not count toward the season’s records, it is worth noting that he is currently 9-for-12 from 3-point range. That amounts to 75 percent from deep over the first two games in 2018-19.
Mathis also added three rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals on Saturday night.
SEASON OPENER VS CSUN
The Lobos’ last time out in regular-season competition featured an exciting finish in the first regular-season game of 2018-19 on the road at CSUN. With the score tied 84-84 and 6.1 seconds left on the clock, senior Anthony Mathis drilled a buzzer-beating three for the win, 87-84.
Six players debuted in the Cherry and Silver for the first time including junior Corey Manigault, junior Karim Ezzeddine, redshirt-sophomore Vance Jackson, sophomore Keith McGee and freshmen Tavian Percy and Jordan Arroyo.
Manigault led the Lobos with 16 points going 8-for-9 from the free throw line while Mathis led from behind the arc going 4-for-7. Jackson led the Lobos in rebounds with eight.
DOUBLE FIGURE LOBOS
Four Lobos scored in double figures in Tuesday night’s opener at CSUN including junior Corey Manigault (16), senior Dane Kuiper (15), sophomore Makuach Maluach (15) and senior Anthony Mathis (12).
In Saturday’s contest, five more Lobos racked up double figures. Mathis led with 25 points followed by Manigault (19), redshirt-sophomore Keith McGee (19), sophomore Vladimir Pinchuk (15) and Maluach (12).
EARLY CAREER HIGHS
Sophomore Vladimir Pinchuk kicked off the season with a career-high five free throws in a career-most 29 minutes on the court on Tuesday.
In Saturday’s exhibition contest against Northern New Mexico, senior Anthony Mathis tied his career-high 25 points.
ABOUT THE 2018-19 LOBOS
The 2018-19 Lobos have just four returning letterwinners from the 2017-18 squad, including leading-scorer Anthony Mathis (12.7 ppg) who finished fourth in the nation in 3-point percentage and broke the UNM record for most 3-point field goals in a conference season (66) as a junior. The squad also adds nine newcomers and returns a pair of sitting transfers to the team that finished third in Mountain West regular-season play last season.
In addition to Mathis, UNM’s returners include senior Dane Kuiper, who is the lone returning starter, and sophomores Makuach Maluach and Vladimir Pinchuk. Maluach finished his inaugural season averaging 9.6 points per game and ranks fourth all-time on the Lobo freshman single-season scoring list.
REMEMBERING LAST SEASON
The 2017-18 Lobos were picked to finish ninth in league play, but shocked everyone when they pulled off a third-place finish in regular-season play, earned the MW Tournament bye and took on San Diego State in the Championship game, falling by just seven points.
The Lobos also ranked 15th out of 351 NCAA Division I teams in turnover percentage last season.
RECORDS ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN
En route to their first appearance in the league championship since 2014, the Lobos broke the program records for 3-pointers in a season (367), most 3-point field goals attempted (979) and highest free throw percentage (77.7%). For reference, the previous records were 301, 782 and 75.7%, respectively.
As a team, the Lobos also broke the record for most points in a game (147 vs Northern New Mexico), most points in a conference game (119 at Wyoming) and most points in a conference season (1,507). Old records for the above: 136, 113 and 1,373, respectively.
STELLAR SCHEDULE
The Lobos are taking on a field of top-notch teams this season including five squads that advanced to the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Last season’s Big Dance squads include New Mexico State, Iona, Penn, San Diego State and Nevada. With UNM facing NMSU, SDSU and Nevada twice apiece, that makes for eight games against NCAA post-season opponents, not to mention a matchup with last season’s CBI tourney winner, North Texas.
UNDER THE RADAR
This offseason, the Lobos were ranked by the NCAA’s Andy Katz as one of five “under the radar” teams to watch this season.
SHARP SHOOTER
Senior Anthony Mathis blew expectations out of the water last season after more than fifthtupleing his career point production as a junior – that’s right, in two seasons at UNM, Mathis scored just 86 points in 228 minutes, and multiplied that total by five in his junior season. In 2017-18, Mathis took the term “breakout” to a whole new level, dropping 433 points in 760 minutes on the floor. His shot from 3-point range couldn’t be stopped as he finished the season with a program-record 66 3-pointers in conference play. He also fired from behind the arc at a clip of 47.3%, ranking fourth in the nation among other NCAA DI players.
THE STUDENT BECOMES THE MASTER
After posting a breakout inaugural season of his own last year, sophomore Makuach Maluach is expected to be a high-profile returner for the Lobos this year. He’s been ranked on several preseason lists and even made the cover of Lindy’s Sports Magazine in August. Most recently, the soft-spoken sophomore was ranked 19th on the Mountain West Wire’s Top 25.
CONSISTENCY IS OVERRATED
Last season, the Lobos debuted the most starting lineups in NCAA Division I with 21. Coach Weir made it clear in his first season that starting lineups would be determined by the numbers of deflections a player accumulated in the previous game, hence the sky-high number of lineup combos.
MW PRESEASON NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Redshirt-sophomore Vance Jackson was named 2018 Mountain West Preseason Newcomer of the Year following the league’s media poll in October. Jackson transferred from UCONN where he shot 40.9 percent from the field, 39.7 from behind the arc as a freshman in 2016-17. He reached double figures in 13 games and led the team twice in scoring in his inaugural collegiate season.
WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE …
The Lobos return a pair of transfers that sat out last year and also welcome five more, including the highly-anticipated Carlton Bragg (Kansas/ASU transfer) who is currently eligible for conference play. Joining Bragg will be Juco transfers Corey Manigault, Keith McGee and Karim Ezzeddine who are all set to play at the start of the season.
Redshirt-sophomore Vance Jackson (UCONN) will finally get his chance to don the Cherry and Silver this season and was named 2018 MW Newcomer of the Year. Jackson’s fellow bench-warmer last season, Ohio State transfer JaQuan Lyle, suffered an Achilles injury during practice in September and is expected to miss the 2018-19 season.
Two more transfers of note include Towson’s Zane Martin, who will be sitting out in 2018-19 due to NCAA transfer rules, and redshirt-freshman Clay Patterson. A native of Rio Rancho, N.M., Patterson transferred back home from NCAA DII Fort Lewis. He is eligible to compete in 2018-19.
BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER
The Lobo squad is as varied as it gets when it comes to hometown pride. Each player on the team is from not only a different town, but a different state or country entirely! With the late addition of walk-on Clay Patterson, the only exception is a pair of native New Mexicans. States and countries represented include: Pennsylvania, Maryland, California, New York, Florida, Australia, Indiana, Alaska, Germany, Georgia, France, Oregon, New Mexico and Ohio.
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The famous home of Lobo basketball enters its second year under the name “Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit” as part of an exciting renaming of both of UNM’s largest-capacity athletic venues.
This July, “The Pit” was tabbed #17 on the top-30 list of best arena atmospheres in college hoops by the NCAA.
“The Pit” has also been consistently recognized nationally as one of the nation’s top basketball venues. Sports Illustrated has ranked it as one of the top 20 sporting venues, of any sport, in the world for the 20th century. The Pit is truly a special place, and it has created an unparalleled environment for the New Mexico men’s basketball program. Since the Mountain West conference began in 1999-2000, New Mexico has ranked in the top two in home attendance among MW teams in every year except one, including 12 seasons as the top-ranked MW team in overall attendance.
WHAT’S THAT SOUND?
The new name for The Pit instated in 2017 is not the only change to come for Dreamstyle Arena in the Paul Weir era. This season, after popular fan demand, the sound system in the historic arena has been updated to feature an entirely new fan experience for the 2018-19 season!