March 18, 2005

Recap |  Box Score

NCAA Tournament First Round
Nashville, Tenn.

The Lobos' season and a 9-game winning streak come to an end with a 55-47 loss to Villanova in the first round of the NCAA Tournament...New Mexico finishes 26-7 on the season and also had a 5-game winning streak snapped in games away from Albuquerque...that was UNM's best streak since 1978

UNM trailed 34-10 at one point in the first half and 34-11 at halftime, making just 4-22 FGs...the Lobos battled back to make it a 52-47 game with 29.3 seconds remaining, but could get no closer

UNM had season-lows for points (47), FG% (29.8%) and 3-point FG% (16%)

Villanova made just 3 of 23 FGs in the second half, the last bucket coming at the 12:16 mark that gave them a 40-21 advantage

UNM is now 1-17 against current members of the Big East, 0-4 in NCAA Tournament play

The Lobos had been 12-0 this season when holding opponents to less than 60 points...that's now 12-1

Somehow, the Lobos managed to shoot better than Villanova, 29.8% (17-56) to 28.3% (15-53), meaning UNM lost for just the 2nd time in 26 games this season when making a higher FG% than its opponent...New Mexico came into the game tied for 5th in the nation in FG% at an even 50%

The 29.8% shooting is New Mexico's worst since 27.6% (16-58) vs. BYU in the quarterfinals of the 2000 Mountain West Conference Tournament

Villanova's FG% of 28.3% is the lowest by a Lobo opponent since Northwestern State converted only 24.2% (15-62) last year

The Lobos also shot a season-low 16% (4-25) from 3-point, the poorest since 10% (2-20) at UNLV in 2002-03

New Mexico is now 6-12 in 11 NCAA appearances

Playing in his 52nd and final game at New Mexico, senior Danny Granger finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season, 21st while at UNM and the 32nd in his collegiate career...Granger finished his Lobo career with 994 career points (19.1 avg.) and 463 rebounds (8.9 avg.)

The starting lineup of David Chiotti, Troy DeVries, Danny Granger, Alfred Neale and Mark Walters lost for the first time in the past 10 games

Troy DeVries went 1-8 from the floor and 0-7 from 3-point, ending his streak of 3-pointers made at 29 straight games, the 2nd-longest in school history...Ruben Douglas is 1st at 35...despite the tough outing, DeVries still finishes his career as the top 3-point shooter in school history at 45.1% (147-326)