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Lobos Travel to Cancun Challenge This Weekend
Nov. 25, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
Cancun Challenge New Mexico travels to Old Mexico this weekend to complete the Cancun Challenge. The Lobos (3-2) will face Virginia Commonwealth Saturday at 9 p.m. Mountain Time from the Moon Palace resort on the Yucatan Peninsula. VCU was 2-1 heading into a Tuesday game at East Carolina. The winner of the UNM-VCU game will take on the winner of Drake and Vanderbilt Sunday at 8:30 MT. The third-place game begins at 6:15. Drake enters the Challenge 2-1 after beating South Dakota State 75-65 on Sunday. Vanderbilt took a 2-1 record into Wednesday's game against Central Arkansas, Both of the Lobos' games from Cancun will be televised live on CBS College Sports. Thad Anderson, Pete Gillen and Rich Zvosec will call the action. CBS College Sports is channel Ch. 274 on Comcast Cable in Albuquerque, channel 603 on DirecTV and 152 on Dish. New Mexico improved to 3-2 on the season following Monday's 85-74 victory over Cal State Northridge. Roman Martinez came off the bench to score 20 points, canning a career-high 5 3-pointers. Senior Tony Danridge added 16 - also in a reserve role - as the Lobo bench out-scored the Matadors' bench 54-19. This weekend will bring an end to a very busy month for the Lobos. UNM is currently in a stretch of playing five contests in 11 days. Since the opener Nov. 14, the Lobos will have played seven games in 17 days. LOBOS VS. CANCUN CHALLENGE COMPETITION UNM vs. Drake: The Bulldogs have a 2-1 edge. UNM vs. Vanderbilt: The Commodores have a 3-0 lead. Steve Alford vs. Drake: Alford has a 14-1 record against the Bulldogs, 7-0 when he was at Missouri State and 7-1 while he was at Iowa. Steve Alford vs. Vanderbilt: First meeting. MORE ON VCU Head coach Anthony Grant is an impressive 54-16 in his third year as a collegiate head coach. A long-time assistant to Billy Donovan at Florida and Marshall, Grant put VCU on the map in his first year when the Rams beat Duke in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. VCU has a 31-5 record in the Colonial Athletic Association with two conference championships in Grant's two years in Richmond. CANCUN CHALLENGE SCHEDULE & SCOREBOARD Nov. 16 Nov. 19 Nov. 20 Nov. 22 Nov. 23 Wednesday UNM HEAD COACH Steve Alford Alford, who has never been an assistant coaching is his career, has a 335-194 (63%) career record in his 18th season as a head coach, 27-11 at New Mexico. His teams have qualified for postseason play 12 times, produced 14 winning seasons and reached 21 wins on nine occasions. Alford's maiden voyage at New Mexico was something to behold: • A 24-9 record, tying the school mark for wins during the regular season and a 9-win improvement from the previous year • most wins by a New Mexico head coach in his rookie season • 8-6 on the road after an 8-43 mark in five seasons before Alford arrived at UNM • a +7 in conference victories, the 2nd-greatest jump of all-time Prior to New Mexico, Alford spent eight seasons at the University of Iowa where he compiled a 152-106 record, including a school-record seven consecutive winning seasons and six postseason appearances. The Hawkeyes won two Big Ten Conference tournament titles (2001 and `06). Prior to Iowa, Alford posted a 78-29 record in four seasons (1992-95) at NCAA Division III Manchester (Ind.) College and a four-year (1996-99) record of 78-48 at Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State). The Bears defeated Wisconsin and Tennessee to advance to the Sweet 16 of the 1999 NCAA Tournament before losing to top-ranked Duke in the regional semifinals. In 1997 Alford led the Bears to a 24-9 record (second in the Missouri Valley Conference) and a trip to the National Invitation Tournament. Manchester advanced to the 1995 NCAA Division III championship game before suffering its first defeat in 32 games to place second in the nation. Alford was named Indiana Collegiate Conference coach of the year in 1993, 1994 and 1995 and his record was 74-13 over his final three seasons. INTO THE TEETH OF THE SCHEDULE Cal State Northridge (Monday): 20-10 overall and tied for 1st place in the Big West regular season at 12-4...final RPI of 99...picked to win Big West this season. Virginia Commonwealth (Saturday): 24-8 overall and won the Colonial League regular-season title at 15-3...lost in the first round of the NIT...final RPI of 54. Drake (Sunday): 28-5 overall and won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season (15-3) and tournament titles...lost to Western Kentucky 101-99 on a buzzer-beater in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament...final RPI of 11. Vanderbilt (Sunday): 26-8 overall...lost to Siena in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament...final RPI of 17. Southern Miss (Dec. 6): 19-14 overall...final RPI of 116. at San Diego (Dec. 10): 22-14 overall and won the West Coast Conference Tournament title...beat UConn in 1st round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Western Kentucky...final RPI of 87...all 5 starters are back. Ole Miss (Dec. 13): 24-11 overall...lost to Ohio State in semifinals of the NIT in New York...final RPI of 46. Oral Roberts (Dec. 17): 24-9 overall and won the Summit League regular season (16-2) and tournament titles...lost to Pittsburgh in the1st round of the NCAA Tournament...final RPI of 43. Texas Tech (Dec. 20): 16-15 overall...final RPI of 92. New Mexico State (Dec. 23 & 30): 21-14 and tied for Western Athletic Conference regular-season title at 12-4...final RPI of 142. UTEP (Jan. 6): 19-14 overall...lost to Utah in the 1st round of the College Basketball Invitational...final RPI of 114. GOTTA FINISH The Lobos lost to Central Florida 72-71 on Nov. 22 when the Knights nailed a 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds to play. New Mexico had a 69-60 advantage after two made free throws with 2:07 to go. UCF outscored UNM 12-2 down the stretch to shock the home crowd. NON-CONFERENCE STREAK COMES TO AN END CAL STATE NORTHRDIGE RECAP Martinez, who was one of three regular UNM starters to start off as substitutes, had a career-high five 3-pointers. The game was close until midway through the first half. New Mexico was leading 20-19 when it went on a 16-2 run over the next five minutes. UNM outscored the Matadors 11-0 over the final 4:24 of the run, with Tony Danridge scoring on the front end and back end of the stretch. Northridge made a late charge after New Mexico took its largest lead, 71-48, on a Martinez 3-pointer with 10:12 left. Northridge used a 19-7 run to cut it to 78-67 with 4:23 remaining as Galick hit a basket and foul shot to cap the rally. Martinez, however, ended any thoughts of a Northridge comeback with his career-high fifth 3-pointer and Danridge, who also came off the bench to finish with 16 points, followed with a fast break dunk. That pushed the lead back to 83-67 with three minutes left. One of the big differences in the game came on free throws, where New Mexico had a 26-16 advantage. The Lobos finished at 81.3 percent from the line, making up for a lackluster effort in their last game. CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE POSTGAME NOTES • New Mexico led 20-19 before going on a 16-2 run for a 36-21 lead...6 different Lobos scored during the decisive burst...UNM led 46-30 at the break • The Lobos started out the game 3 of 10 from the floor, but made 9 of their last 15 FGs to end the half at 12 of 25, or 48%...UNM finished the game at 46.3% (25-54) • New Mexico forced a season-high 21 turnovers • The Lobo bench outscored the Matadors' reserves 54-19 • New Mexico was out-rebounded for the first time this season, 42-33...UNM had a +11.3 rebound margin coming into the game • The Lobos shot a season-best 81.3% (26-32) from the FT line...they came into the game shooting 64.4% (67-104) for the season...UNM made its first 12 FTs tonight • Steve Alford is now 115-11 in non-conference home games in his head coaching career, 13-1 while at UNM • New Mexico has made a 3-pointer in 586 consecutive games; the last time it didn't connect was Jan. 3, 1991, going 0-8 against Colorado State Junior Roman Martinez Senior Tony Danridge Senior Chad Toppert Sophomore Jonathan Wills Freshman Nate Garth Freshman A.J. Hardeman
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