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 School
Rankings
+ Ranking movementLegend: ██ 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
!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=| Regular season
!colspan=10 style=| Mountain West tournament
!colspan=10 style=| NCAA tournament
References