# 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.
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

The University of New Mexico Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs outlined details of the $60 million renovations to University Arena (The Pit). Some of the items included in the presentation were the addition of 60,000 square feet (5,600 m$^2$) 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.

## Roster

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 |

## Rankings

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

| 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: ||||||