Emptying the Notebook: Albury pens a Bahamian Rhapsody on Santa Clara

Here are some notes, quotes, stats, trends and other odds & ends I emptied out of the old notebook after Saturday's 98-71 UNM Lobos win over Santa Clara in the Pit:

DA's big day

It's been awhile coming, but Saturday was finally the Deyton Albury Lobo fans were expecting.

The 6-foot-3 transfer point guard from the Bahamas had a dominant game against Santa Clara — 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting (8-9 on 2s, 1-3 on 3s), 3-3 free throws, six assists, three steals, one blocked shot, two turnovers and five fouls drawn. And UNM was plus-35 outscoring Santa Clara in the 26:01 Albury was on the floor.

Let's call it his Bahamian Rhapsody game.

"It felt good, but credit to my teammates. They were making shots, so the paint just felt more open for me," Albury said. "It was just easier to finish around the basket. I started off the season kind of rough, but just kept working, kept my head in it and being confident myself."

Eight of Albury's 22 points were on the fast break — leading a charge of UNM dominating the fast break points, 29-3, over a Broncos team that entered the game ranked in the top 10 in the country in offensive rebound rate.

It was a statistic entering the game that was a huge flag to Lobo coaches knowing the opportunity would be there for transition scoring as the Broncos were attacking the offensive glass (and they did still have a monstrous 18 offensive boards on Saturday) and not getting back on defense as quickly as other teams.

"Yeah, most definitely — 100 percent," Albury said when asked about the transition scoring being something the Lobos knew entering the game they would have to take advantage of.

"Watching film on them, they do a great job of crashing the glass very hard. All five guys go. So we were fully aware that once we rebound the ball and run, we can get easy points in on the fast break. So it was definitely, definitely an emphasis coming into this game."

Albury told the Journal in the preseason his physical, attack the rim style of play — playing through a lot of contact and either finishing at the rim or drawing a foul — was something he has always had since growing up in the Bahamas, where he says that style is common.

Saturday, he finally finished at the rim with regularity and made the Broncos pay for not being able to stay in front of him.

"I thought we really got it handed to us," Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek said after the game. "... I thought they really attacked the basket, got into the paint, way too easy on us."

What's scary about Albury's big game and the way the Lobos appear to be on an upward trajectory is that all the things he did Saturday in his big game, freshman point guard Uriah Tenette has been doing this season, too.

And if Tenette, who went for 15 points, three assists and no turnovers in 30 minutes off the bench continues his roll, the 1-2 punch of point guards Albury and Tenette on the floor together aggressively putting pressure on the rim and opposing defenses really opens up the floor for the spacing that makes this Eric Olen offense flourish.

The gamer

Here's the gamer I filed from the Pit media room Saturday night:

• Lobos easily handle Broncos in front of 'white out' crowd at the Pit

Kill shots!

Sorry guys. I've gotta get to my favorite stat right away in this ETN.

Reminder: A "kill shot" is any unanswered scoring run of at least 10-0 or greater by a team, indicating a stretch of both offensive and defensive conversions that can really sway a game. They are the runs the Pit erupts for.

Saturday, the Lobos had three kill shots:

Kill shot 1 (12-0)

• START: Santa Clara 16, UNM 14

• RUN: 12-0

• TIME: 2 minutes, 10 seconds (10:34 1H - 8:24 1H)

• END: UNM 26, Santa Clara 16

• NOTE: The Lobos never trailed again after this kill shot.

Kill shot 2 (11-0)

• START: UNM 28, Santa Clara 21

• RUN: 11-0

• TIME: 1 minute, 58 seconds (6:42 1H - 4:44 1H)

• END: UNM 39, Santa Clara 21

• NOTE: Five Lobos scored in this 11-0 run.

Kill shot 3 (10-0)

• START: UNM 70, Santa Clara 55

• RUN: 10-0

• TIME: 1 minute, 51 seconds (9:19 2H - 7:28 2H)

• END: UNM 80, Santa Clara 55

• NOTE: This was the only "kill shot" of what was a larger 43-13 run that blew the game open from a 47-46 Lobos lead early in the second half to 90-59 with 4:22 remaining.

UNM — the team with one kill shot through its first six games — had three more of them on Saturday, marking the third consecutive game with three kill shots.

What's maybe more impressive? They are the only Mountain West team yet to concede a single kill shot this season.

Lobos kill shot tracker

• First six games of season: 1

• Past three games: 9 (three apiece vs. Alabama State, D-II NMHU and Santa Clara)

• Total kill shots: 10 (1.1/game)

• Total kill shots allowed: 0 (0.0/game)

As I've noted in past coverage, EvanMiya.com is the collector of the kill shot data, at least in Division I games (so that means UNM's three vs. New Mexico Highlands aren't on the list).

According to EvanMiya.com, UNM is one of 10 (out of 365) DI teams left yet to surrender a kill shot in a game vs. a DI team.

Still streaking in the Pit

Saturday's win moved UNM to 6-0 at home this season and the Lobos are now tied for the fifth-longest active home win streak in the country at 17 consecutive home wins in the Pit.

This is the longest home win streak for the Lobos since a 19-game streak that spanned the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.

Active win streaks:

22 — Duke (ACC)

21 — St. Thomas (Summit)

21 — Akron (MAC)

21 — Miami, Ohio (MAC)

17 — New Mexico (MW)

17 — Louisville (ACC)

15 — Utah Valley (WAC)

15 — Saint Mary's (WCC)

15 — McNeese State (Southland)

The last loss in the Pit for the Lobos was on Dec. 7, 2024, in an 89-83 overtime loss to New Mexico State.

Strong like Bul

Tomislav Buljan came back from missing Monday's game due to an ankle injury (truth is, he could have played Monday had it been pretty much anyone other than a bad D-II opponent).

Saturday, he drew seven fouls, six of those coming in the first half, almost single handedly getting the Broncos into foul trouble that really hampered their rotations throughout the game.

Buljan vs. Santa Clara

Points: 16

Rebounds: 10

Shooting: 5-8 (62.5%)

Fouls drawn: 7

Free throws: 6-8

Blocks: 2

Steals: 1

Assists: 2

Rock, too!

Wait, there's more.

In case the inside game of Lobo starter Tomislav Buljan wasn't enough for you, how about the 11 points, six rebounds and one blocked shot 7-footer JT Rock recorded in 11:45 off the bench?

Four of his six boards were offensive rebounds, he was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free throw line and didn't commit a turnover.

"JT was great," UNM coach Eric Olen said. "Four offensive rebounds, 11 points, didn't miss, no turnovers for him. That's huge for us. He and Tomislav combined for 27 and 16 out of that spot, so really important for us. And, yeah, he gave us great minutes."

A number to know: 44

There's been a lot of chatter about the number of 3-pointers the Lobos take this season.

UNM is averaging 29.1 3-point attempts per game, and quietly this past week (quietly because it came in a blowout of a bad Division II team that involved mostly the Lobos bench) attempted a program-record 50 3's in a game.

But the team's 3-point rate (percentage of shots taken that are 3-point attempts) in Division I games, for those who think this is just a UNM thing, ranks just 91st in the country at 44.3%.

Lobo opponents are actually averaging more 3-pointers against UNM per game (30.1) than UNM is taking each game.

And that brings us to our "number to know" for the game: 44.

Santa Clara was 10-of-44 (22.7%) from 3-point range on Saturday, the second most 3-pointers ever attempted against UNM by a Division I opponent in a game.

Most 3s attempted vs. UNM

51 — Nov. 23, 1990, by UT Arlington (UNM won 136-99)

44 — Saturday by Santa Clara (UNM won 98-71)

44 — Dec. 17, 2020, by D-III LeTourneau (UNM won 90-58)

40 — March 1, 2003, by No. 22 Utah (UNM won 76-69)

38 — Nov. 25, 2019, by No. 18 Auburn (Auburn won 84-59)

Those 44 3-point attempts from Santa Clara represented 63.8% of the team's total field goal attempts (69) — the fourth-highest 3-point rate a Lobo opponent has had since 1997, according to KenPom.com.

Speaking of 3s

While the Lobos didn't shoot a ton of their own 3-pointers on Saturday (UNM was 9-of-23 from beyond the arc, 39.1%), two of the ones that went in during the first half were particularly important.

Chris Howell, who I wrote about earlier in the week for being a guy who was struggling mightily shooting from deep but was making the Lobos offense better statistically when he was on the floor, finally buried a couple 3-pointers on Saturday.

Howell, the Lobos' leading assists man, was 2-of-3 from deep on Saturday — his first two made 3s since going 1-1 against UT Arlington non Nov. 8.

Steve Kirkland Stat of the Night

The analytics site KenPom.com churns out a score prediction for every Division I men's basketball game of the season, and has done so since the 2010-11 season.

Saturday, KP's site predicted Santa Clara would win, 77-75.

As it turned out, the Lobos won by 27 points, tying the record for the largest margin of victory for the program as a KenPom underdog.

The other time the Lobos won by 27 points when they were a KenPom underdog heading into the game? Try Jan. 5, 2019, when the Lobos beat then No. 6 ranked Nevada, 85-58, in the biggest win of the Paul Weir era.

Heading into that game, KenPom's trusty computers predicted the Wolf Pack would come into the Pit and beat the Lobos, 86-70.

Underdogs go woof, woof, woof

UNM has now won four consecutive games as KenPom underdogs in the Pit:

• Saturday: as 2-point underdogs, beat Santa Clara by 27

• Jan. 11, 2025: as 1-point underdog, beat San Diego State by 14

• Dec. 18, 2024: as 1-point underdog, beat VCU by 7

• Jan. 13, 2024: as 1-point underdog, beat San Diego State by 18

Lights up, lights down

UNM has been asking fans to join in on a coordinated moment with their phones this season that turned out pretty cool on Saturday based on the number of participants.

Injury update

Tomislav Buljan missed Monday's game with an ankle injury. He wasn't just OK to return for Saturday's game, he finished with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double.

For Santa Clara, leading scorer Christian Hammond was back and scored a team-best 22 points. Leading rebounder Jake Ensminger, meanwhile, missed his third-consecutive game due to injury.

Attendance...

The announced attendance for Santa Clara vs. New Mexico in the Pit: 13,614

• 13,614 — Saturday vs. Santa Clara

• 12,037 — Nov. 26 vs. Alabama State

• 11,689 — Nov. 11 vs. UC Riverside

• 11,513 — Nov. 8 vs. UT Arlington

• 10,726 — Nov. 5 vs. East Texas A&M

• 10,164 — Dec. 1 vs. D-II New Mexico Highlands

Average home attendance through 6 games:

2025-26: 11,622

2024-25: 11,687 (includes sold-out NMSU game)

*2024-25: 11,021 (not-counting NMSU game)

2023-24: 11,515 (includes sold-out NMSU game)

*2023-24: 10,936 (not-counting NMSU game)

2022-23: 8,693

* = first six non-NMSU games

15 millionth fan

The 13,614 announced on Saturday pushed the Pit over the 15 million mark for total fans to attend a college basketball game in the Pit.

Before the game, Julie Lopez, who told me in a text message during the game that she was born and raised in Albuquerque and a lifelong Lobos fan, was selected as the lucky 15 millionth fan.

How this one happened...

The Lobos were to play Santa Clara in October in a closed door scrimmage, the second of a home-and-home preseason scrimmage deal that started a year ago when Santa Clara came to Albuquerque.

With the Lobos looking for quality home games, the schools agreed to scrap that and start a home-and-home, in series that started Saturday and will see the Lobos return a game to Santa Clara next season. It will be the first regular season game the Lobos have ever played at Santa Clara.

Plus/minus

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

NEW MEXICO

+35 Deyton Albury (26:01)

+27 Uriah Tenette (30:45)

+20 Antonio Chol (29:43)

+20 Chris Howell (23:48)

+19 JT Rock (11:45)

+7 Kevin Patton Jr. (10:17)

+5 Tomislav Buljan (27:15)

+5 Luke Haupt (15:23)

+3 Milos Vicentic (1:00)

+3 Timeo Pons (1:00)

-9 Jake Hall (23:03)

SANTA CLARA

-5 Brenton Knapper (24:27)

-12 KJ Cochran (14:36)

-12 Francis Chukwudebelu (7:51)

-13 Bukky Oboye (13:36)

-15 Christian Hammond (29:31)

-15 Alijah Mahi (32:39)

-16 Allen Graves (33:38)

-18 Thiery Darian (24:39)

-29 Sash Gavalyugov (19:04)

Line 'em up

The UNM Lobos played 11 players and used 16 unique lineup combinations on Saturday. The Broncos played nine players and used 24 unique lineup combinations.

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

STARTING LINEUP

• WHO: Deyton Albury, Jake Hall, Chris Howell, Antonio Chol, Tomislav Buljan

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -4 (4-8)

• TIME ON COURT: 5:18

• NOTE: I mean, this could have been a lot worse when you consider the starting five on Saturday actually only scored at a dreadful 0.408 points per possession in more than five minutes on the court together. Woof. This group had four turnovers and zero assists.

BEST LINEUP (Part 1)

• WHO: Uriah Tenette, Deyton Albury, Chris Howell, Antonio Chol, Tomislav Buljan

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +14 (29-15)

• TIME ON COURT: 9:06

• NOTE: Uriah Tenette seems to be as much a bellwether as anyone on this team. As he goes, so go the Lobos. He jumps in on Saturday for his fellow freshman Jake Hall, who had his worst game as a Lobo, and all Tenette does is not only go for a personal statline of 15 points, three assists and zero turnovers, but he was also a part of this lineup that score more than 3-points per minute on the court with nine assists and zero turnovers AND he was a part of the next lineup that was almost equally as dominant.

BEST LINEUP (Part 2)

• WHO: Uriah Tenette, Deyton Albury, Chris Howell, Antonio Chol, JT Rock

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +13 (18-5)

• TIME ON COURT: 5:50

• NOTE: This group — JT Rock in for Tomislav Buljan being the change from the other "Best" lineup of the game — also scored a shade over three points per minute on the floor together, but also held Santa Clara to under one point per minute on the floor.

I'm just a dumb journalist, but I know better than 3-points per minute on offense and under 1-point per minute on defense equals a heckuva game.

WORST LINEUP

• WHO: Uriah Tenette, Jake Hall, Chris Howell, Antonio Chol, Tomislav Buljan

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -7 (1-8)

• TIME ON COURT: 1:16

• NOTE: The worst lineup distinction might really deserve to be placed on the starting five with that four turnover/zero assist line and minus-4 showing, but I stuck with the worst point differential, though it was in a very small sample size.

VIDEO: Eric Olen, Deyton Albury and Tomislav Buljan

Here's my postgame video with UNM coach Eric Olen and Lobo players Deyton Albury and Tomislav Buljan:

Hey, remember before the game?

Here's the ABQJournal Sports Live! PREGAME show I did from the Pit on Saturday:

Meanwhile, at Moby

Colorado State improved to 7-2 under first-time head coach Ali Farokmanesh with a big win over instate foe Colorado on Saturday in a sold out Moby Arena, 91-86.

In the game, former Los Lunas High and ABQ Prep star Jalin Holland scored seven points off the bench to go along with two rebounds and a steal for the Buffaloes.

Around the Mountain

There were six games around the Mountain West on Saturday with four more games coming up on Sunday. Here's a look at some recent games and others that are coming up around the league.

THURSDAY

• South Florida 74, Utah State 61

FRIDAY

• San Jose State 86, San Diego 69

SATURDAY

• Boise State 77, Butler 68

• Wyoming 93, Dartmouth 80

• No. 25 Arkansas 82, Fresno State 58

• Colorado State 91, Colorado 86

• Oklahoma State 84, Grand Canyon 78

• New Mexico 98, Santa Clara 71

SUNDAY

• Air Force at Navy, 10 a.m. MT (ESPN+)

• Utah State at Charlotte, noon MT

• UNLV at Stanford, 2 p.m. MT (ACC)

• Nevada vs. Washington State in Spokane, 3 p.m. MT (ESPN+)

MONDAY

• no games

TUESDAY

• South Dakota at Wyoming, 6:30 p.m. MT (TheMW)

• Dartmouth at Colorado State, 7 p.m. MT (TheMW)

• Long Beach State at San Jose State, 8 p.m. MT (TheMW)

WEDNESDAY

• New Mexico at VCU, 5 p.m. MT (ESPN+)

• Duquesne at Boise State, 7 p.m. MT (TheMW)

• Lamar at San Diego State, 8 p.m. MT (TheMW)

• Fresno State at Cal State Northridge, 8 p.m. MT (ESPN+)

Stats and stats

Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted after Saturday's game: New Mexico 98, Santa Clara 71

And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: New Mexico 98, Santa Clara 71

Up next

For New Mexico: The Lobos play at VCU at 5 p.m. MT on Wednesday in Richmond, Virginia. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and aired on 770 AM/96.3 FM (radio).

For Santa Clara: The Broncos play Arizona State in Henderson, Nevada, next Saturday (Dec. 13).