GETTING INSIDE
New Mexico finally experienced a loss when it fell to Oral Roberts, 75-66, on Dec. 23. That ended a season-opening 12-game winning streak as the Lobos reach No. 13 in the Associated Press rankings.
At 12-1, the Lobos have certainly exceeded expectations for the nonconference portion of their schedule. But there are two extremely crucial contests waiting.
New Mexico hosts Texas Tech (10-1) and Dayton (9-2 pending a game against Boston University) during a pivotal four-day span that could reveal a lot about the Lobos.
Lose both games, and people might wonder if the Lobos peaked too soon or are overrated. Win both and everything is back on track.
Things certainly fell off the track against Oral Roberts.
“This has been a tremendous start for the season,” New Mexico coach Steve Alford said. “Now, we see how this team handles a setback.”
Oral Roberts was emotionally high for the contest, not just because a ranked team was visiting.
The namesake of the school—Oral Roberts—died recently at the age of 91 and his memory was honored in the basketball arena two days earlier.
“I thought this was a difficult situation for our guys to handle for a lot of reasons,” Alford said.
“You’ve won 12 straight, now you’re ranked (13th) in the country. Things have kind of just gone according to plan and sometimes you need that plan to take a hit to see what you’re made of. That’s what I’m anxious to see.”
NOTES, QUOTES
:
• New Mexico’s 12-0 start tied for the second best in school history. Only the 1967-68 Lobos, who won 17 straight, had a better start to the season.
• The Lobos committed just nine total turnovers in a two-game stretch against Northern Arizona and Creighton. New Mexico is averaging 10.0 turnovers a game, the best rate in the Mountain West Conference.
January At A Glance: New Mexico wants to build on its strong start and make sure there’s no debate about being worthy of the NCAA tournament this year. If the Lobos continue to play as well as they did in November and December, they could have 20 wins before January concludes.
Quote To Note: “They’ve done a heck of a job getting this thing to 12-1 before Christmas, and I told them that in the locker room. We’ve done a lot of really good things and it’s the start of a very good season, but we’ve got to get back to work.”—New Mexico coach Steve Alford after this squad lost to Oral Roberts.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Season Recap: New Mexico has played better than anticipated, and the same five players have started every game. Junior college transfer Darington Hobson (16.5 points per game) has complemented holdover Roman Martinez (15.8), and both players rank among the top five leading scorers in the Mountain West. Phillip McDonald (11.7) and Dairese Gary (10.0) also are averaging in double figures.
Player Rotation: Usual Starters—F Roman Martinez, F Darington Hobson, C A.J. Hardeman, G Phillip McDonald, PG Dairese Gary. Key Subs—G Jamal Fenton, G Nate Garth, F/C Will Brown, G Curtis Dennis, G/F Chad Adams.
Game Review:
New Mexico 96, Northern Arizona 57
New Mexico 66, Creighton 61
Oral Roberts 75, New Mexico 66
Game Preview:
vs. Texas Tech, Tuesday, Dec. 29
vs. Dayton, Friday, Jan. 1
at San Diego State, Tuesday, Jan. 5
vs. UNLV, Saturday, Jan. 9
vs. Utah, Wednesday, Jan. 13
In Focus: The Lobos have tough home games against Texas Tech and Dayton prior to the start of Mountain West play and then start league play with two important games—at San Diego State and home against UNLV. Beat the Aztecs and Rebels … and New Mexico will be off to an impressive start in conference play.
Roster Report:
• Junior F Darington Hobson had a superb all-around game against Creighton with 22 points, 16 rebounds and six assists.
• Senior F Roman Martinez had seven rebounds against Oral Roberts to become the 26th New Mexico player to reach 500 career rebounds. Martinez has 501.
• Junior PG Dairese Gary is experiencing the top offensive stretch of his career. Gary scored in double figures in five consecutive games for the first time in his career, averaging 14.2 points during that span. During the same time, he had 20 assists and just four turnovers.
