1977–78 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team

1977–78 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball
1977–78 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball
WAC Champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 12
Record	24–4 (13–1 WAC)
Head coach	Norm Ellenberger (6th season);
Home arena	University Arena
	Seasons ← 1976–77 1978–79 →

The 1977–78 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team represented the University of New Mexico as a member of the Western Athletic Conference during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lobos were coached by head coach Norm Ellenberger and played their home games at the University Arena, also known as "The Pit", in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

1977–78 WAC men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 12 New Mexico	13	–	1	.929	24	–	4	.857
No. 14 Utah	12	–	2	.857	23	–	6	.793
Colorado State	8	–	6	.571	18	–	9	.667
Arizona	7	–	8	.467	15	–	11	.577
BYU	6	–	8	.429	12	–	18	.400
Arizona State	6	–	9	.400	13	–	14	.481
Wyoming	3	–	11	.214	12	–	15	.444
UTEP	2	–	12	.143	10	–	16	.385

Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	21	Marvin Johnson	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Howard County JC	DeRidder, Louisiana
G	22	Michael Cooper	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Sr	Pasadena CC	Los Angeles, California

Head coach

Norm Ellenberger (Butler)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

^[2]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 25, 1977*		Idaho	W 120–70	1–0	University Arena (17,455) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Nov 29, 1977*		New Mexico Highlands	W 125–73	2–0	University Arena (13,888) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Dec 3, 1977*		at New Mexico State	W 94–87	3–0	Pan American Center (13,011) Las Cruces, New Mexico
Dec 5, 1977*		Kentucky State	W 126–104	4–0	University Arena (16,457) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Dec 9, 1977*		at Southern California	L 80–93	4–1	L.A. Sports Arena (4,293) Los Angeles, California
Dec 17, 1977*		Alaska Anchorage	W 127–101	5–1	University Arena (15,048) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Dec 21, 1977*		New Mexico State	W 106–78	6–1	University Arena (18,054) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Dec 29, 1977*		Vermont Lobo Invitational	W 104–81	7–1	University Arena (18,029) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Dec 30, 1977*		No. 10 Syracuse Lobo Invitational	L 91–96	7–2	University Arena (18,644) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jan 4, 1978*		Puget Sound	W 102–89	8–2	University Arena (14,433) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jan 7, 1978*		at No. 9 Nevada-Las Vegas	W 102–98	9–2	Las Vegas Convention Center (6,593) Las Vegas, Nevada
Jan 13, 1978		at Arizona State	W 91–84	10–2 (1–0)	ASU Activity Center (6,689) Tempe, Arizona
Jan 14, 1978		at Arizona	W 93–81	11–2 (2–0)	McKale Center (15,156) Tucson, Arizona
Jan 17, 1978*	No. 20	No. 16 Nevada-Las Vegas	W 89–76	12–2	University Arena (19,044) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jan 21, 1978	No. 20	at UTEP	W 84–57	13–2 (3–0)	Special Events Center (11,850) El Paso, Texas
Jan 26, 1978	No. 14	BYU	W 95–82	14–2 (4–0)	University Arena (18,211) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jan 28, 1978	No. 14	Utah	W 113–89	15–2 (5–0)	University Arena (18,155) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Feb 2, 1978	No. 10	at Wyoming	W 94–91	16–2 (6–0)	War Memorial Fieldhouse (7,885) Laramie, Wyoming
Feb 4, 1978	No. 10	at Colorado State	W 91–82	17–2 (7–0)	Moby Arena (11,642) Fort Collins, Colorado
Feb 9, 1978	No. 6	Arizona	W 103–85	18–2 (8–0)	University Arena (18,019) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Feb 11, 1978	No. 6	Arizona State	W 103–92	19–2 (9–0)	University Arena (18,144) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Feb 14, 1978*	No. 5	Hawaii	W 87–69	20–2	University Arena (14,906) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Feb 18, 1978*	No. 5	UTEP	W 59–51	21–2 (10–0)	University Arena (18,116) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Feb 23, 1978	No. 5	at Utah	L 92–95	21–3 (10–1)	Jon M. Huntsman Center (14,451) Salt Lake City, Utah
Feb 25, 1978	No. 5	at BYU	W 71–68	22–3 (11–1)	Marriott Center (22,998) Provo, Utah
Mar 2, 1978	No. 8	Colorado State	W 111–88	23–3 (12–1)	University Arena (18,101) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Mar 4, 1978*	No. 8	Wyoming	W 93–74	24–3 (13–1)	University Arena (18,382) Albuquerque, New Mexico
NCAA tournament
Mar 11, 1978*	(W 2Q) No. 5	vs. (W 4L) Cal State Fullerton First round	L 85–90	24–4	ASU Activity Center (11,316) Tempe, Arizona
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

^[3]^[4] ^[5]

Rankings

Awards and honors

Michael Cooper – USBWA First-team All-American
Marvin Johnson – Honorable mention AP All-American

NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
2	31	Marvin Johnson	Chicago Bulls
3	60	Michael Cooper	Los Angeles Lakers

^[6]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1977-78 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
^ "1977–78 New Mexico Lobos Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
^ "2022-23 MEN'S BASKETBALL MEDIA GUIDE" (PDF). University of New Mexico Athletics. p. 130. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
^ "1977-78 MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE". University of New Mexico Athletics. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
^ "1977-1978 New Mexico Lobos Men's Basketball Stats" (PDF). NCAA Career Statistics.
^ "1978 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2023.

[1] sports-reference.com 1977-78 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary

[2] "1977–78 New Mexico Lobos Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 28, 2023.

[3] "2022-23 MEN'S BASKETBALL MEDIA GUIDE" (PDF). University of New Mexico Athletics. p. 130. Retrieved January 28, 2023.

[4] "1977-78 MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE". University of New Mexico Athletics. Retrieved January 28, 2023.

[5] "1977-1978 New Mexico Lobos Men's Basketball Stats" (PDF). NCAA Career Statistics.

[6] "1978 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2023.

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