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Undefeated Lobos at Hawai'i for the Holiday
Nov. 24, 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NM Bowl Special: $40: NM Bowl & Lobos vs. Creighton (Dec.19) To Purchase: Call 505-925-5858, 800-955-4695 (HOWL)
Up Next: Lobos at Hawai'i, 11 p.m., Friday It's Thanksgiving in the islands for the undefeated New Mexico (5-0) basketball team as it faces the University of Hawai'i (2-2) late Friday night. The Lobos and Rainbow Warriors square off at 11:05 p.m. Mountain Time from the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. The game will be televised live by Albuquerque station KASY-TV (My50-TV), which will pick up the feed from KFVE-TV in Honolulu. A replay of the game will be shown Saturday at 3 p.m. The Lobos are 5-0 for the second time in head coach Steve Alford's three seasons after winning four games in a six-day span last week, including victories on three consecutive days in the World Vision Classic at The Pit. New Mexico's best start under Alford is 7-0 in his inaugural season of 2007-08. The Lobos received 1 point in this week's Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls. Hawai'i is 2-2 following an 83-65 home loss to Mountain West Conference member BYU last Friday. The Rainbow Warriors have wins over Southern Utah and McNeese State and a loss to Northern Colorado in the championship game of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic. NOTES TO KNOW BEFORE THE GAME • The Lobos have won their first 5 games by an average of 20.8 points...they are out-rebounding foes by 6.2 per contest while holding opponents to 37% shooting, including 30% from 3-point • UNM is averaging a league-low 8 turnovers a game against 17.2 assists...the Lobos are 1st in the MWC in assist-turnover ratio at +2.15 • The Lobos have scored 80 or more points in 4 straight games for the first time since 5 in a row in 2007-08 • New Mexico has won 13 straight home games and is 43-2 in its last 45 non-conference games at The Pit ALFORD'S LOBO TEAMS HAVE BEEN SOLID ON THE ROAD - New Mexico is 15-13 on the road under third-year head coach Steve Alford. To put Alford's success in perspective, it took the Lobos 77 games over 7-plus seasons (2000 to 2007) to reach 15 road wins before he came to Albuquerque. UNM was 14-60 on the road in seven seasons before Alford arrived. In his first two seasons at New Mexico, Alford's teams set a school record for road wins in consecutive seasons. The standard is 14 victories, 8-6 in 2007-08 and 6-7 in 2008-09. The previous mark was 13 in 1972-73 and 1973-74. HOBSON NAMED MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Junior Darington Hobson was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week for games through Nov. 22. A 6-7 wing from Las Vegas, Nev., Hobson led UNM to a 4-0 record, including 3-0 in the World Vision Classic. Hobson opened the week with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a 97-87 victory New Mexico State. At the World Vision Classic in Albuquerque, Hobson received MVP honors after tallying a combined 55 points, 20 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals in wins over Nicholls State, Louisiana Tech and Miami, Ohio. Hobson registered his first career double-double in the Louisiana Tech contest with personal-bests of 30 points and 10 rebounds, marking the most points scored by a Lobo since J.R. Giddens netted 30 in overtime against BYU on Feb. 26, 2008. For the week, Hobson was 22-of-49 (.449) from the field and 6-of-14 (.429) from 3-point, while averaging 18.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 27.8 minutes. LOBOS' RECRUITING CLASS LAUDED AS BEST IN THE MWC - ESPN.com has named the Lobos' 2-member recruiting class of 6-11 Alex Kirk and 6-7 Tony Snell the best in the Mountain West Conference. ESPN.com's assessment of the early-signing period: Top player: Alex Kirk (Los Alamos, N.M./Los Alamos) is a finesse center-type who could be deadly in a pick-and-pop set and his passing skills are high-level as well. Why it's the best: Kirk is the top player in the Lobos' class, but 6-6 Tony Snell (Phoenix, Ariz./Westwind Academy) is the most promising prospect. Snell has an intriguing skill set that could eventually lead him to being a point-forward type someday. ATTRACTIVE TICKET PACKAGES - Season tickets are no longer available, but Lobo fans have two great options on sale now: 8-GAME PACK • Seat location in benches, rows 1-10 while supplies last LOBO MEN'S BASKETBALL - NEW MEXICO BOWL SPECIAL • Basketball seat location in benches, rows 1-10 while supplies last • Basketball game is part of the Mountain West Conference / Missouri Valley Conference Challenge Packages can be purchased: NEW MEXICO - HAWAI'I SERIES - Long-time rivals in the Western Athletic Conference, New Mexico and Hawai'i hook up for the 58th time since the first meeting on Feb. 5, 1965. UNM has a 40-17 lead, including 23-2 in Albuquerque and 21-2 in The Pit. The Lobos also lead 16-13 in games played in Honolulu, although Hawai'i has a 4-2 advantage in the Stan Sheriff Center. The schools played a pair of games two years ago in head coach Steve Alford's debut season at UNM. The Lobos won 89-60 in The Pit and 79-69 in Honolulu. UNM and UH were both members of the WAC from 1980-99 and the Lobos held a 25-13 lead in the series during that period. LAST GAME IN HONOLULU - Daniel Faris scored 21 points and J.R. Giddens added 17 as New Mexico defeated Hawaii 79-69 in December of 2007. Dairese Gary finished with 12 points and Roman Martinez added 11 for New Mexico, which held off two late rallies by Hawaii. Hawaii cut a 10-point halftime deficit to 62-59 on Bobby Nash's 3-pointer with 3:36 left in the game. New Mexico then scored four points on the next possession. Monquel Pegues made his first free throw attempt, but missed the second. Giddens rebounded the miss and was fouled on his putback. He converted the free throw to complete the 3-point play and put the Lobos ahead 66-59. Gary then made a layup off a steal on the next possession to give the Lobos a 68-59 lead with 2:43 left. The Rainbow Warriors mounted another late rally, cutting the deficit to 70-67 on Nash's 3-pointer with 1:35 remaining. But the Lobos scored the next seven points to close out the game. Matt Gibson led Hawaii with 19 points and Nash had 18. Riley Luettgerodt added 11 points. Hawaii led 11-4 in the game's opening minutes, but New Mexico rallied to take the lead for good at 16-15 on a basket by Faris with 8:48 remaining. After Hawaii closed to 26-24 on a basket by Luettgerodt with four minutes left in the first half, New Mexico scored eight straight points to lead 34-24. The Lobos led 38-28 at halftime. A BRIEF LOOK AT THE LOBOS IN 2009-10 - The Lobos lost their top three scorers in graduating seniors Tony Danridge (14.9), Daniel Faris (12.1) and super-sub Chad Toppert (10.8). They were also three of UNM's top-four rebounders, meaning New Mexico lost 51% of its scoring and 40% of its rebounding. UNM returns six lettermen in Will Brown, Nate Garth, Dairese Gary, A.J. Hardeman, Roman Martinez and Phillip McDonald. One redshirt returns in freshman Curtis Dennis. For the first time since 1985-86 (Johnny Brown), the Lobos have just one senior in Roman Martinez. There are only two juniors in Gary and junior college transfer Darington Hobson. The remaining nine players are all freshmen and sophomores.
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