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GAME NOTES: The first-ever meeting between the New Mexico Lobos and the Southern Illinois Salukis takes place tonight at SIU Arena in Carbondale as part of the annual Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge.

The Lobos are hitting the road for just the second time this season and in the process will be searching for their first road victory of 2010-11 as well. Previously the team went out to California back on November 20 and fell to the Golden Bears in an 89-64 decision. Since then UNM has put up wins over Northwood (78-56) and San Diego (75-46) on Sunday.

Meanwhile the Salukis have rebounded from back-to-back defeats against Illinois and Northeastern to begin the campaign by posting three wins in for tries. Last Saturday, the squad recorded a 56-50 win over Wright State as part of the Chicago Invitational Challenge at Sears Centre Arena in Illinois.

SIU has a record of 13-5 all-time against current members of the Mountain West Conference, while UNM is an even 8-8 versus Missouri Valley programs over the years.

Against the Toreros, New Mexico held the visitors to a mere 37 percent shooting from the field and 3-of-18 behind the three-point line, not to mention outscoring San Diego by a 17-3 margin at the free-throw line. Jamal Fenton came off the bench to record a team-best 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting beyond the arc for the Lobos, followed by Phillip McDonald and A.J. Hardeman with 11 and 10 points, respectively, as well. UNM held a 37-26 edge on the glass and forced USD into 17 turnovers in the meeting. McDonald, who has seen in action in just two games, is averaging 12.0 ppg yet he is shooting a mere 36.4 percent from the floor at the moment. Dairese Gary is responsible for 12.6 ppg to pace the program and his 56.7 percent accuracy is clearly superior, not to mention his team-best 25 assists. Defensively this group is holding opponents to just 40.1 percent from the floor and 22.6 percent behind the three-point line through five outings.

It was an ugly first half between the Salukis and Raiders over the weekend, SIU limited to just seven field goals while it held WSU to a mere 3-of-23 shooting from the floor. Things began to heat up in the second half and it was an 18-of-27 effort at the free-throw line that allowed the Salukis to secure the win. Gene Teague recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds and Mamadou Seck contributed 11 points and eight boards off the bench. Holding the Raiders to just 21.6 percent shooting from the floor and 17.6 percent behind the three-point line also played a part in the outcome of course. Now with five double-doubles for his career, Teague is averaging team highs of 11.0 ppg and 7.2 rpg over six games this season. Teague is shooting an impressive 57.5 percent from the floor thus far, but his 60.6 percent effort at the free-throw line is only overshadowed by the fact that he has turned the ball over 23 times and has but six assists this season. So bad is the passing game for SIU, only one player (John Freeman) has more assists (13) than turnovers (11) at the moment.

This isn't the same New Mexico team that has won back-to-back Mountain West Conference titles, but considering how weak the Salukis are right now it doesn't really matter because the Lobos are still superior.