Like clockwork, the pieces fall into place. And it all started on Saturday at The Pit.
In order to stay in the hunt for a Mountain West Conference regular-season crown, the UNM men's basketball team needed a win over San Diego State.
The Lobos got their win, 75-49. And then they got help from UNLV. The Rebels beat the Cougars 75-74 on Saturday. Now, BYU, SDSU and UNM, all 8-4 in the MWC, are in a three-way tie for second place.
Although Danridge shies away from microphones, media and homage he's paid, the skywalking senior doesn't fall away from the rim - or the MWC stage.
In fact, he busted up the set of the Kyle Spain and Lorrenzo Wade show on Saturday. Last year at The Pit, Wade helped the Aztecs mount a 14-point second-half comeback, scoring 19 of his 23 in the second half.
Saturday, it was Danridge and sidekick Roman Martinez upstaging Spain and Wade. Danridge pumped in 25 points while Martinez added 17.
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This Spain-Wade combo was the same duo that combined for 51 points on the West Coast. But those two were pretty much nonexistent on Saturday, lurking in Danridge's shadow. Spain scored 18 points, and Wade was held under double-digits with eight.
"We knew that they were going to run some (isolation) and go at us, and we wanted to try and return that favor, see if they could guard our (isolations)," head coach Steve Alford said. "Tony was really good at that."
Wade was saddled by foul trouble. He had three in the first half.
We decided to just attack him," Danridge said. "See if he was going to foul again or if he was going to let me go."
On a day where the Aztecs needed all the help they could get, SDSU also lost Billy White (9.3 ppg) early in the game. He walked out on crutches in the second half after injuring himself on a play where he charged Martinez to contest a 3.
"I hope he's OK," Martinez said. "That's a big-time loss."
Yes, it was - for the Aztecs.
At the half, it was 40-29 Lobos. But Alford was expecting a run.
"We knew there was going to be a run, but we talked about that," he said. "That was one of our goals - to have the best run of the game. At BYU, they had it: 13-5. We talked about that at halftime - that BYU had a 13-5 run, (and) that's what beat us in the second half. If we stay away from a San Diego State run, it's going to be very difficult for them to get back in the game."
It never came. Instead, the Lobos' lead swelled to 27.
SDSU came within seven at the 14:29 mark, but the Lobos went on a 25-5 tear to expand the margin to 70-43. Danridge sparked the run by hitting a rare 3-pointer.
After Spain drained a 3 with 14:29 to go in the second half, the Aztecs had only one field goal at the 11:13 point. From there, SDSU went almost eight minutes without a basket.
And the Aztecs' chances of pulling out a record fourth-straight win at The Pit dwindled.
"We didn't want them to get another win, because it would've been a record for them," Danridge said. "We didn't want San Diego State, one of our conference teams, doing that."
UTEP (1983-86) remains the only team to defeat the Lobos four straight times at home. Alford said it was the little things that mattered in Saturday's game. UNM outrebounded the Aztecs 35 to 25. Daniel Faris had the plus-minus. The senior brought down 10 rebounds, despite scoring only two points.
Men's basketball vs. TCU
Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
The Pit
