2009–10 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team

The 2009–10 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team represented the University of New Mexico as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Lobos were coached by third-year head coach Steve Alford and played their home games at The Pit, newly renamed from its previous official name of University Arena, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

2009–10 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball
Mountain West regular season champions
NCAA tournament, second round
ConferenceMountain West Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 16
APNo. 8
Record30–5 (14–2 Mountain West)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaThe Pit (14,586)
Seasons
2009–10 Mountain West Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 8 New Mexico 14 2   .875 30 5   .857
No. 17 BYU 13 3   .813 30 6   .833
UNLV 11 5   .688 25 8   .758
San Diego State 11 5   .688 25 9   .735
Colorado State 7 9   .438 16 16   .500
Utah 7 9   .438 14 17   .452
TCU 5 11   .313 13 19   .406
Wyoming 3 13   .188 10 21   .323
Air Force 1 15   .063 10 21   .323
Conference tournament winner
As of March 20, 2010
Rankings from AP/Coaches Poll

The Lobos finished the season 30–5, 14–2 in Mountain West play to capture the regular season championship. They advanced to the semifinals of the 2010 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament before being defeated by eventual champion San Diego State. They received an at–large bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, earning a 3 seed in the East Region. They defeated 14 seed Montana in the first round before being upset by 11 seed Washington in the second round to end their season.

2009–10 University Arena renovations

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The University of New Mexico Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs outlined details of the $60 million renovations to University Arena (The Pit).[1] Some of the items included in the presentation were the addition of 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) of new space, the expansion of the concourse, the addition of 40 luxury suites and 300 club seats to the mezzanine level and the new state-of-the-art locker room facilities for Lobo men's and women's basketball. Krebs stated, "Our goal is to create the best collegiate basketball venue in the nation."

The design process followed the completion of the Program Document for The Pit, which was used to guide the planning and design. The focus of the design, guided by Molzen-Corbin & Associates, was to maintain and improve the fan experience but not change The Pit. The planning committee was charged with keeping The Pit intimate, respecting its history, keeping the mystique of the arena, maintaining great sight lines and the current bowl seating mix and embracing new technology.

The project was expected to be completed in time for the 2010–2011 basketball season. During construction the home games still took place at University Arena and had no impact on the 2009–10 season.[1]

Roster

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2009–10 Roster
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown High School/Last College
A.J. Hardeman 00 F 6' 8" 225 Sophomore Del Valle, Texas Del Valle High School
Darington Hobson 1 G/F 6' 7" 205 Junior Las Vegas, Nevada College of Eastern Utah
Curtis Dennis 3 G 6' 5" 195 Freshman Bronx, New York Findlay Prep
Chad Adams 4 G/F 6' 6" 190 Freshman Albuquerque, New Mexico Highland High School
Dairese Gary 5 G 6' 1" 205 Junior Elkhart, Indiana Concord High School
Kevin Nelson 10 G 6' 0" 175 Freshman Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque Academy
Nate Garth 11 G 6' 2" 180 Sophomore Sacramento, California Hamilton High School, TN
Jamal Fenton 13 G 5' 9" 170 Freshman Houston, Texas Cesar E. Chavez High School
Will Brown 15 F 6' 9" 235 Sophomore Dallas, Texas Woodrow Wilson High School
Phillip McDonald 23 G 6' 5" 200 Sophomore Cypress, Texas Cypress Springs High School
Román Martínez 30 F 6' 6" 185 Senior El Paso, Texas Montwood High School
Matt Staff 41 F 6' 9" 220 Freshman Houston, Texas Memorial High School
 
Lobo Coach Steve Alford

Rankings

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Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week.
Poll Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Wk 17 Wk 18 Final
AP NR NR NR NR NR 19 13 19 15 NR NR 23 15 15 12 10 8 8 8  
Coaches NR NR NR NR NR 17 12 17 14 NR NR NR 23 19 15 12 10 8 10 16

2009–2010 schedule

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
11/03/2009*
1:00 pm
New Mexico Highlands W 98–68 
The Pit (11,465)
Albuquerque, NM
Regular season
11/14/2009*
8:00 pm
UC Riverside W 67–51  1–0
The Pit (11,871)
Albuquerque, NM
11/17/2009*
7:00 pm, AggieVision
at New Mexico State
Rio Grande Rivalry
W 97–87  2–0
Pan American Center (8,469)
Las Cruces, NM
11/20/2009*
8:35 pm, KASY
Nicholls State
World Vision Classic
W 83–59  3–0
The Pit (11,095)
Alnuquerque, NM
11/21/2009*
8:35 pm, KASY
Louisiana Tech
World Vision Classic
W 81–52  4–0
The Pit (11,311)
Albuquerque, NM
11/22/2009*
6:00 pm, KASY
Miami (OH)
World Vision Classic
W 85–60  5–0
The Pit (10,986)
Albuquerque, NM
11/27/2009*
10:05 pm, KASY
at Hawai'i W 83–71  6–0
Stan Sheriff Center (5,256)
Honolulu, HI
12/02/2009*
7:00 pm, CBSCS
California W 86–78  7–0
The Pit (13,549)
Albuquerque, NM
12/05/2009*
7:00 pm, The Mtn.
New Mexico State
Rio Grande Rivalry
W 75–58  8–0
The Pit (14,586)
Albuquerque, NM
12/09/2009*
1:00 pm, KASY
at San Diego W 82–78  9–0
Jenny Craig Pavilion (1,873)
San Diego, CA
12/12/2009*
4:00 pm, FSN
vs. No. 16 Texas A&M W 84–81  10–0
Toyota Center (7,757)
Houston, TX
12/16/2009*
7:00 pm
No. 19 Northern Arizona W 96–57  11–0
The Pit (13,091)
Albuquerque, NM
12/19/2009*
7:00 pm, The Mtn.
No. 19 Creighton
MWC–MVC Challenge
W 66–61  12–0
The Pit (14,333)
Albuquerque, NM
12/23/2009*
6:00 pm, KASY
No. 13 at Oral Roberts L 66–75  12–1
Mabee Center (5,869)
Tulsa, OK
12/29/2009*
7:00 pm, CBSCS
No. 19 No. 20 Texas Tech W 90–75  13–1
The Pit (14,586)
Albuquerque, NM
01/01/2010*
7:00 pm, The Mtn.
No. 19 Dayton W 68–66  14–1
The Pit (14,586)
Albuquerque, NM
01/05/2010
8:30 pm, The Mtn.
No. 15 at San Diego State L 64–74  14–2 (0–1)
Viejas Arena (7,558)
San Diego, CA
01/09/2010
2:00 pm, Versus
No. 15 UNLV L 62–74  14–3 (0–2)
The Pit (14,586)
Albuquerque, NM
01/13/2010
8:00 pm, The Mtn.
Utah W 74–57  15–3 (1–2)
The Pit (13,501)
Albuquerque, NM
01/16/2010
1:30 pm, The Mtn.
at Wyoming W 70–68  16–3 (2–2)
Arena-Auditorium (6,146)
Laramie, WY
01/20/2010
7:00 pm
at Air Force W 73–50  17–3 (3–2)
Clune Arena (2,156)
Colorado Springs, CO
01/23/2010
1:30 pm, The Mtn.
Colorado State W 82–64  18–3 (4–2)
The Pit (13,707)
Albuquerque, NM
01/27/2010
8:00 pm, The Mtn.
No. 23 No. 12 BYU W 76–72  19–3 (5–2)
The Pit (14,586)
Albuquerque, NM
01/30/2010
4:00 pm, CBSCS
No. 23 at TCU W 73–57  20–3 (6–2)
Daniel-Meyer Coliseum (4,827)
Fort Worth, TX
02/06/2010
4:00 pm, The Mtn.
No. 15 San Diego State W 88–86 OT 21–3 (7–2)
The Pit (14,586)
Albuquerque, NM
02/10/2010
9:00 pm, CBSCS
No. 15 at No. 23 UNLV W 76–66  22–3 (8–2)
Thomas & Mack Center (18,044)
Paradise, NV
02/13/2010
7:00 pm, The Mtn.
No. 15 at Utah W 68–65 OT 23–3 (9–2)
Jon M. Huntsman Center (9,933)
Salt Lake City, UT
02/17/2010
7:00 pm, CBSCS
No. 12 Wyoming W 83–61  24–3 (10–2)
The Pit (14,586)
Albuquerque, NM
02/20/2010
1:30 pm, The Mtn.
No. 12 Air Force W 59–56  25–3 (11–2)
The Pit (14,586)
Albuquerque, NM
02/23/2010
8:00 pm, The Mtn.
No. 10 at Colorado State W 72–66  26–3 (12–2)
Moby Arena (4,303)
Fort Collins, CO
02/27/2010
2:00 pm, Versus
No. 10 at No. 13 BYU W 83–81  27–3 (13–2)
Marriott Center (22,644)
Provo, UT
03/03/2010
6:30 pm, The Mtn.
No. 8 TCU W 73–66  28–3 (14–2)
The Pit (14,586)
Albuquerque, NM
Mountain West tournament
03/11/2010
2:00 pm, The Mtn.
(1) No. 8 vs. (9) Air Force
MWC Quarterfinals
W 75–69  29–3
Thomas & Mack Center 
Paradise, NV
03/12/2010
8:00 pm, CBSCS
(1) No. 8 vs. (4) San Diego State
MWC Semifinals
L 69–72  29–4
Thomas & Mack Center 
Paradise, NV
NCAA tournament
03/18/2010*
8:45 pm, CBS
(3 E) No. 8 vs. (14 E) Montana
NCAA First Round
W 62–57  30–4
HP Pavilion (15,427)
San Jose, CA
03/20/2010*
3:50 pm, CBS
(3 E) No. 8 vs. (11 E) Washington
NCAA Second Round
L 64–82  30–5
HP Pavilion (16,044)
San Jose, CA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
E=NCAA East Region.
Source:[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "University Arena Renovations". Archived from the original on 24 November 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  2. ^ "2009-10 UNM Lobos Schedule". Archived from the original on November 26, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2009.