Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good; sometimes it's better to be good than lucky. And sometimes it's best to be lucky and good. With The Pit stuffed with 15,277 fans, the UNM men's basketball team was good enough, and fortunate enough - as in Fortune 500 fortunate - to ring up an 81-62 win over BYU on Saturday.
It was lucky No. 7 for the Lobos and senior Daniel Faris at The Pit on Saturday. UNM secured its first win, 81-62, in seven tries over the David Rose-led BYU Cougars. And Faris scored the first seven points of the game against conference rival BYU to give UNM a quick 7-3 lead in a game the Lobos would ultimately win.
Divide and conquer. The UNM men's basketball team conquered Mountain West Conference-kingpin BYU 81-62 on Saturday, and on Wednesday, the Lobos will look to divide the 12-4 Aztecs from Spain - Kyle Spain (14.9 points per game), that is. "This is our first big road trip," head coach Steve Alford said.
If Amy Beggin wasn't playing basketball at UNM, she might be a world-renowned escape artist. Including Saturday's game against BYU, the UNM women's basketball team has beat teams by an average of 20 points per contest in its 14 wins. Saturday's 61-57 escape marks only the third game of the season for the Lobos that's been decided by five points or fewer.
Decked out in its royal blue uniforms, Air Force came into Saturday's contest against the UNM men's basketball team as the Mountain West Conference's "Blue Bombers." The Falcons entered The Pit as the third-ranked 3-point-shooting team in the nation, stroking 42.
Even the Michelin Man couldn't have prevented this blowout. On Saturday, the final score from Colorado, Springs, was 73-39 in favor of the UNM women's basketball team over Air Force. The UNM women's basketball team bullied resident Mountain West Conference foe Air Force, and everybody on the Lobos took their hacks.
Jonathan Wills sat patiently on the bench Saturday against Air Force at The Pit. And then, Dairese Gary got into foul trouble, and Nate Garth checked into the scorer's table but picked up two fouls after only 1:01. Seconds later, Steve Alford motioned for and handed the point-guard reins to Wills.
From turmoil to stability, Amanda Adamson's odd 10-point, 20-rebound performance on Saturday against Texas Tech is emblematic of what she's experienced in the past. In one word, her basketball career has been peculiar. Keith Cieplicki, who recruited Adamson to play for Syracuse, resigned in June 2006 after a short and tumultuous tenure with the Orange.
Triple-doubles are rare events that deserve celebratatory champagne - if the player is of age. This triple-double, however, will likely be forgettable for UNLV's Shamela Hapton, as it was one of the wrong sort. "I thought we did a pretty good job on Hampton - bothering her with the double team," head coach Don Flanagan said.
There wasn't anything minor about this loss. Yet, it doesn't take a degree in calculus to figure out why the UNM men's basketball team was unable to beat the UTEP Miners on Tuesday at The Pit. Fairly simple math: The Lobos took a three-point lead, 27-24, at the half.
Roman Martinez was one of the most beloved Lobos in The Pit on Saturday. "Ro Martinez, Ro Martinez," Section 26 chanted incessantly. Against the Ole Miss defense, Martinez helped UNM improve to 6-4 with a 103-70 victory over the Rebels. For the second straight game, the junior forward from El Paso, Texas, had a standout effort for the UNM men's basketball team.
Sleigh bells rang, and more than 17,000 fans at The Pit were listening Tuesday. Through the lane, Tony Danridge was whistling past NMSU defenders and helping elevate the UNM men's basketball team to a 76-62 win over the Aggies. Danridge torched the Aggies for 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
It was a coming-out party for UNM senior and starting forward Tony Dandridge Wednesday at The Pit. After being questioned about his leadership ability over the course of the first 10 games for the Lobos, Danridge shined and showed the kind of leader he can be for the young UNM men's basketball team.
Oral Roberts' Robert Jarvis was dialing in from long distance all night, but when the Golden Eagles needed him the most, the line went dead - and the UNM men's basketball team got away 66-63 after being down as much as 15, marking the Lobos' second-largest comeback in The Pit.
LAS CRUCES - What a game, what a shot and what a comeback. After leading most of the game, the Lobos found themselves down with less than one minute to go against in-state rival NMSU in Las Cruces on Tuesday night. But senior Daniel Faris ended his career against the Aggies the way any Lobo would want to: hitting a shot to win the game.
Chad Toppert knows all too well. "It's completely different playing the Aggies in Las Cruces than playing the Aggies in The Pit," he said. Case in point: The last time UNM won down south was in 2004, when the Lobos coasted to a 84-66 victory. Since then, the Lobos are 0-3 in Las Cruces, including last year's 71-62 loss.
In Las Vegas, why wouldn't the dice tell the story? For craps players, what are the two numbers you don't want to see on the come-out roll? Two and 12, of course ? which, by the way, is UNM's record at the Thomas and Mack Center. "We know this is going to be monumental task," head coach Steve Alford said.
It was the "Hustle and Flow" show at The Pit on Tuesday against in-state rival NMSU, but there was no Terrence Howard. Instead, the two star performers were Roman Martinez and Tony Danridge. Martinez said Danridge's flow - that high-flying energy Danridge brings to the table - sends The Pit into a frenzy.
LAS CRUCES ? Easy come, easy go. It took six games into the season for NMSU to lose at home ? and four years for the UNM men's basketball team to sweep the season series. Now it's over. On Tuesday, for the first time since 2004, the Lobos beat the Aggies, 68-66, at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces.
Solutions by The State News
