The Bracketbusters are breaking down college basketball’s classist narrative. Little attention has been devoted to the Connecticut-Kentucky Final Four matchup, so much diverted to the little guys’ coming-of-age.
UNM head football coach Mike Locksley will have a lot less to take to the bank if he’s let go at the end of the season or in the future. The Albuquerque Journal reported Wednesday that the third-year head coach signed a contract addendum Feb. 28 that reduces his buyout from $1.095 million to $450,000 if the University severs ties with him without cause after the 2011 season. Athletics Director Paul Krebs told the Journal that the restructured deal made “economic sense.” Locksley also stands to benefit from the renegotiated terms. If the Lobos win six games this season, Locksley gets a $50,000 incentive. The revised contract also gives him more wiggle room if he leaves the University on his own volition or for another coaching opportunity.
It appears the growing pains are starting to subside. The UNM baseball team used a late-inning rally, and closer Gera Sanchez got the final four outs to help the Lobos overcome UNLV 9-7 Sunday at Isotopes Park.
When the UNM baseball team finally got back to the NCAA baseball tournament for the first time since 1962, the Lobos were heavy hitters. Early on, the new-look Lobos struggled with the sticks, averaging just 4.4 runs per game in their 0-8 start to the year. And after sweeping UNLV 9-7 Sunday in a late-inning slugfest at Isotopes Park, the Lobos have gotten their swat back. “I’m glad, I’m glad, I’m glad and I’m glad,” head coach Ray Birmingham said.
The UNM men’s tennis team made it look effortless — but in the wrong way. The Lobos dropped a 6-1 decision to Nebraska on Friday, before falling 5-2 to Fresno State on Sunday at the Linda Estes Tennis Complex.
Twenty-one years removed from his college football heyday, George Barlow is still proving that he is a player’s coach, not just a coach who used to play.
From league-leading to middle of the pack, from the NCAA tournament to arguably the “Not Important” Tournament, the UNM men’s basketball team hit a wall one year after making a historic run. As head coach Steve Alford likes to remind people, the Lobos were without Darington Hobson and Roman Martinez — the latter graduated; the former left UNM to pursue a NBA career.
Lockout — it’s a word that hasn’t escaped the ears of former UNM football players Bryant Williams and Byron Bell. Yes, the NFL is at a collective bargaining standstill, but for draft prospects there is no work stoppage.
With off-season house-cleaning over, the UNM football team hopes to spring forward the next four weeks, so it doesn’t fall back to the bottom of the Mountain West Conference. Third-year head coach Mike Locksley added new faces and reshuffled his staff, patching personnel holes with coaches from last year.
Every game this season is a learning experience for the UNM baseball team. So says head coach Ray Birmingham. But Tuesday at Isotopes Park showed that the future looks bright for the Lobos. UNM put up nine runs in the second inning, seven before the Bearcats could get a single out.
The Pit was inundated with Carolina blue on Monday. The fifth-seeded North Carolina women’s basketball defeated fourth-seeded Kentucky 86-74 in the second round of the women’s NCAA tournament.
The North Carolina women’s basketball team was just plain bigger than Fresno State. And the basket, at least for the Bulldogs, seemed as small as a golf hole. The 12th-seeded Fresno State Bulldogs took 50 3-pointers, missing 36, and their best player Jaleesa Ross made just four of the 20 3-pointers she launched.
The Kentucky women’s basketball team heard about Hampton through the college basketball grapevine.
Two words for the UNM men’s basketball team: Roll tide. The fourth-seeded Lobos will face top-seeded Alabama at its home tonight in the second round of the National Invitational Tournament.
LAS VEGAS — There’s a reason Utah’s Michelle Plouffe was the Mountain West Conference women’s Freshman of the Year. After hitting a similar, end-of-times buzzer-beater against BYU in the semifinals, Plouffe hit a two-point jumper with 24 seconds left in overtime to lift the fifth-seeded Utah women’s basketball team over second-seeded TCU 52-47 in the MWC tournament championship.
LAS VEGAS — San Diego State reminded basketball fans that the game is a team sport — not a one-man show, no matter how bedazzling. Like he has all season, BYU’s Jimmer Fredette put up another scintillating individual performance — 30 points — in Saturday’s Mountain West Conference tournament championship, but the second-seeded Aztecs exuded collective confidence, with three players in double figures.
LAS VEGAS — It was a Jiimmer jamboree. For four straight contests, the UNM men’s basketball team walked away with wins against BYU.
LAS VEGAS – It was the best show Vegas had to offer, unfortunately for the UNM men’s basketball team, its star performer missed the second act.
LAS VEGAS — It was a widely held opinion that the UNM women’s basketball team had no shot at the Mountain West Conference tournament. And on Friday, the shooting-in-the-dark Lobos literally didn’t.
LAS VEGAS — Luck be the UNM women’s basketball team tonight. Already boasting two wins, the Lobos look to extend their unlikely Mountain West Conference tournament run in today’s semifinals where they’ll face second-seeded TCU at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Solutions by The State News
