Blog

QUICK BOX SCORE
UNM (28-3, 14-2 MWC) ... 73
TCU (13-17, 5-10 MWC) ... 66

LEADERS
POINTS
UNM: Darington Hobson 20
TCU: Ronnie Moss 14
REBOUNDS
UNM: Hobson 14
TCU: Zvonko Buljan 11
ASSISTS
UNM: Hobson 7
TCU: Buljan 4

NOTABLE TEAM STAT
After committing seven turnovers in the first half, UNM tightened that up in the second and had only two.

IT WAS OVER WHEN ...
TCU seemed buried several times Wednesday night, but kept clawing close enough to make the Pit crowd uncomfortable. With less than 20 seconds to go the Horned Frogs trailed by five and had the ball. Zvonko Buljan tried to drive to the basket on Roman Martinez, but Ro tangled Buljan up and he lost the ball out of bounds. Lobo ball. Game over -- that's 14-straight for UNM.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
In case you missed the signs, the custom made t-shirts, the huge cut-outs of his face in the crowd or the fact that the Governor Bill Richardson proclaimed it Roman Martinez Day, the answer is ...

Roman Martinez.

Sure Hobson had better numbers than Martinez's 19 points, five rebounds and two steals. But it was Martinez, as usual, who made the biggest plays in key moments.

As mentioned, TCU did not just evaporate after the opening tap, as many probably hoped. With less than 10 minutes to play it was a five point game when Martinez drilled 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, stretching the lead to 11.

TCU trimmed that lead down to three points, 67-64, with a minute to play. Out of a timeout Martinez hit a short one hander in the lane to make it a two-possession lead, and give UNM some breathing room.

Then there was that aforementioned defensive play at the end, which sent the sellout crowd into yet another Ro inspired frenzy.

IMAGES OF THE NIGHT

There were so many, I'll just go in chronological order of what I saw ...

First there was Jamal Fenton.

Fans look forward to his bit of dancing just before the UNM starting lineup is introduced. This time Fenton had a surprise as his teammates gathered around and all eyes in the Pit focused on him for his show.

Fenton removed his warm up top to reveal a shirt that read: "I LOVE RO ... March 3, 2010." It was the same shirt worn by most of the student section and instead of a heart replacing the word love there was a Lobo paw print..

Then there was the security guard.

After the final horn sounded, I meandered down to the floor. The only fans out of their seat were either standing or had spilled onto Bob King Court. They wanted to celebrate with their Mountain West Conference champs. They wanted to relish the moment with Ro.

You'd think the yellow-jacketed security staff would be on high alert at such a moment. And all I saw were. Except one. He had is back turned to the crowd and was snapping photos of this celebratory mob via his cell phone.

Work? Forget work. This was not a moment to be missed.

Shortly after passing that guard, the mass of students on the court hoisted Martinez on its collective shoulders. How often does that happen?

Eventually the students let Martinez walk on his own feet. As he addressed his adoring fans you could not help but be in awe of the giant mass of fans Martinez had there to support him.

Once UNM officials cleared the students off the floor there were two distinct throngs, the media and the extended Martinez family. It was hard to tell which group was larger.

The best sign/prop I saw? Had to be the famed dry-erase board, which read: "We delayed our wedding plans for Ro."

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
"You can tell I'm Hispanic by all the family I have here."
-- Roman Martinez, during his address to the Pit after Wednesday's game.