2009–10 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team
Introduction 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  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 SchoolLobo Coach Steve Alford
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 NR17 12 17 14 NR NR NR 23 19 15 12 10 8 10 16
2009–2010 schedule  Exhibition Regular season Mountain West tournament NCAA tournament
References