Monday, November 24th, 9:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: The Pit/Bob King Court (18,018) -- Albuquerque, New Mexico. Television: None. Home Record: Northridge 1-0, UNM 2-1. Away Record: Northridge 0-2, UNM 0-1. Neutral Record: Northridge 0-0, UNM 0-0. Conference Record: Northridge 0-0, UNM 0-0. Series Record: New Mexico leads, 3-0.

GAME NOTES: The New Mexico Lobos open the doors to the infamous Pit tonight as they entertain the visiting Cal State Northridge Matadors in a non-conference bout. The Lobos have played three of their first four games of the season in their own building and have two wins to show for their efforts. However, on Saturday the squad was taken down by UCF by just a single point, 72-71, as part of the Cancun Challenge, an event that will continue later this week in Mexico when the Lobos face off against Virginia Commonwealth. As for the Matadors, they are in the midst of a six-game road trip that will take them to the East Coast in the coming days to face both Rider and Drexel before returning to the Golden State to confront UCLA. On Friday, Northridge paid a visit to Cal State Bakersfield and was turned away in a 67-65 decision, marking the team's second straight setback after taking care of Cal Lutheran in the opener, 73-62. The Lobos have won all three previous meetings with Northridge, the most recent of those being an 86-73 triumph during the 1994-95 campaign.

First and foremost, the Matadors cost themselves a win with a total of 28 turnovers versus Bakersfield on Friday. Josh Jenkins accounted for nine of those miscues, which made his seven points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals inconsequential. Deon Tresvant tried to keep the team alive with his 15 points, followed by Rob Haynes and Willie Galick with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Tremaine Townsend just missed out on a double-double with his nine points and game-high 14 boards. Jenkins has been trying just a bit too hard to handle the ball this season, having registered seven turnovers in the opener versus Cal Lutheran and another 10 against Stanford. All by himself Jenkins has an incredible 24 turnovers in three games, something that cannot continue to occur if this team hopes to play well against the rest of the members of the Big West Conference. Jenkins certainly has some positives though, like his 24 points and six assists against Stanford before fouling out, but his penchant for turning the ball over is just far too overriding at the moment.

The Lobos went into their meeting with Central Florida having won 33 straight non-conference games at home in The Pit, but that all changed when the Knights picked up the one-point victory on a game-winning three-pointer with a mere 4.6 seconds to play. UNM was outscored 12-2 down the stretch, offsetting the career-high 20-point effort by Dairese Gary. In addition to his 10-of-13 shooting at the free-throw line, Gary also handed out seven assists in the losing effort. Tony Danridge accounted for 13 points, Daniel Faris 10 in the decision. Back in action this season, Danridge currently leads the team in scoring with his 13.8 ppg, one of six players scoring in double figures over the first four games of the campaign. Danridge is shooting an impressive 57.9 percent from the floor, but a mere 10-of-21 (.476) at the free-throw line. The team as a whole could stand some extra practice at the charity stripe having converted only 64.4 percent. Luckily, the defense has been there to save the day for the most part, limiting opponents to 37 percent from the floor and 31.1 percent behind the three-point line.

If Jenkins can stay in control in this game the Matadors might have a shot. Then again, with the Lobos having had their win streak snapped the other night they're sure to be out to show that the setback was a fluke.

Predicted Outcome

New Mexico 80, Cal State Northridge 68