2009-10 NEW MEXICO BASKETBALL Athletics Media Relations • (505) 925-5520 • (505) 925-5529 Fax •
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2009-10 NEW MEXICO BASKETBALL Athletics Media Relations • (505) 925-5520 • (505) 925-5529 fax • www.GoLobos.com NEW MEXICO BASKETBALL (30-5, 4-2 MWC / st) 2009-0 Season Review Date UNM Rk. Opponent (rank) Result Broadcast School-record 30 wins, 2nd straight Mountain West title, Nov. 3 New Mexico Highlands (exh.) ....W, 98-68 Nov. 14 UC Riverside ..............................W, 67-51 NCAA 2nd round appearance and Top-25 ranking in final Nov. 17 at New Mexico State ..................W, 97-87 Comcast 77 polls highlight record-setting season Nov. 20-22 World Vision Classic Nov. 20 Nicholls State .............................W, 83-59 My50-TV By Richard Stevens -- Senior Writer/GoLobos.com Nov. 21 Louisiana Tech ...........................W, 81-52 My50-TV You have to begin the story of the New Mexico Lobos’ magical Nov. 22 Miami (Ohio) ..............................W, 85-60 My50-TV 2009-10 basketball season the same way you began the wrap of 2008- Nov. 27 (rv/rv) at Hawai’i ...................................W, 83-71 09. You begin with the championship ring. Dec. 2 (rv/rv) California (rv/25) ........................W, 86-78 CBS C HD But you can’t linger too long on a Mountain West Conference Dec. 5 (rv/rv) New Mexico State ......................W, 75-58 mtn. championship ring that marks back-to-back league titles for Steve Dec. 9 (rv/rv) at San Diego ..............................W, 82-78 My50-TV Alford’s Lobos. There is just so much special carved out by a group Dec. 12 (rv/rv) vs. Texas A&M (16/18 at Houston) ..W, 84-81 Fox Sports SW of Lobos really not seasoned enough to do so much carving, to do so Dec. 16 (19/19) Northern Arizona ........................W, 96-57 much good work. Dec. 19 (19/19) Creighton ...................................W, 66-61 mtn. It was an amazing season with a school-record 30 wins (30-5), Dec. 23 (13/12) at Oral Roberts........................... L, 75-66 My50-TV highlighted by an impossible 14-game MWC win streak that left the Dec. 29 (19/17) Texas Tech (20/24) .....................W, 90-75 CBS C Jan. 1 (19/17) Dayton (rv/rv) .............................W, 68-66 mtn. Lobos alone atop the league, ranked No. 8 in the nation, and pushed Jan. 5 (15/14) at San Diego State ..................... L, 74-64 mtn. them to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Jan. 9 (15/14) UNLV (rv/rv) ............................... L, 74-62 VERSUS “These guys never seemed to understand that they probably were Jan. 13 (rv/rv) Utah ...........................................W, 74-57 mtn. too young to do some of the things they did,” said Alford. “They were Jan. 16 (rv/rv) at Wyoming ................................W, 70-68 mtn. truly amazing. Jan. 20 (rv/rv) at Air Force.................................W, 73-50 “This is a team with great resolve that handled everything that was Jan. 23 (rv/rv) Colorado State ...........................W, 82-64 mtn. thrown at them and kept finding ways to win. I believe so much of that Jan. 27 (23/rv) BYU (12/10) ...............................W, 76-72 mtn. comes back to their work ethic, before the season, during the season. Jan. 30 (23/rv) at TCU ........................................W, 73-57 CBS C These guys understood that to get what they wanted, they had to work Feb. 6 (15/23) San Diego State .........................W, 88-86 (OT) mtn. harder than anybody else.” Feb. 10 (15/19) at UNLV (23/25) .........................W, 76-66 CBS C The group of Lobos Alford took into the 2009-10 season had some Feb. 13 (15/19) at Utah .......................................W, 68-65 (OT) mtn. obvious blemishes. It was one of the youngest teams in the nation Feb. 17 (12/15) Wyoming ....................................W, 83-61 CBS C returning only one senior (Roman Martinez) and one junior (Dairese Feb. 20 (12/15) Air Force ....................................W, 59-56 mtn. Gary) from the previous season. Feb. 23 (10/12) at Colorado State .......................W, 72-66 mtn. It was a team with no true center and had to go against the behe- Feb. 27 (10/12) at BYU (13/11) ...........................W, 83-81 VERSUS moths of Division I ball behind the athleticism and guts provided by two March 3 (8/10) TCU............................................W, 73-66 mtn. power forwards: 6-8 A.J. Hardeman and 6-8 Will Brown. “A.J. and Will March 11 (8/8) vs. Air Force (MWC Championship) .....W, 75-69 mtn. were the biggest question marks and they were unreal,” said Alford. March 12 (8/8) vs. San Diego State (MWC Championship) ....L, 72-69 CBS C It was a team with a handful of super sophomores: Gary, Phillip March 18 (8/10) vs. Montana (at San Jose) .........W, 62-57 CBS March 20 (8/10) vs. Washington (at San Jose) ........L, 82-64 CBS McDonald, Brown, Hardeman, Nate Garth. It was a team with three diaper dandies on the bench in freshmen Jamal Fenton, Chad Adams ranking is (AP / ESPN/USA Today) and Curtis Dennis. 2009-0 New Mexico Basketball Roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl-Exp. Hometown PPG RPG Notes 00 A.J. Hardeman ..... F .... 6-8 ... 225 ...So-L....Del Valle, Texas........7. .... 5.5 .....Named UNM’s Most Improved Player after the season; 7., 5.5 in 23 min/g in 2009-0 1 Darington Hobson ... G .... 6-7 ... 205 ....Jr-Tr.....Las Vegas, Nev. ......6.0 ... 9.3 .....st Lobo to lead UNM in scoring, rebounds and assists (4.6 apg) in a season 3 Curtis Dennis ........ G .... 6-5 ... 195 ...Fr-RS ....Bronx, N.Y. ...............2.8 .... 1.2 .....Career-high 14 pts. in 14 min. vs. Texas Tech; 11 points in 16 min. vs. BYU in Pit 4 Chad Adams ........G/F ... 6-6 ... 190 ...Fr-HS ....Albuquerque, N.M. ....1.7 .... 1.1 .....Season-best 13 pts (4-4 FGs, 4-4 FTs) in 14 min. vs. Miami; 5 pts vs. Wyoming 5 Dairese Gary ........ G .... 6- ... 205 ... Jr-2L ....Elkhart, Ind. .............2.8 ... 2.7 .....02 games / 97 straight starts; UNM’s leading scorer (9.8 ppg) last 7 games 11 Nate Garth ............ G .... 6-2 ... 180 ...So-1L ....Sacramento, Calif. ....4.1 .... 1.2 .....Tied career-high with 12 points (4-4 3s) at Air Force 13 Jamal Fenton ........ G .... 5-9 ... 170 ...Fr-HS ....Houston, Texas .........3.5 .... 1.2 .....6 points, 3 rebounds and career-high 6 assists in 20 minutes vs. Wyoming 15 Will Brown ............. F .... 6-8 ... 225 ...So-1L ....Dallas, Texas .............4.2 .... 3.6 .....Career-high 11 points (4-4 FGs) vs. Texas Tech; career-high 8 rebounds at TCU 23 Phillip McDonald .. G .... 6-5 ... 200 ...So-L....Cypress, Texas .......0.6 ... 3. .....Game-high 25 points at Air Force, making 7-of-0 3 pointers 30 Roman Martinez .. F .... 6-6 ... 85 ... Sr-3L ....El Paso, Texas ........4.0 ... 6.0 .....Academic All-American...only Lobo to reach ,000 pts, 600 reb, 200 3s and 200 assists boldface indicates probable starters Head Coach: Steve Alford (Indiana ‘87); 384-209 in 19 years overall, 76-26 in 3 years at UNM Associate Head Coach: Craig Neal (Georgia Tech ‘88) Assistant Coaches: Ryan Miller (Northern State ‘00), Wyking Jones (Loyola Marymount ‘95) Director of Operations: Duane Broussard (Bradley ‘93) Video Coordinator: Chris Monette (UNLV ‘04) 2009-10 NEW MEXICO BASKETBALLAdministrative Assistant: Yolanda Rodriguez (505-925-5750) Maybe, arguably, probably, this is the most amazing part of this 2009-10 LOBO HONOR ROLL 30-5 season. The impossible truth of this run to the ring is this: The Lobos Steve Alford had to string out 14 straight wins, win seven straight league road MWC Coach of the Year (2nd year in a row) games, and sweep BYU and Utah in order to win the outright MWC 1 of 4 finalists for Naismith National Coach of the Year title. Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year candidate Yeah, like that was going to happen! A season earlier Alford’s USBWA District 8 Coach of the Year Lobos had to throw out an impossible five-game MWC streak in NABC District 17 Coach of the Year order to win the title. But the 14-game MWC run somehow hap- Basketball Times Southwest Coach of the Year pened. It happened because of teamwork, work ethic, defense, and a talented bunch of Lobos led by one of the nation’s top coaches. Junior G Darington Hobson “This is as good a chemistry team as I’ve ever had,” said Alford. 1 of 26 finalists for John R. Wooden Award “These guys were all about winning.” 2nd team All-America, FOXSports.com The MWC title run ended in The Pit with a 73-66 win over TCU. 2nd team All-America, Basketball Times The Pit was still packed for the post-game celebration. It was a Pit 3rd team All-America, Associated Press party climaxed with Lobos cutting down nets and Martinez telling 3rd team All-America, Sporting News The Pit that any future MWC championship wannabes have to come MWC Player of the Year through New Mexico to be Kings. MWC Newcomer of the Year “These kids have taken us on a journey that’s not going to 1st team All-MWC sink in for a while,” said Alford, the MWC Coach of The Year and a USBWA all-district 8 finalist in several national Coach of The Year races. “Those things 1st team NABC all-district 17 (14-game run) don’t happen very often. It was amazing. MWC Player of the Week Nov. 22 and Feb. 6 “This program has won back-to-back titles and that’s very, very difficult to do.