In the final moments of a big game, a star athlete falls to the ground with an injury. The game stops. The crowd becomes silent. An athletic trainer rushes to the scene. In the world of sports, athletes stand at the forefront of recognition. Their every performance is analyzed.
Welcome to another edition of "From the Sports Gutter." This week, the topic is the NBA. The MVP race is heating up between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Also, this season has seen more blockbuster trades than usual, which is making for some thrilling playoff races.
The UNM men's basketball team used a stout defense to knock off UNLV 59-45 on Tuesday at The Pit. The sold-out crowd of 18,018 - the second consecutive sold-out game - made it an emotional win on Senior Night, senior guard Jamaal Smith said. "For our crowd to come out this year and support us like they have is just incredible," he said.
The way UNM head coach Steve Alford sees it, J.R. Giddens locked up the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year Award in his final collegiate home game. The senior was the catalyst in the Lobos' 59-45 win against UNLV on Tuesday at The Pit. Giddens finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds and five assists on Senior Night and left to a standing ovation and chants of "MVP" when he was taken out of the game in the final minute.
The No. 64 UNM women's tennis team snapped a two-match losing streak with two wins at home this weekend. The Lobos defeated Boise State and Western Michigan to improve to 5-4 on the season. "We came back from Louisiana, and especially with that second loss, and I told the team, 'We need to have a good two weeks of practice,'" head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz said.
When UNLV came into The Pit on Feb. 2, Amy Beggin went off for a career-high 26 points, and the UNM women's basketball team cruised to a 96-64 win. But when the Lobos travel to UNLV on Tuesday, coach Don Flanagan said he will be more concerned with how his sophomore point guard handles the ball than how many points she puts up.
The UNM men's basketball team has a chance to make a statement before entering the Mountain West Conference Tournament when it faces UNLV on Tuesday at The Pit. In the first meeting this season, the Rebels beat the Lobos 79-60 at the Thomas and Mack Center, which is hosting the MWC Tournament for its second consecutive year.
Softball UNM used solid pitching and defense to sweep Oklahoma State at home this weekend. The Lobos improved to 9-5 on the season and have won five games in a row. UNM won Friday's season-opener 5-4 in dramatic fashion, as Sara Loeffelholz hit a walk-off double in the seventh inning to break a 4-4 tie.
Tuesday night's battle with UNLV will mark the last regular-season home game in the careers of J.R. Giddens, Jamaal Smith and Darren Prentice. Here is a breakdown of the seniors' final seasons: J.R. Giddens Giddens has been outstanding this season, averaging 15.
Senior lefty Jacob Norton flourished in his first start of the season, and the offense provided more than enough power. The UNM baseball team improved to 5-0 after beating Texas Tech 7-3 on Wednesday at Isotopes Park. Norton pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up two runs on five hits and two walks, striking out three.
Staff report UNM's Sandy Fortner secured a spot at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a breakthrough first-place title in the pentathlon at the Mountain West Conference Indoor Track and Field championships Thursday evening. The junior smashed the previous school record by her former coach, Keren Sari-Bentzur, by 160 points with a final tally of 4,005.
The UNM men's basketball team's heartbreaking 70-69 loss to BYU on Tuesday will be remembered for the Cougars snatching the win in the final seconds. But as disappointing as the sequence was, the game was lost for the Lobos during regulation. UNM entered the game leading the nation in 3-point accuracy, but was just 3-of-21 on Tuesday.
The UNM women's basketball team rebounded from a tough home loss to Utah by defeating BYU 55-45 on the road Tuesday. With the win, the Lobos improved to 15-12 overall and 7-7 in Mountain West Conference play. Dionne Marsh scored 17 points and moved into second place on UNM's all-time scoring list.
Welcome to another edition of "From the Sports Gutter." This week, the topic is NCAA basketball. Outstanding freshmen have helped make college basketball more exciting in the past couple years. Meanwhile, here in Albuquerque, the UNM men's basketball team has been on fire lately and is making a late-season push to the top of the Mountain West Conference and trying to earn an NCAA Tournament bid.
The UNM men's basketball team let No. 25 BYU slip through its fingers 70-69 in overtime Tuesday at The Pit. Letting BYU off the hook in the closing seconds of the game is going to sting for a while, Lobo forward J.R. Giddens said. "When you have a tough game like this that you lose, it's going to hurt," he said.
The UNM women's basketball team had No. 18 Utah on the ropes but faltered in the closing minutes, falling 57-53 on Saturday at The Pit. The defeat marked the second time this season that the Lobos held a double-digit lead against Utah. UNM dropped a 60-57 road game at Utah on Jan.
The UNM baseball team couldn't have fared much better against Eastern Michigan over the weekend. The Lobos swept the defending Mid-America Conference Champion Eagles in a four-game series at Isotopes Park in their first action of the season. "It's pretty hard to sweep a team of that caliber," head coach Ray Birmingham said.
The UNM men's basketball team is set for its biggest showdown of the season after a thrilling road win on Saturday. The Lobos held off Utah 72-71 on Saturday and will take on Mountain West Conference-leading BYU at The Pit on Tuesday. "This is what you play the season for - to get to this point of the season and still have a lot to play for," UNM head coach Steve Alford said.
In a tournament plagued by weather delays Friday night, the UNM softball team went 2-2 during the three-day Lobo Invitational this weekend at the UNM Softball Complex. "I'm definitely not satisfied," head coach Ty Singleton said. "I'm encouraged by our growth, though.
A new era of UNM baseball begins this season as first-year head coach Ray Birmingham tries to duplicate some of the success he had in the southern part of the state. Birmingham - who spent his last 18 seasons at New Mexico Junior College - replaces Rich Alday, who stepped down after 18 years at UNM.
Solutions by The State News
