New Mexico was a little lethargic coming
out of the starting gate, but responded to their jockey's spurs and
whip to gut out a physical 76-62 win over TCU in The Pit on Tuesday
night.
The victory lifted the Lobos
to an 18-10 season mark and a 9-4 record in the Mountain West
Conference, keeping UNM in the hunt in a second-place tie with
BYU. Utah remains atop the conference standings at 10-2.
TCU fell to 14-14 and 5-9 in the MWC.
UNM and TCU were locked in a tough, physical battle during the first
half, with the Horned Frogs never ahead but staying within a few points
of the Lobos. New Mexico led by just 32-30 at halftime.
Lobos coach Steve Alford said
he did his best to motivate his team during halftime, pointing out his
players were playing at too slow a pace. "So I had to be the
jockey, and do the kicking and whipping," Alford said. Like a
good thoroughbred, his team responded with a faster-reacting transition
game and slowly pulled away from the stubborn Frogs in the second half
to win by 14 points.
In the second half, our seniors really came to the forefront," Alford
said. New Mexico's scoring was led by senior post Daniel Faris
with a season-high 20 points. Sixteen of his points came during
UNM's second-half surge, and Faris also tied a school record by hitting
12-of-12 free throws.
Senior forward Tony Danridge scored 17 points and the team's only other
senior -- Chad Toppert, the Lobos' leading three-point marksman --
added 12 points, including three treys. Junior Roman Martinez was
close to reaching double figures with 9
points, and led the team in rebounds with seven.
Chad Topper the 1,000+ points man
Toppert's output made him the 26th Lobo to score 1,000 points in his
career at UNM. He now has 1,005 points, despite starting just 28
games in his 121-game career. That's the fewest number of starts
for any player in the Lobos' 1,000-point club.
TCU's scoring was paced by center Zvonko Buljan with 16 points and a
game-high 16 rebounds. The Horned Frogs also got 16 points from
guard Keion Mitchem and 13 points from forward Kevin Langford, their
leading scorer with a 14.1 points per game average.
A crowd of 14,777 was uncharacteristically quiet in the first half, but
began to noisily support the home team as the Lobos began widening
their lead in the second stanza. The Lobos' 6-9 Faris and TCU's
two big men -- Buljan, a 6-9, 220-lb. junior from Croatia, and 6-8,
245-lb. senior Langford -- waged a hammer-and-tongs battle on the
inside. So plenty of fouls were whistled. Langford sank
13-of-14 free throws, besting Faris' performance at the charity line by
one. But although Faris had four fouls on him, he had the last
laugh when Langford and Buljan each fouled out late in the game.
Both UNM and TCU improved their shooting in the second half. The
Lobos shot field goals at a 54.5% clip in the second half, finishing
with 22-of-47 for the game at 46.8%. The Frogs shot an even 50%
in the second half but finished with 19-of-43 field goal shooting,
44.2% for the game.
The Lobos won the rebouind battle by 30-24, and after committing nine
turnovers in the first half, had only two in the second half.
First-year TCU coach Jim Christian (not named for the school, or vice
versa) earned Alford's praise for having the Horned Frogs
well-prepared, and for playing very hard. Christian agreed it was
a very physical game, but UNM was "solid and fundamental, so they kept
getting good shots. We got out of rhythm and did things we
weren't supposed to do."
The Lobos next game is at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28, at Colorado State. They return home for their final home game of the season
against MWC-leading Utah on March 3, and close with a road game at Wyoming
on March 7.
TCU finishes its home season on Saturday, Feb. 28, against San Diego State. The Frogs then wind up their 2008-2009 campaign with a
road game at Utah
on March 7.
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As a special bonus TheRedMenace.com 's own Wes Henderson was able to
speak with Freshmen Nate Garth after the game.
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