NCAA Tournament Game Preview
No. 3 New Mexico (29-4) vs. No. 14 Montana (22-9)
HP Pavilion (18,500), San Jose, Calif.
Thursday, March 18, 6:50 p.m. Pacific, CBS
Records: Montana is 22-9 and enters the tournament having won three straight and 12 of its last 15. The Grizzlies went 10-6 in Big Sky playing, tying with Montana State for third. UM was the No. 4 seed in the Big Sky Championship. The Grizzlies beat No. 5 seed Northern Arizona, No. 2 seed Northern Colorado and No. 1 seed Weber State in the tournament. The Grizzlies earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament…New Mexico State is 29-4. The Lobos went 14-2 in the Mountain West, winning the regular-season title. San Diego State upset New Mexico in the Mountain West Semifinals, snapping the Lobos’ 15-game winning streak. New Mexico started the season with 13 consecutive wins. New Mexico’s losses were to San Diego State twice, Oral Roberts and UNLV.
Coaches: Montana’s Wayne Tinkle is 70-52 in his fourth season at his alma mater. This is his first trip to the NCAA as a head coach. Tinkle was an assistant at Montana during the Grizzlies’ NCAA appearances in 2002, 2005 and 2006….New Mexico’s Steve Alford is 75-25 in his third season at New Mexico, and 383-208 in his 19th season as a head coach. Alford is making his fifth NCAA appearance with his third different team. He led Southwest Missouri State to the Sweet 16 in 1998-99. He guided Iowa to the tournament three times, most recently in 2005-06. Alford is 3-4 in the tournament.
Series history: Montana holds a 16-7 lead over New Mexico. The teams first met during the 1950-51 season. Montana won the most recent matchup 91-79 during the 1961-62 season.
NCAA Tournament History: Montana is making its eighth tournament appearance, and fourth since 2002. Montana is 2-7 in the NCAA tournament. The Grizzlies beat Nevada 87-79 in 2006 in the first round, and fell to Boston College 69-56 in the second round…New Mexico is in the field for the 12th time, and the first since 2005. New Mexico is 6-12 all-time in the tournament.
Common Opponents: New Mexico and Montana have both played Colorado State, Northern Arizona and UC Riverside this season. New Mexico beat Riverside 67-51. Montana beat Riverside 67-52. New Mexico beat NAU 96-57. Montana went 3-0 against NAU winning be an average margin of 19.3 points. New Mexico went 2-0 against Colorado State, winning 82-64 at home and 72-66 on the road. Montana lost 62-61 to Colorado State in a game that center Brian Qvale missed.
Montana notes: Montana was a 14 seed in 1992. The Grizzlies lost to Florida State 78-68 in Boise, Idaho…UM ranks eighth in the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage (40.4), and 12th in field-goal percentage (48.6). The Grizzlies are 31st in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 61.2 points per game…UM’s Anthony Johnson is averaging 19.6 points per game, which ranks 32nd in the nation. He is 18th in the nation in free-throw shooting at 88 percent...No player on UM’s roster has played in the NCAA tournament...UM went 0-1 against Mountain West teams this season, losing at Colorado State...Johnson has scored in double figures in 11 straight games, and averaged 25 points per game over the span...Johnson had made 18 free throws...Ryan Staudacher has 208 career 3-pointers, which ranks 10th all-time in league history...Junior Brian Qvale has 150 career blocked shots, which ranks eighth in conference history.