ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- New Mexico guard Senque Carey sustained a spinal cord injury during the Lobos' game against Northwestern State and is unable to move his legs.

''He had a spinal cord injury of some extent,'' said Bob Schenck, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of New Mexico Hospital, where Carey is hospitalized.

Carey appeared to collide with Northwestern State's Byron Allen with 7:41 left in the first half of Monday's game as Allen drove to the basket. Carey barely moved for about 10 minutes while medical personnel tended to him. He was placed in a neck brace and taken out of The Pit on a stretcher.

Schenck said Tuesday that Carey wasn't able to move his hands, arms or legs when he was taken to the hospital Monday night. But by Tuesday morning, Carey had regained motion in his arms and hands.

Schenck said Carey was alert and in good spirits Tuesday and was able to feed himself. Schenck said it was too early to tell whether Carey will regain full motion of his legs.

''The prognosis is one you have to look at day by day,'' Schenck said. ''He's made good improvement with his arm, motion and strength today, but it's something that's very difficult to make a judgment on.''

Schenck said Carey, who has undergone numerous tests, had a pre-existing narrowing of the spine. That, said the doctor, coupled with the fall he took, probably caused the injury. The doctor said the type of injury Carey sustained usually involves a sudden motion of the neck.

''He has some narrowing of his cervical spine,'' the doctor said. ''It's a rare injury. It's seen occasionally in football and rare in basketball.''

Schenck and New Mexico coach Ritchie McKay said Carey told them he had a similar experience while in high school, but it did not involve a fall.

''He spoke of a similar episode when he was a junior in high school,'' Schenck said. ''It's not quite clear what happened and is still being investigated.''

McKay, in his first season as the Lobos' coach, said Carey was optimistic he will recover.

''He's telling jokes in there,'' McKay said. ''I'm amazed at the young man's personality for going through the unknown that he's going through. He's incredibly positive. It's an emotional time in our season.''

Carey, 23, graduated from St. Francis High School in Mountain View, Calif., and played two years at Washington. He was named to the All Freshman Team in the PAC-10 in 1998-99 and transferred to New Mexico after the 1999-2000 season.

Carey was in the starting lineup for 20 games last season and averaged 6 points and 4.1 rebounds. He was expected to be one of the leaders for the Lobos this season along with fellow senior guard Ruben Douglas.