# 2012–13 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team

The 2012–13 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team represented the University of New Mexico as a member of the Mountain West Conference during the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lobos were coached by sixth-year head coach Steve Alford and played their home games at The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They finish with a record of 29–6 overall and 13–3 in Mountain West play to win the Mountain West regular season championship. They were also champions of the Mountain West tournament, defeating UNLV in the championship game, to earn an automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA tournament. In the tournament, they were upset by Harvard in the first round.
On March 20, head coach Steve Alford signed a 10-year contract extension. However, on April 2 Alford resigned to take the head coaching job at UCLA.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| A.J. Hardeman | 00 | F | 6'8" | 235 | Senior | Del Valle, Texas | Graduated |
| Phillip McDonald | 23 | G | 6'5" | 200 | Senior | Cypress, Texas | Graduated |
| Drew Gordon | 32 | F | 6'9" | 245 | Senior | San Jose, California | Graduated |

## Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Obij Aget C | La Porte, IN | La Lumiere School | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Aug 30, 2011 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 86 ||||||
| Nick Banyard PF | Flower Mound, TX | Marcus High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 13, 2011 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 86 ||||||
| Cleveland Thomas SG | Baton Rouge, LA | Scotlandville Magnet High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | May 16, 2011 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 83 ||||||
| Devon Williams PF | Dallas, TX | Woodrow Wilson High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Oct 4, 2011 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 82 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: – Rivals: – ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "New Mexico Commit List for 2012". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 14, 2012. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved June 14, 2012. "ESPN – New Mexico Lobos Basketball Recruiting 2012". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 14, 2012. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved June 14, 2012. "2012 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 14, 2012. ||||||

## 2012–13 Schedule

* All times are Mountain
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 10/31/2012* 7:00 pm | | Victory | W 105–64 | – | The Pit (12,440) Albuquerque, NM |
| 11/05/2012* 7:00 pm | | New Mexico Highlands | W 92–70 | – | The Pit (13,055) Albuquerque, NM |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/13/2012* 11:59 pm, ESPN | | Davidson ESPN Tip-Off Marathon | W 86–81 | 1–0 | The Pit (14,277) Albuquerque, NM |
| 11/16/2012* 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. UIC Paradise Jam Quarterfinals | W 66–59 | 2–0 | Sports and Fitness Center (N/A) St. Thomas, VI |
| 11/18/2012* 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. George Mason Paradise Jam semifinals | W 70–69 | 3–0 | Sports and Fitness Center (N/A) St. Thomas, VI |
| 11/19/2012* 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. No. 21 Connecticut Paradise Jam Finals | W 66–60 | 4–0 | Sports and Fitness Center (3,022) St. Thomas, VI |
| 11/23/2012* 8:30 pm | | Idaho | W 73–58 | 5–0 | The Pit (14,741) Albuquerque, NM |
| 11/25/2012* 6:00 pm, KASY/RTRM | | Portland | W 69–54 | 6–0 | The Pit (13,487) Albuquerque, NM |
| 11/28/2012* 7:00 pm, KASY/RTRM | No. 25 | Mercer | W 76–58 | 7–0 | The Pit (13,561) Albuquerque, NM |
| 12/01/2012* 12:00 pm | No. 25 | at Indiana State MWC-MVC Challenge | W 77–68 $^{OT}$ | 8–0 | Hulman Center (6,080) Terre Haute, IN |
| 12/05/2012* 8:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 18 | USC | W 75–67 | 9–0 | The Pit (15,241) Albuquerque, NM |
| 12/08/2012* 7:00 pm, KASY/RTRM | No. 18 | Valparaiso | W 65–52 | 10–0 | The Pit (15,244) Albuquerque, NM |
| 12/15/2012* 4:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 17 | New Mexico State Rio Grande Rivalry | W 73–58 | 11–0 | The Pit (15,411) Albuquerque, NM |
| 12/19/2012* 7:00 pm, AggieVision | No. 16 | at New Mexico State Rio Grande Rivalry | W 68–63 | 12–0 | Pan American Center (8,177) Las Cruces, NM |
| 12/22/2012* 12:30 pm, KASY/RTRM | No. 16 | South Dakota State | L 65–70 | 12–1 | The Pit (15,278) Albuquerque, NM |
| 12/27/2012* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 8 Cincinnati | W 55–54 | 13–1 | Fifth Third Arena (10,627) Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/31/2012* 5:30 pm, CBSSN | No. 20 | at Saint Louis | L 46–60 | 13–2 | Chaifetz Arena (6,782) Saint Louis, MO |
| Mountain West regular season ||||||
| 01/09/2013 8:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 25 | No. 24 UNLV | W 65–60 | 14–2 (1–0) | The Pit (15,411) Albuquerque, NM |
| 01/12/2013 1:00 pm, KASY | No. 25 | Fresno State | W 72–45 | 15–2 (2–0) | The Pit (15,337) Albquerque, NM |
| 01/16/2013 7:00 pm, RTRM | No. 19 | at Boise State | W 79–74 $^{OT}$ | 16–2 (3–0) | Taco Bell Arena (10,420) Boise, ID |
| 01/23/2013 6:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 15 | Colorado State | W 66–61 | 17–2 (4–0) | The Pit (15,411) Albuquerque, NM |
| 01/26/2013 2:00 pm, NBCSN | No. 15 | at San Diego State | L 34–55 | 17–3 (4–1) | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| 01/30/2013 7:00 pm, RTRM | No. 20 | at Wyoming | W 63–59 | 18–3 (5–1) | Arena-Auditorium (5,376) Laramie, WY |
| 02/02/2013 6:00 pm, NBCSN | No. 20 | Nevada | W 75–62 | 19–3 (6–1) | The Pit (15,346) Albuquerque, NM |
| 02/06/2013 7:00 pm, KASY/RTRM | No. 15 | Air Force | W 81–58 | 20–3 (7–1) | The Pit (15,373) Albuquerque, NM |
| 02/09/2013 7:00 pm, NBCSN | No. 15 | at UNLV | L 55–64 | 20–4 (7–2) | Thomas & Mack Center (17,738) Paradise, NV |
| 02/13/2013 8:00 pm | No. 19 | at Fresno State | W 54–48 | 21–4 (8–2) | Save Mart Center (8,241) Fresno, CA |
| 02/16/2013 7:00 pm, KASY/RTRM | No. 19 | Boise State | W 60–50 | 22–4 (9–2) | The Pit (15,411) Albuquerque, NM |
| 02/23/2013 2:00 pm, NBCSN | No. 16 | at No. 22 Colorado State | W 91–82 | 23–4 (10–2) | Moby Arena (8,745) Fort Collins, CO |
| 02/27/2013 8:15 pm, CBSSN | No. 14 | San Diego State | W 70–60 | 24–4 (11–2) | The Pit (15,411) Albuquerque, NM |
| 03/02/2013 3:00 pm, KASY/RTRM | No. 14 | Wyoming | W 53–42 | 25–4 (12–2) | The Pit (15,411) Albuquerque, NM |
| 03/06/2013 8:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 12 | at Nevada | W 75–62 | 26–4 (13–2) | Lawlor Events Center (6,401) Reno, NV |
| 03/09/2013 4:00 pm, ALT | No. 12 | at Air Force | L 88–89 | 26–5 (13–3) | Clune Arena (6,117) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 2013 Mountain West Conference tournament ||||||
| 03/13/2013 7:30 pm, CBSSN | (1) No. 15 | vs. (8) Wyoming Quarterfinals | W 59–46 | 27–5 | Thomas & Mack Center (13,297) Paradise, NV |
| 03/15/2013 7:00 pm, CBSSN | (1) No. 15 | vs. (4) San Diego State Semifinals | W 60–50 | 28–5 | Thomas & Mack Center (18,500) Paradise, NV |
| 03/16/2013 4:00 pm, CBS | (1) No. 15 | vs. (3) UNLV Championship Game | W 63–56 | 29–5 | Thomas & Mack Center (18,500) Paradise, NV |
| 2013 NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/21/2013* 8:10 pm, TNT | (3 W) No. 11 | vs. (14 W) Harvard Second Round | L 62–68 | 29–6 | EnergySolutions Arena (14,345) Salt Lake City, UT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## 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 | Wk 19 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 18 | 17 | 16 | RV | 20 | 25 | 19 | 15 | 20 | 15 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 11 |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 20 | 20 | 17 | RV | 23 | RV | 21 | 17 | 22 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 16 | 10 |