Steve Alford looked like a champion when he walked out of the Rudy Davalos Basketball Center on Sunday after the Lobos returned from Laramie, Wyo. The UNM men's basketball head coach was decked out from head to toe. A cherry, button-up Oxford shirt contrasted nicely against Alford's black slacks.
This is the last stop. Saturday's game at Wyoming marks the end of the regular season and Mountain West Conference play for the UNM men's basketball team. This game has huge implications for UNM. If the Lobos win, they will have a share of the regular-season title for the first time since joining the MWC.
Staff Report The UNM men's track and field team finished second at the Mountain West Conference meet, easily eclipsing its highest finish in school history. Before that, the Lobos had finished no higher than fifth place. The women finished in fifth place. Jarrin Solomon garnered the gold medal in the men's 400-meter run, finishing with a time of 47.
It takes nine players to fill the positions of a softball field. The UNM softball team started the school year with five. A team typically has three or four full-time pitchers; the Lobos had none. A Division-I program carries anywhere from 17 to 20 players on its roster; UNM entered the 2009 season with 13.
Fourth-inning follies almost foiled the UNM baseball team's four-game sweep of Northern Colorado. But behind Cole White's feverish 90-mph pitching, the Lobos held on to win 10-8. White entered in the top of the sixth. He pitched 2 2/3 innings, faced nine batters and finished with five strikeouts.
The No. 50 UNM women's tennis team is in uncharted territory after uncharacteristically dropping two matches at home this weekend. After falling 6-1 to No. 46 Boise State on Friday, UNM dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker against Northern Arizona on Sunday. Now, the usually superb Lobos find themselves in the middle of a five-game losing streak.
Want to gain confidence back after a two-game road skid? How about a visit from eighth-place Colorado State? On Saturday, the UNM women's basketball team handed the Rams their 11th Mountain West Conference loss, 78-56. "Of course, we needed this one, obviously," head coach Don Flanagan said.
Getting off track happens to every team, especially young ones. Head coach Steve Alford said he is hoping the UNM men's basketball team will stay focused in its trip to Fort Collins, Colo., on Saturday, where the Lobos will take on Colorado State. But UNM won't face the same Rams who suffered a 68-50 thrashing in The Pit on Jan.
Bud Selig claims he had no knowledge about how prevalent steroids were/are in baseball. "I don't want to hear, 'The commissioner turned a blind eye to this,' or 'He didn't care about it,'" Selig told Newsday's Wallace Matthews in a telephone interview. "That annoys the you-know-what out of me.
The magic number is now three, after the UNM men's basketball team handed TCU a 76-62 loss. The Lobos will need to win out if they want a share of the Mountain West Conference title. The Horned Frogs visited The Pit on Tuesday for the Lobos' second-to-last home game.
At last, a 16-year drought is over. For the first time since 1992, the UNM skiing team made its way to victory at the NCAA West Regional/Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Championship last weekend in Truckee, Calif. The desert-locked Lobos beat out seven schools including the top three finishers from last year's NCAA Tournament: Denver, Colorado and Utah.
TCU's Zvonko Buljan was heckled for a reason. Buljan's emotions flared up often in the Horned Frogs' 76-62 loss to the UNM men's basketball team Tuesday. At the 9:06 first-half mark, Buljan jousted underneath with UNM's Will Brown. Whatever Buljan said, he got a reaction out of Brown.
It's the end of a two-a-day practice. UNM swimmers take laps in the pool for two hours at 6:30 a.m., and they're finishing up afternoon practice with a run after lifting weights. Their tired bodies might prefer to slowly cruise the few miles, but one force is pushing them harder: Their 33-year-old coach is beating them.
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.
After a month on the road, the No. 44 UNM men's tennis team returned to Albuquerque in style Sunday. The Lobos swept Montana State 7-0, improving to 7-1 overall on the year. Head coach Alan Dils said he was glad to be back on familiar courts. "It's always nice to play at home," he said.
Ryan Honeycutt's swing is much like his name: golden. So, what happens when a golden swing and a crisp cut blend together in one fluid motion? Try a perfect 4-of-4 day for Honeycutt and a 3-1 record for the UNM baseball team. Oh, and baseballs spiraling over fences.
On Wednesday, the women's swimming and diving team travels to Oklahoma City to compete in the Mountain West Conference championships. And for a team that is laden with freshmen, these are uncharted waters, head coach Tracy Ljone said. Ljone said she wants to see how her freshmen experience an intense and pressure-filled atmosphere.
Tony Danridge and Roman Martinez had The Pit rocking early and often Saturday against the San Diego State Aztecs. The duo made a statement in the first half, combining for 30 of the Lobos' 40 first-half points in Saturday's 75-49 win at The Pit. At the 13:21 mark, Danridge threw down a monster dunk, and with 9:10 remaining in the first half, Danridge lit up SDSU with a two-handed alley-oop dunk compliments of Dairese Gary's assist.
Now is not the time for February failures - not with March Madness a few weeks away. But you don't have to tell Steve Alford's Lobos that. On Saturday, the UNM men's basketball team (16-10 overall, 7-4 Mountain West Conference) will face San Diego State (18-6 overall, 8-3 MWC).
UNM head baseball coach Ray Birmingham has a memo for all collegiate pitchers: Consider walking these Lobos. The Lobos are trying to create their own Death Row - and we're not talking about the record label. "I want murderers' row," Birmingham told GoLobos.
Solutions by The State News
