Emptying the Notebook: Buljan's big bounce back could be coming at right time for Lobos

Here are some notes, quotes, stats, trends and other odds & ends I emptied out of the old notebook after Saturday's 81-76 UNM Lobos win over the San Diego State Aztecs in the Pit:

Buljan blows up

Tomislav Buljan might be going through this college basketball thing for the first time, but he's well-versed in trying to get himself and his team in prime position for a postseason run.

The 23-year-old has played at the highest levels of professional basketball in his home country of Croatia and he's been on teams that have made postseason runs, and some that have faded late.

So, while he hasn't been at this best over the past several games, especially right at the rim as opposing teams have been able to get more and more physical with him as the season has worn on, the 6-foot-9 forward flipped a switch sometime between Tuesday's Lobos loss at Nevada and Saturday's 81-76 win over San Diego State.

"I talked with the coaches about some things that didn't go well on my side, and how we can improve that, like my mentality, my attitude, which maybe wasn't the best last three games," Buljan said.

"So I thought that I need to step up as a leader, as somebody who has the most experience, I would say — maybe not playing college basketball, but in general, playing professional and I won championships, I lost games, I relegated. So I know how it is to lose and to win, and I don't want to be a loser. I want to be a winner."

Saturday wasn't just a good step, it was a domination of a conference opponent with a DNA of being tough, physical and punishing of opposing big men with a particular elite reputation for years of being one of the hardest teams to score on around the rim.

Buljan became just the fifth Division I player this season to score 24 points and grab 18 rebounds in a game this season, just the fourth to do so in a game that didn't go to overtime.

His nine offensive rebounds were more than the entire San Diego State team had (seven) and his nine second chance points scored were more than the Aztecs roster total (also seven).

"He’s got a crazy second jump," SDSU wing Miles Byrd said. "Most times I feel we guard him very well on the first shot attempt. He misses a layup, then the next thing you know he’s really quick off that ground for the second rebound. That’s why he finished with 18 of them."

Buljan leads the Mountain West with 3.3 second chance points per game.

SDSU's defensive scheme of switching defenders on ball screens — essentially banking on their players' ability to guard multiple positions and change who they are defending when opposing teams set screens rather than defenders taking the time to try and maneuver around screens — has been their calling card for years.

Saturday, it may have been their undoing.

"Tomislav is one of the best offensive rebounders in the whole country," UNM coach Eric Olen said. "So if you switch him (and a smaller defender is matched up with Buljan) — I don't know that we got him the ball as much as we maybe would have liked to in that situation ... (but) we got it on the rim. And now you have a smaller player trying to deal with him on the glass. And he obviously got nine of them himself. He also drew a couple fouls."

Said SDSU coach Brian Dutcher, "He was a one-man show in the paint, and they needed every one of them. We didn’t provide enough resistance around the basket."

While Buljan certainly prefer playing the "four" spot instead of having to deal with the physicality of every opposing team's center, he showed almost immediately this season he proved he's a problem for college big men to defend. But he's looked lately like maybe he was wearing down — physically, mentally or both — as opposing teams were beating him up down low on a regular basis.

In the five games previous to Saturday, he hit just 10-of-26 shots classified as "at the rim." That 38.5% at the rim percentage is, well, awful for a starting big man.

Buljan knows it. And he believes he's past it, now.

"I'll keep the last (few) games in the past, although I can honestly tell I didn't play the best, scoring wise, underneath the basket," Buljan said. "But all that is in the past. I knew how much this (SDSU) and next two games meant. The job was not finished, we still have a chance to win the championship and I knew what I need to do to give this team chance to be successful."

Buljan Saturday vs. SDSU

• Points: 24
• Shooting: 10-15 (66.7%)
• At rim: 9-11 (81.8%)
• Rebounds: 18
• Offensive rebounds: 9
• 2nd chance points: 9

Buljan previous five games

• Points: 39 (7.8/game)
• Shooting: 14-41 (34.1%)
• At rim: 10-26 (38.5%)
• Rebounds: 47 (9.4/game)
• Offensive rebounds: 19 (3.8/game)
• 2nd chance points: 9 (1.8/game)

Steve Kirkland Stat of the Night

In this edition of the world famous Steve Kirkland Stat of the Night...

Buljan is the first player to have 24 points and 18 rebounds in a Mountain West game since Feb. 12, 2022, when Wyoming's Graham Ike (25 points/18 rebounds) did it at San Jose State.

He is also the first Lobo to have such a game in Mountain West game since Drew Gordon (27 points/20 rebounds) did it in the Pit against UNLV on Feb. 18, 2012.

The gamer

Here's the gamer I filed from the Pit on Saturday:

• Lobos outlast rival Aztecs in classic Pit showdown

Now what?

With one week left in the Mountain West regular season — two games apiece for each of the league's 12 teams — we now know that the Lobos have clinched at least a top four finish in the Mountain West standings, and therefor a top four seed in the Mountain West Tournament. That comes with a bye into the quarterfinals round, which starts Thursday, March 12, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Here's a look from our friends at CBBAnalytics.com at the seeding probabilities remaining for the league through Saturday's games:

100 and done?

Saturday was the 100th game played between the UNM Lobos and San Diego State Aztecs.

And for the for now, it's the last one scheduled.

Sure, there could still be an Aztecs/Lobos game in the Mountain West tournament, but as far ones we know will happen each season, Saturday was it. SDSU is off the Pac-12 and has no intention of scheduling teams at high altitude in future nonconference games.

So, for now, here's the final tale of tape:

• Overall: UNM leads 53-47 (.530)
• In Albuquerque: UNM 33-13 (.717)
• At the Pit: UNM 33-13 (.717)
• In San Diego: SDSU 31-14 (.689)
• At Viejas Arena: SDSU 18-8 (.693)
• Neutral court: UNM 6-3 (.667)
• Mountain West era: SDSU 30-27 (.526)

Luke's big 3

San Diego native Luke Haupt delivering the dagger 3-pointer with 43 seconds left to beat the San Diego State Aztecs — a team that certainly respects him, but never recruited him — was the stuff sports is made for.

"I've always wanted to beat these guys. Never had the opportunity, until this year, and you didn't get it done their place," Haupt said. "Got it done here. And it was, it was special. This environment was special. This rivalry that I've heard so many things about, that I saw tonight firsthand, the fans were great. It was just, it was kind of beyond imagination for me. Honestly, it was awesome."

Haupt grew up watching the Aztecs while also learning the game from his dad, one of Southern California's winningest coaches.

Along the way, he saw an older kid who played for his dad's team named Trey Kell — a superstar playing for his dad's team to a young aspiring hooper like Haupt — get recruited by and eventually go star for the Aztecs.

"We watched them on TV all the time. I would say, probably a handful of times to go watch games (in Viejas Arena)," Haupt said. "Trey Kell played there. So watching him playing high school, and then on TV and kill it there...

"I think for anybody playing basketball in San Diego, it's kind of a dream to play there. But again, this has been a dream playing here. So we can't be more happy with being here and the fans that have supported us."

Costly freebies

How's this for a stat?

• 20 — missed free throws by UNM the previous two games — nine at Nevada, 11 vs. San Diego State.
• 20 — missed free throws by SDSU the previous two games — 11 vs. Utah State, nine at New Mexico

Yes, as Lobo and Aztecs fans know well from the past two games, their teams have struggled mightily from the free throw line.

But while missing 20 free throws is a really, really bad week, the Lobos and Aztecs were just two of four league teams to miss 20 or FTs.

Most missed FTs in MW last week

• 24 — UNLV (33-57/57.9%) — team went 1-1
• 21 — Air Force (22-43/51.2%) — team went 0-2
• 20 — San Diego State (35-55/62.6%) — team went 1-1
• 20 — New Mexico (37-57/64.9%) — team went 1-1

Second bite of the apple

UNM's 16 second chance points to SDSU's seven was the third-best differential in that statistic this season against the Aztecs. The other two opponents who dominated that stat more against them, well, they're pretty good.

Dominating SDSU on 2nd chance points

• +19 — Michigan 22, SDSU 3 (Nov. 24)
• +10 — Arizona 14, SDSU 4 (Dec. 20)
• +9 — New Mexico 16, SDSU 7 (Saturday)

The closest to UNM's plus-nine from another Mountain West team this season was Utah State's +5 (9 to 4) in a win in Logan on Jan. 31.

Turnover turnaround

The Lobos had 17 turnovers that led to 16 second chance points in their Jan. 17 loss to San Diego State at Viejas Arena on Jan. 17.

Saturday, UNM had just six turnovers — not just the lowest total against the Aztecs all season, but just the third time all season SDSU didn't force at least double digit turnovers.

As a result, the Aztecs managed just 10 second chance points this go 'round.

Fewest turnovers vs. SDSU this season

• 6 — New Mexico (Saturday)
• 9 — Baylor (Nov. 26)
• 9 — Nevada (Jan. 6)

What do you mean there's no beach?

Just a couple of old ball coaches from San Diego.

OK, neither are actually from San Diego, but Eric Olen, left, spent the previous 21 years as a coach in America's Finest City at UC San Diego, both as a longtime assistant then head coach, and Brian Dutcher, right, has been there the past 27 years at San Diego State, both as a longtime assistant then head coach.

22 and counting

Saturday's win means Eric Olen is now tied for third for most wins in a rookie coaching season for the Lobos.

Wins in first season as UNM coach

• 27-7 — Craig Neal (2013-14)
• 24-9 — Steve Alford (2007-08)
• *22-7 — Eric Olen (2025-26)
• 22-11 — Dave Bliss (1988-89)
• 21-6 — Norm Ellenberger (1972-73)

*The Lobos have, at minimum, three more games this season — two in the regular season and at least one Mountain West Tournament game.

Earning your stripes

For the third-consecutive year, Mountain West media rights partner CBS Sports picked the San Diego State at New Mexico game in the Pit as one of its national broadcasts on its primary, parent network for a noon tip-off.

And for the third-consecutive year, UNM answered the call with:

• A red and white stripeout
• A sell-out (15,411)
• A win

Feb. 28, 2026: UNM 81, San Diego State 76

Jan. 11, 2025: UNM 62, San Diego State 48

Jan. 13, 2024: UNM 88, San Diego State 70

Rick is Wright

Here's the column from Saturday written by my colleague Rick Wright:

• Wright: UNM vs. SDSU was high-level basketball

Takes one to know one

Jason Eck continues to be a big fan of Eric Olen.

He also seems to like this whole social media thing.

Rematches

The Lobos are now 5-2 in rematches this season:

Rematch wins (Game 2 vs. a team)

• Air Force
• Grand Canyon
• Fresno State
• San Jose State
• San Diego State

Rematch losses (Game 2 vs. a team)

• Boise State
• Nevada

Attendance...

The announced attendance for Saturday's San Diego State atNew Mexico game in the Pit: 15,411

It was the first sell out of the season for UNM.

Pit games 2025-26:

• 15,411 — Saturday vs. San Diego State
• 14,639 — Jan. 24 vs. Nevada
• 14,419 — Feb. 4 vs. Utah State
• 14,379 — Feb. 7 vs. Boise State
• 13,763 — Jan. 3 vs. Wyoming
• 13,614 — Dec. 6 vs. Santa Clara
• 12,785 — Dec. 20 vs. San Jose State
• 12,512 — Jan. 13 vs. Grand Canyon
• 12,291 — Feb. 17 vs. Air Force
• 12,204 — Dec. 14 vs. Florida Gulf Coast
• 12,037 — Nov. 26 vs. Alabama State
• 11,924 — Jan. 21 vs. Fresno 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

Series notes

Friday, I took a look back at one of the best in the series, catching up with Dairese Gary and Darington Hobson for one of the best games played in the Pit, and arguably the best played in the Pit between SDSU and UNM — the Lobos' 88-86 overtime win over the Aztecs on Feb. 6, 2010.

• Stakes are high as high-noon showdown in the Pit brings to a close SDSU, UNM rivalry

Plus/minus...

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

NEW MEXICO

• +17 Tomislav Buljan (31:57)
• +9 Luke Haupt (34:19)
• +8 Deyton Albury (31:11)
• +4 Jake Hall (33:23)
• +1 Uriah Tenette (25:56)
• -1 Tajavis Miller (6:45)
• -1 Antonio Chol (28:26)
• -12 JT Rock (8:03)

SAN DIEGO STATE

• +8 Miles Heide (16:53)
• +5 Tae Simmons (16:39)
• +5 Taj DeGourville (12:12)
• -1 Elzie Harrington (25:30)
• -2 Sean Newman Jr. (16:55)
• -3 Pharoah Compton (7:36)
• -6 Magoon Gwath (22:30)
• -9 Miles Byrd (28:23)
• -10 BJ Davis (24:48)
• -12 Reese Dixon-Waters (28:34)

Line 'em up...

The UNM Lobos played eight players and used 14 unique lineup combinations on Saturday. The Aztecs played 10 players and used 23 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, Luke Haupt, Antonio Chol, Tomislav Buljan
• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +1 (23-22)
• TIME ON COURT: 11:53
• NOTE: UNM's starters played just a hair under 30 percent of the game together and the Lobos were up one (that's all you need) when they were on the floor together. The ball movement was good, so was the rebounding.

BEST LINEUP

• WHO: Uriah Tenette, Deyton Albury, Jake Hall, Luke Haupt, Tomislav Buljan
• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +8 (17-9)
• TIME ON COURT: 6:11
• NOTE: Albury and Tenette on the court together with Tenette often running the point is a combination that's been really good this season.

WORST LINEUP

• WHO: Uriah Tenette, Deyton Albury, Tajavis Miller, Antonio Chol, JT Rock
• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -5 (0-5)
• TIME ON COURT: 0:48
• NOTE: Not enough time on the court to read much into this. A quick 5-0 — one Lobo turnover, no rebounds — and this particular combination was done.

AND THEM?

• NOTE: I mean, 23 different lineup combinations and 10 players getting decent minutes (well, nine at least getting the "decent" minutes, depending on whether you consider a 7:36 that Pharoah Compton played "decent".) SDSU had 16 five-man combinations that didn't even play 2 minutes together total. SIXTEEN! That's a hard style of play to get much chemistry going, or for us to really read much into specific five-man combination. That said, the starting five (Harrington, Dixon-Waters, Byrd, Gwath and Heide) did play the longest stretch together (just 7:04) and did outscore UNM by one while they were in. Maybe they should have played longer together.

VIDEO: Eric Olen, Tomislav Buljan and Luke Haupt

Here's the postgame presser with Eric Olen, Tomislav Buljan and Luke Haupt:

Pregame from the Pit

Here's a look back at the pregame show, for those interested in watching/hearing how wrong I probably was about everything that was about to happen in the game.

Meanwhile, in Logan...

Grand Canyon was down a lot in the first half, came back to take a lead in the second half, then lost a closed on in the end (if it sounds familiar, that's what they did vs. the Lobos, too, a couple weeks ago in Phoenix).

Utah State is now alone in first place in the Mountain West standings heading into the final week of the regular season with the tied-for-second-place Lobos finishing up the regular season in Logan next Saturday.

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas...

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn scored 42 points (and 72 for the week) in an 85-83 overtime win over in-state rival Nevada on Saturday night. They split their rivalry, but in these parts, the bigger news was the outcome solidified for the UNM Lobos a guaranteed top four finish in the Mountain West standings, and a first-round bye in the Mountain West Tournament.

Around the Mountain...

There were four games Saturday around the Mountain West. Here's a look at the league's scores and the final week's schedule of games:

SATURDAY

• New Mexico 81, San Diego State 76
• Wyoming 66, Air Force 62
• Colorado State 85, San Jose State 73
• Boise State 69, Fresno State 53
• UNLV 85, Nevada 83 (OT)
• Utah State 74, Grand Canyon 69

TUESDAY

• San Jose State at Fresno State, 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• San Diego State at Boise State, 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)
• Grand Canyon at Air Force, 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• Nevada at Wyoming, 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• Utah State at UNLV, 8 p.m. PT/9 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)

WEDNESDAY

• Colorado State at New Mexico, 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)

FRIDAY

• UNLV at San Diego State, 7 p.m. MT/8 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)

SATURDAY

• New Mexico at Utah State, 1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• Boise State at Colorado State, 1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• Wyoming at San Jose State, 2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• Fresno State at Grand Canyon, 5 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• Air Force at Nevada, 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT (TheMW)

Mountain West standings

Here are the conference standings through Saturday's games:

• 14-4 Utah State
• 13-5 New Mexico
• 13-5 San Diego State
• 11-7 Nevada
• 11-7 Grand Canyon
• 10-8 Boise State
• 10-8 Colorado State
• 10-8 UNLV
• 7-11 Wyoming
• 6-12 Fresno State
• 3-15 San Jose State
• 0-18 Air Force

• • •

Here are the home/road standings through Saturday's games with road wins counting as a +1 and home losses as a -1:

• +5 Utah State
• +4 San Diego State
• +4 New Mexico
• +2 Nevada
• +2 Grand Canyon
• +1 UNLV
• +1 Boise State
• +1 Colorado State
• -2 Wyoming
• -3 Fresno State
• -6 San Jose State
• -9 Air Force

Planting a seed

These are the seeds for the Mountain West Tournament that have been locked up with just one week left to play in the season:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11. San Jose State

12. Air Force

Stats and stats...

Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted after Saturday's game: New Mexico 81, San Diego State 76

And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: New Mexico 81, San Diego State 76

Grammer's Guesses

The Guesses go 4-2 on Saturday and I'm now 60-48 against the spread on Mountain West games.

My daughter's coin went 3-3 and is 52-56 on season.

https://x.com/GeoffGrammer/status/2027787273060946345

SEASON STANDINGS:

Grammer's Guesses: 60-48

My daughter's coin: 52-56

Up next

• For New Mexico: The Lobos host Colorado State at 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday in the Pit in a game being broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
• For San Diego State: The Aztecs play at Boise State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MT in a game being televised on CBS Sports Network.

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.