Saturday, November 14th, 9:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: The Pit/Bob King Court (18,018) -- Albuquerque, New Mexico. Television: None. Home Record: UCR 0-0, UNM 0-0. Away Record: UCR 0-0, UNM 0-0. Neutral Record: UCR 0-0, UNM 0-0. Conference Record: UCR 0-0, UNM 0-0. Series Record: First-ever meeting.

GAME NOTES: Making their way to one of the loudest college basketball arenas in the country, the UC Riverside Highlanders invade The Pit in Albuquerque to take on the New Mexico Lobos.

UCR head coach Jim Wooldridge is entering his third season with the Highlanders and has been moving in the right direction with a program that was a mere 7-24 the year before he arrived. Last year, Riverside stepped up its play both against non-conference opponents and members of the Big West Conference, posting a 17-13 record overall and an even 8-8 mark in league action.

Unfortunately the Highlanders, who registered a Division I, school-best 11 home wins a year ago, they were limited to just 46 points in a 13-point setback versus Cal State Fullerton in the conference tournament.

As for the Lobos, who are opening their 107th season of basketball and have been picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference, they have one of the youngest teams in the nation this season, sporting just a single senior and a pair of juniors. Last year, head coach Steve Alford was named the MWC Coach of the Year as he led the school to its first conference title in the last 15 seasons.

UNM tied both BYU and Utah for the top spot in the MWC with a 12-4 mark and was 22-12 overall, but because the squad was upset by Wyoming in the conference tournament (75-67) it was sent to the NIT where it defeated Nebraska (83-71) before falling to Notre Dame (70-68) in the final moments on the road.

With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, this is the first-ever meeting.

Last season UCR was one of the lowest-scoring teams in the country with an average of just 60.2 ppg, but with the defense limiting opponents to only 60.6 ppg it wasn't as bad as it sounds. The offense was led by Kyle Austin and his 16.2 ppg, the only player on the roster putting up double digits on a regular basis. Austin, who started all 23 games in which he appeared, was also responsible for 6.1 rpg, which placed him second on the unit behind only Aaron Scott (9.4 ppg) who grabbed 6.6 rpg. Even though the squad managed just 33 rpg as a group, it was still better than the Highlanders were allowing opponents (29.7 rpg). Now a senior, guard Javon Borum (9.7 ppg) is another player that the Highlanders are going to look to for guidance on the floor, especially after he was one of the team leaders with 70 assists and showed a keen eye for shooting from three-point range at 42.6 percent.

With youth being a major factor on the New Mexico team this season, it will be that much more important for coach Alford to be able to get strong play from the likes of Dairese Gary and Roman Martinez. The one senior on the roster, Martinez is also the top returning scorer for the unit after putting up 10.6 ppg, adding 6.4 rpg. With an opportunity to join the school's 1,000-point/500- rebound club, the more Martinez stays on the floor the better the Lobos tend to play. For Gary, he has been the most consistent of the upperclassmen on the squad, having started 62 consecutive games. He averaged a respectable 8.1 ppg a year ago, but coming down the stretch he boosted his production to 11.1 ppg over the final nine games, which tells the story of a player who can dial up the intensity when called upon. Though just a freshman a year ago, Phillip McDonald came up with 7.3 ppg as he started 33 games, a good sign for this year now that he'll be more of a center piece of the offense.

Intimidation will play a huge part in this game and even though the Highlanders may have more experience heading to the hardwood in the opener, it will be the Lobos who will control the pace of this meeting and get a huge lift from the home crowd.

Predicted Outcome

New Mexico 71, UC Riverside 62