Emptying the Notebook: Dent undaunted by VCU's top 10 defense, etches name into Lobo lore

Here are some extra notes, quotes, stats, videos and whatever other odds & ends I managed to empty out of the old notebook after Wednesday's 78-71 UNM Lobos win over VCU in the Pit:

Dent's long sleeves are staying around...

Donovan Dent walked down the ramp ahead of Saturday's game against Western New Mexico wearing a long sleeved t-shirt under his jersey.

His superstitious coach, being caught off guard by the new fashion choice of his star point guard, admittedly wasn't exactly sure about the move.

"The more I do it, the more superstitious I get," Pitino said on Saturday. "I'm coming in to the New Mexico State game (Dec. 7), and Nelly (Junior Joseph) walks in and he's shaved his head. And I'm just like, 'What the hell is this? What are you doing?' It's not why we lost.

"Then I walked down (before Saturday's game), and Donovan's got a long sleeve shirt on, and I'm like, 'What the hell is he doing? What's going on?'"

The Lobos won the WNMU game, 122-70, but we never heard from the 6-foot-2 California kid as to why he went with the long sleeves.

Wednesday, in UNM's 78-71 win over VCU, Dent again donned the long sleeves, and all he did with them on this time was put his team on his back, destroy a top 10 nationally-ranked defense, score more than half the Lobos points (40 out of 78 is 51.3%, for those scoring at home), and confidently etch his name into Lobo lore.

And the most important thing about the performance was, in fact, addressed in the postgame presser: What's up with the sleeves?

"It started in practice. I've been wearing long sleeves for a while now in practice, that feels good when I'm playing, I feel rhythm," Dent said. "So, I just kind of kept it going in the game. Tested it out against Western New Mexico, and liked it. Played with it again tonight, I had 40, so this is going to be an every game thing, I think."

Dent's 40-point game was the first 40-point game by a Lobo since Jaelen House went for 42 at Air Force on Feb. 5, 2022, and the first 40-point game in the Pit by a Lobo since Elijah Brown went for 41 in a loss to Fresno State on Feb. 27, 2016.

Believe me, this isn't to take away anything from those two performances as I can't even remember the last time I dropped 40 in a video basketball video game. But let's be clear about something: Dent's 40 points came against a VCU defense that entered the game ranked No. 7 in the country in defensive efficiency on KenPom.com and he scored nearly double what any player had scored against the Rams all season.

Last three Lobo 40-point games:

Donovan Dent — Wednesday (UNM 78, VCU 71)

• Points: 40

• Percent of team points: 51.3%

• VCU's KenPom defensive rank: 7 (out of 364)

Jaelen House — Feb. 5, 2022 (UNM 91, Air Force 77)

• Points: 42

• Percent of team points: 46.2%

• AFA's KenPom defensive rank: 208* (out of 358)

* End of season ranking

Elijah Brown — Feb. 27, 2016 (Fresno State 92, UNM 82)

• Points: 41

• Percent of team points: 50l0%

• Fresno State's KenPom defensive rank: 99* (out of 351)

* End of season ranking

(I hate to be that guy, but I'm that guy... Elijah Brown may have been the last Lobo to score 40 in the Pit before Wednesday, but he wasn't the last player to score 40 in the Pit. That was Jordan Caroline, who scored 45 in the crazy overtime win for Nevada on Jan. 7, 2017, when Eric Musselman's Wolf Pack erased a 25-point second half deficit to beat UNM in overtime. Now, back to the Lobo content...)

Asked if Dent's performance was a surprise in any way, Pitino said he knew something special was coming, even if it might not have been exactly what Dent ended up doing.

"I've never seen him get 40 points, but, yeah. With Donovan, I think he was really down about the New Mexico State game, he didn't play well. And I've loved his attitude ... just his, his willingness to work," Pitino said. "He can be casual at times. And I just thought his prep leading up to this game, I didn't expect 40 points, but I thought he was going to play really well."

Specifically, the Lobos used a lot of seemingly basic pick and roll (I say "basic" knowing full well there is a lot that comes from a "basic" pick and roll if you read it properly, as Dent did Wednesday), middle ball screen action that Dent was a maestro with.

While the "roll" or "pop" of the pick and roll is supposed to be one of the threats, all Dent seemed to do over and over and over and over was use the screens from Nelly Junior Joseph to just blow by his defender into the lane and finish with a midrange jumper, floater in the lane or layup of who knows how many different angles as the shot-blocking VCU defense tried time and again, mostly unsuccessfully, to block his shot (they did block on Dent layup attempt).

"Collectively, they were going to put a lot of guys on Donovan, and Donovan did a great job of making them pay," Pitino said.

And that is something other players this season simply have not been able to do.

Highest scoring games vs. VCU this season:

• 40 — Donovan Dent, UNM (Wednesday)

• 22 — Chaunce Jenkins, Seton Hall (Nov. 21 - overtime game)

• 19 — Adam Clark, Merrimack (Nov. 13)

• 17 — Donald Hand, Boston College (Nov. 8)

• 16 — Sean Trumper, Merrimack (Nov. 13)

• 15 — three players tied

Here's some inside baseball talk on Dent's explanation of why that action seemed to work so effectively on Wednesday.

"They were in a soft black, so they were kind of expecting me to drop it off to Nelly," Dent explained. "So I just saw a lane most of the game, and just went from there. Nelly was doing a great job in the screen, setting good legal screens, and it was giving me wide open shots."

But Dent was in his whole bag on Wednesday. The career 69.1% free throw shooter was 10-of-11 at the free throw line (90.9%). The guard who has averaged a mere 0.34 made 3-pointers per game in his career was a confident 2-for-4 from beyond the arc.

"A lot of people like to go under my screens. I worked hard all this off season, so why not just let it fly? I mean, Coach P has the utmost confidence in me to shoot it, so, I mean, I'm just having confidence myself now," Dent said.

Let's update Donnie Dimes on two of UNM's all-time lists...

In addition to his 40 points, Dent also had five rebounds, four assists and one steal. The 40 and four give us a chance to update some lists.

Dent becomes the 16th Lobo to score 40 or more points in a game.

Most points by a Lobo in game:

1. 50 — Marvin Johnson vs. Colorado State (3/2/78)

2. 47 — Kenny Page vs. Illinois Tech (12/21/79)

t3. 46 — Kendall Williams at Colorado State (2/23/13)

t3. 46 — Marvin Johnson vs. Kentucky State (12/5/77)

5. 45 — Toby Roybal vs. Montana (1/11/56)

t6. 44 — Kenny Page vs. BYU (1/15/81)

t6. 44 — Kenny Page vs. UTEP (3/1/80)

t8. 43 — Ruben Douglas at San Diego State (2/24/03)

t8. 43 — Ruben Douglas vs. Wyoming (2/15/03)

t10. 42 — Jaelen House at Air Force (2/5,22)

t10. 42 — Greg Brown vs. UTEP (2/5/94)

t12. 41 — Elijah Brown vs. Fresno State (2/27/16)

t12. 41 — Willie Long at BYU (1/29/70)

t12. 41 — Ben Monroe vs. BYU (2/23/67)

t15. 40 — Donovan Dent vs. VCU (Wednesday)

t15. 40 — Ruben Douglas vs. UNLV (1/27/03)

Oh yeah, he can still pass pretty well, too.

UNM career assists

1. Darrell McGee, 1987-90 — 684 (137 games)

—

11. Hugh Greenwood, 2012-2015 — 372 (130 games)

12. Charles Smith, 1994-97 — 358 (126 games)

13. Donovan Dent, 2023-present — 356 (81 games)

14. Hunter Greeene, 1984-88 — 354 (108 games)

15. Mike Winters, 1984-87 — 351 (133 games)

16. Rob Robbins, 1988-91 — 350 (133 games)

17. Luc Longley, 1988-91 — 317 (132 games)

The gamer...

Here is the gamer I filed Wednesday night in the UNM press room...

• Dent goes off for 40 points in home win over VCU

At their best against really good defenses...

Dent may be the leader of the pack, but the Lobos as a whole have been at their best when playing the two best defenses they've faced this season.

Adj. defensive efficiency ranking

• UCLA — No. 4 (Game result: UNM 72, UCLA 64)

• VCU — No. 7 (Game result: UNM 78, VCU 71)

(rankings via KenPom.com; Out of 364 D-I schools.)

Most points scored vs. UCLA this season:

• 75 — Prairie View A&M (Tuesday, at UCLA)

• 72 — New Mexico (Nov. 8, neutral court)

• 71 — Oregon (Dec. 8, at Oregon)

Most points scored vs. VCU this season:

• 78 — New Mexico (Wednesday, at UNM)

• 70 — Miami (Nov. 23, neutral court)

• 69 — Seton Hall (Nov. 21, overtime game, neutral court)

'Twas the game before Christmas...

A promise is a promise.

I didn't write a whole story about it this year, or a preview article about the potential of a pre-Christmas game slip up, as I've done in the past.

But, while this 2023 tweet says I wouldn't write a story, I didn't say the topic wouldn't make an appearance in an ETN column...

For those wondering what I'm talking about...

Wednesday was the Lobos' last game before Christmas. In the 26-season Mountain West era, the Lobos have now pulled even — 13-13 — in the game before Christmas and are on a four-game win streak, coinciding with the Pitino era, which makes the Lobo coach wonder why I always bring up the pre-Christmas jinx every year.

But seriously, some of the best Lobo teams in the Mountain West era, and some of the worst Lobo losses in the Mountain West era, have the pre-Christmas curse written all over them, from ranked teams losing as heavy favorites and undefeated Lobo teams losing for the first time all season to a pair of 30-point blowout losses ... I'm telling you, this game on the calendar has been brutal to the Lobos.

But maybe not anymore...

The naughty list

• Wednesday: W, 78-71 — VCU

• Dec. 20, 2023: W, 78-65 — UC Irvine

• Dec. 20, 2022: W, 94-63 — Prairie View A&M

• Dec. 21, 2021: W, 68-54 — Norfolk State

• Dec. 23, 2020: L, 89-52 — Boise State

• Dec. 22, 2019: W, 107-88 -— Houston Baptist

• Dec. 22, 2018: L, 75-65 — Penn

• Dec. 22, 2017: W, 87-78 — Prairie View A&M

• Dec. 20, 2016: L, 77-46 —— Arizona

• Dec. 23, 2015*: L, 96-66 — BYU

• Dec. 23, 2014: L, 68-65 — Grand Canyon

• Dec. 23, 2013: W, 80-68 — Grand Canyon

• Dec. 22, 2012: L, 70-65 — South Dakota State

• Dec. 22, 2011: W, 87-62 — UMKC

• Dec. 23, 2010: L, 66-60 — Northern Iowa

• Dec. 23, 2009: L, 75-66 — Oral Roberts

• Dec. 23, 2008: W, 76-62 — New Mexico State

• Dec. 23, 2007: W, 62-32 — Weber State

• Dec. 23, 2006: L, 72-56 — Kansas State

• Dec. 22, 2005: L, 63-56 — San Diego

• Dec. 22, 2004: L, 81-64 — Wake Forest

• Dec. 22, 2003: W, 65-49 — New Mexico State

• Dec. 21, 2002: L, 69-57 — Southern Utah

• Dec. 22, 2001: W, 83-69 — UNC Greensboro

• Dec. 23, 2000: W, 69-62 — Mercer

• Dec. 23, 1999: L, 63-60 — New Mexico State

* In 2015, UNM also played on Christmas day and lost 82-59 to Washington State.

Forget Dent, why isn't Nelly running the point?

Nelly Junior Joseph did a lot of really good things on Wednesday, and a lot of them really helped Dent go off for his big night.

First, Junior Joseph had his fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Second, as Dent mentioned in his postgame interview, Junior Joseph sets tremendous LEGAL screens. Like, maybe as good of a screener as I remember covering at UNM. (Watch his screens next game compared to those of the opposing team's big men or even his own frontcourt teammates when they screen. Junior Joseph is just really good at screening without the extra movement referees call with regularity on most players).

But here's the big thing I think Junior Joseph did that could change the entire course of the Lobos season. With passes like this, I think Pitino really needs to start considering having Junior Joseph run the point instead of Dent.

(OK, I don't really think that, but look at this pass! Are you kidding me?)

That's a wrap on the nonconference...

UNM goes 8-3 in nonconference play this season (they are 9-3, but remember they did sneak one awkwardly-timed Mountain West game in against San Jose State on Dec. 4). That's a good record considering they have three nice wins under their belt in UCLA, VCU and USC, a win that appears as though it could be getting better and better as the Trojans appear to be getting better and better themselves.

Of course, there was that one horrible loss (not horrible in that in a rivalry, anything can happen, but horrible in that NMSU's computer rankings to date are going to drag down UNM's ratings a lot).

Regardless, UNM's shiny 9-3 record overall means that the Lobos over the past three seasons have a nonconference record of 33-4 (13-0, 12-1 and 8-3), which is one of the best in the country.

Best regular season nonconference records past 3 seasons:

1. Purdue — 29-2 (.935)

2. Utah State — 33-3 (.917)

t3. New Mexico — 33-4 (.892)

t3. Oklahoma — 33-4 (.892)

t3. Mississippi State — 33-4 (.892)

6. Kansas — 32-4 (.889)

Eck-cellent introduction...

Newly-hired UNM Lobos football coach Jason Eck was introduced to the Pit crowd on Wednesday with plenty of cheers and plenty of good old fashioned football coach pep talk.

Steve Kirkland stat of the night...

Let's go back to the 40-point scoring theme for this edition of the Steve Kirkland stat of the game, provided by UNM's hoops SID, Steve Kirkland.

The Mountain West's last three 40-point scorers were all Lobos, even if one of them didn't know it at the time.

According to Steve, here are the last three 40-point games by Mountain West players:

• Wednesday: 40 points by Donovan Dent, UNM, vs. VCU

• March 4, 2023: 43 points by Jemarl Baker Jr., Fresno State, vs. Chicago State

• Feb. 5, 2022: 42 points by Jaelen House, UNM, at Air Force

Baker, of course, would transfer to UNM after that season at Fresno State and play his final year of eligibility out as a Lobo last season.

Speaking of Fresno State...

OK, before Jemarl Baker Jr. was at Fresno State, there was a guard who tormented Mountain West teams, including the Lobos on more than one occasion named Deshon Taylor.

When Dent committed to the Lobos back in 2022, Taylor sent me a message on X, then known as Twitter, to let me know the Lobos got a steal in his fellow California hooper.

Those costly freebies...

VCU fouls a lot. We knew that coming in (or we did if you read my pregame coverage). Points at the free throw line were a huge part of UNM's win.

Entering Wednesday's game, VCU opponents were getting 21% of their points at the free throw line, well above the national average.

Wednesday, UNM's 21 free throws (out of 30 attempts), was 26.9% of the Lobos' points.

The Lobos will be tough to beat if they get 20 points a game at the line.

Well, now what?

The Lobos played 12 games over the first 44 days of the season, an average of of one ever 2.7 days.

Now, they're off until Dec. 28, a 10-day gap between games that might means I might actually have to start doing some work around the house, maybe even some Christmas shopping now that the "I'm busy with work" line won't cut it anymore.

Nice scheduling, Pitino.

Not just another face in the crowd, Part 1...

The Lobos had a special visitor on Wednesday night in the form of 6-foot-9 forward Antonio Chol being on an unofficial recruiting visit.

Chol, who played last season at Rutgers, is playing currently for Garden City (Kansas) Community College, where he is averaging 21.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game while shooting 40.2% from 3-point range on a high-volume 35-of-87 from beyond the arc. And much to Lobo fan's delight, he is shooting 90.0% at the free throw line (54-of-60).

Here's his player bio page at Garden City CC: Antonio Chol

Not just another face in the crowd, Part 2...

If not for the suit, Fernando Lovo, UNM's new Athletic Director, who at 36 isn't that far off from the age of some UNM students, might have blended in without anyone suspecting a thing on Wednesday night when he went and watched the end of the Lobo men's basketball game with the student section.

Tru's injury...

"Tru was out. He's got a quad kind of contusion that he's been fighting with a little bit," Pitino said. "He practiced a little bit and was really struggling at shoot around today. So, hopefully this rest will help him. ...

"I think it's day to day. He's tried to grind it out, but it's kind of gotten a little bit worse as the week went on."

Attendance...

Announced attendance for Wednesday night's VCU at UNM game in the Pit: 11,483

Some context...

Here's what the attendance figures usually are for the game between finals week and Christmas in the Pit (spoiler alert, they're never great, and Wednesday's crowd was pretty impressive if you ask me):

• 2021

9,044 — UTEP (12/12/21)

8,394 — SMU (12/19/21)

8,105 — Norfolk State (12/21/21)

• 2022

12,049 — UTSA (12/10/22)

14,534 — Iona (12/18/22 - Pitino vs. Pitino)

9,425 — Prairie View A&M (12/20/22)

• 2023

11,536 — UC Irvine (12/20/23)

11,962 — Eastern NM (12/29/23)

• 2024

11,419 — WNMU (Saturday)

11,483 — VCU (Wednesday)

Rocco knows...

College basketball scheduling guru and journalist Rocco Miller made his first visit to the Pit on Wednesday night and learned what many of us already have: That ramp ain't no joke...

Plus/minus...

Here are the plus/minus numbers for Wednesday's game with minutes in parenthesis:

NEW MEXICO

+13 Donovan Dent (38:52)

+13 Mustapha Amzil (33:58)

+11 Nelly Junior Joseph (31:24)

+7 Filip Borovicanin (33:08)

+6 C.J. Noland (16:30)

-1 Kayde Dotson (14:55)

-4 Braden Appelhans (16:35)

-4 Atiki Ally Atiki (8:36)

-6 Jovan Milicevic (6:02)

VCU

+10 Michael Belle (15:05)

+9 Zeb Jackson (25:15)

+7 Terrence Hill Jr. (4:35)

+6 Luke Bamgboye (11:49)

-4 Phillip Russell (22:33)

-4 Joe Bamisile (24:41)

-6 Brandon Jennings (10:07)

-9 Christian Fermin (20:49)

-11 Alphonzo Billups III (13:45)

-16 Max Shulga (34:47)

-17 Jack Clark (16:34)

Line 'em up...

The UNM Lobos played nine players and used 12 unique lineup combinations. The VCU Rams played 11 players and used 29 unique lineup combinations.

I don't know what VCU's norm is on the various combinations they run out there every game, and I know foul trouble was part of the issue, but wow. 29 lineup combinations is a crazy number. I'm fairly certain it's never been that high in any other Lobo game since I've been doing ETN.

Here's a look at some of the Lobos lineup combinations, starting with the starters.

STARTING LINEUP and BEST LINEUP

• WHO: Donovan Dent, C.J. Noland, Filip Borovicanin, Mustapha Amzil, Nelly Junior Joseph

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +8 (19-11)

• TIME ON COURT: 11:12

• NOTE: Always a good sign when your starting five is your best five on the night. With the foul trouble to C.J. Noland limiting the run this group got, it's even more impressive to see that they had the best point differential in the game for UNM. Scoring about 1.7 points per minute compared to holding VCU to just under 1.0 points per minute is a pretty good start for a team.

WORST LINEUP

• WHO: Donovan Dent, Kayde Dotson, Braden Appelhans, Jovan Milicevic, Atiki Ally Atiki

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -4 (2-6)

• TIME ON COURT: 1:31

• NOTE: Not a lot of time on the court for this group, but still the worst point differential in the game for UNM. Giving nearly 4.0 points per minute, though, is pretty much awful defense, though as noted, that was pretty much just six points in three possessions over 1:31, so the sample size is very small.

ON VCU'S LINEUPS

• NOTE: As I noted above, I don't recall a team using 29 unique lineup combinations in one 40 minute game. The most time on the court for any group of five players was 5:17 by the Rams' starting five. Two lineup combinations had quick plus-six scoring differentials, but you'd never know if they could have sustained that because one of those lineups played barely 1:53 together and the other just 1:08. I can only imagine how some in the Pit would react if Pitino pulled players back and forth from the bench to the court as often as Odom did.

VIDEO: Postgame with Pitino and Dent...

Here is the postgame media session with UNM Lobos coach Richard Pitino and guard Donovan Dent...

Pregame video, too!

Here is the pregame show I had before Wednesday's game in the Pit. No guest for this show, but if you so desire you can go back and listen to me say smart things several times about the game, like the Lobos at the free throw line would be a huge key to the game because VCU would foul a lot.

And guess what?! I was actually right about something, for once! UNM was 21-30 (70.0%) at the free throw line, a season high in free throw attempts for a VCU opponent.

Meanwhile, way back on Tuesday...

The 10-0 Utah State Aggies lost their first game of the season on Tuesday at home in Logan to the visiting UC San Diego Tritons of the Big West.

Around the Mountain...

There was just the one Mountain West game around the Mountain on Wednesday with Tuesday being the real big day of games with 10-o Utah State getting upset on their home court in Logan, Utah.

TUESDAY

• Dayton 66, UNLV 65

• UC San Diego 75, Utah State 73

• Colorado State 78, Radford 68

• Boise State 82, Texas Southern 51

WEDNESDAY

• New Mexico 78, VCU 71

THURSDAY

• Ballarmine at Wyoming, 6:30 p.m. MST

SATURDAY

• US Riverside at UNLV, 1 p.m. MST

• Air Force at Boise State, 1:30 p.m. MST

• Colorado State at Nevada, 3 p.m. MST

• Cal Baptist at Fresno State, 3 p.m. MST

• Cal vs. No. 23 San Diego State, 8:30 p.m. MST (in San Jose)

• Kennesaw State at San Jose State, 8:30 p.m. MST

Mountain West standings...

Here's what the Mountain West league standings look like through Wednesday's game. League play has a couple games Saturday but then tips off regularly on Dec. 28 league wide.

1-0 Utah State (10-1)

1-0 No. 23 San Diego State (7-2)

1-0 New Mexico (9-3)

0-0 Boise State (8-3)

0-0 Nevada (8-3)

0-0 Colorado State (6-5)

0-0 UNLV (5-5)

0-0 Air Force (3-8)

0-1 San Jose State (6-6)

0-1 Wyoming (5-5)

0-1 Fresno State (4-7)

Lobo women are up next...

The UNM Lobo women's basketball team opens the Lobo Invitational on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Pit vs. Sacramento State then plays Abilene Christian on Saturday at 1 p.m. (ABU and Sac. State play each other on Friday in the Pit).

Colleague Ken Sickenger has the write up ahead of the games:

• UNM shopping for last-chance momentum at Lobo Invitational

Stats and stats...

Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted late Wednesday night: New Mexico 78, VCU 71

And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: New Mexico 78, VCU 71

Up next...

For New Mexico: The Lobos start Mountain West play at 1 p.m. on Dec. 28 in Fort Collins, Colorado, against the Colorado State Rams, the team that lost on Saturday to this VCU team in a game played in Henderson, Nevada.

For VCU: The Rams host Williams & Mary on Sunday before starting A10 play on Dec. 31.

Lobo schedule/results...