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Pit's student section emptier this season

Ticket sales drop for seats behind north basket

by Christopher Sanchez

Daily Lobo

Ten months after The Pit's student section moved, it is not as popular as expected.

Kevin Stevenson, intern at the Office of the President, helped get students closer to the court last year when he was undergraduate student body president.

He said there are not as many students in the section this season because the men's team is not playing as well this year.

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"It was easy to get students last year when we were winning," he said. "It's been a slow start this season. As the team improves, fans are going to turn out to see us."

In the 2004-05 season, the men's basketball team finished with a 26-7 record. So far this season the team is 13-9.

Mark Koson, director of Ticketing Services, said 137 season tickets were sold for the student section this season, which is down from 183 season tickets sold for the 2004-05 season.

The student section was placed behind the north basket in section 26 with about 662 seats. Before, students were spread throughout center court in sections 19, 20 and 21 on the west side of the building, which was made up of about 1,200 seats. Koson said this season there has been an average of 146 student section tickets sold per game, compared with 288 last season.

UNM student Arthur Ortega, who attended the UNM men's game Wednesday against Brigham Young University, said student attendance seems to be the same as last year's. He said students are not as involved as they were in the past.

"Some people don't see it as something to do, and they don't support the team. They have other things to do," he said.

Koson said the overall attendance at The Pit has dwindled from last season and is also a reason the student section has not been popular.

"When attendance is down, students are going to be down too," he said.

The average attendance at The Pit this season is 13,344, compared with 14,309 last season.

Still, Stevenson said he has high hopes the student section will succeed in the next couple of seasons, because the section has better seating.

"If it hasn't lived up to someone's expectations, then I'm confident it will," he said.

Brian Patterson, president of the Lobo Howlers, an organization aimed at supporting Lobo athletics, said the majority of the section is filled each game, but he'd like to see it full every time.

"The outcome is fairly decent for being its first year," he said. "In front of the band there are 15 rows, and they are normally solid. There are always a couple of people behind the band, too."

He plans to visit other universities to see how they attract students to the games, he said.

"For some schools, it has always been tradition," he said. "Our section is one year old. It takes time."

Students also need to be unified and louder, he said. He said louder students make the games more entertaining and will attract other students to join in.

"We have a group of older students who just sit there," he said. "It makes the student section look bad and is not a typical student section. If you want to sit down, go sit with the rest of the people."

One way to get younger students in the section, he said, would be to allow the Lobo Howlers in the first row of the student section. The first row of section 26 is reserved for previous season ticket holders in that row and Pit security.

"If we can get the first row, it is going to force people to stand up," he said. "If you want to see the game, you'll have to stand up and get involved. It's one little thing we can do."

UNM student Eric Searle, who attended the game Wednesday, said the section is better than last year's.

"It's really cool behind the basket," he said. "There is more action and the students get more into the game."

Searle said the student section allows students to be together and feed off each others' enthusiasm.

"I think students are more excited to come to the section," he said. "I've seen people from my classes here at the game. It's good to come and hang out with friends."

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