Emptying the Notebook: Diving into MW Tournament bracket, Jake Hall's record game and Lobos struggling D

NOTE: With apologies, the usual videos, graphics, social media posts and images usually embedded within the Emptying the Notebook column are not available for this edition as technical issues continue to be addressed. — Geoff Grammer

LOGAN, Utah — Here are some notes, quotes, stats, trends and other odds & ends I emptied out of the old notebook after Saturday's 94-90 UNM Lobos road loss to the Utah State Aggies in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum:

We have a bracket!

The Mountain West as we know it is down to its final week.

Regular-season play ended Saturday. A week from now we'll have the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on CBS. And in between, we get one final Mountain West Madness flurry in the Thomas & Mack Center — Wednesday through Saturday (the women's tourney, of course, already started on Saturday).

Here are some nuggets to know, times to jot down (other than the first game of the day, these often run late) and most importantly, a bracket to break down!

For most reading this, you're here for the Lobos content. So ...

The Lobos' 94-90 road loss at Utah State on Saturday means UNM finishes third in the Mountain West and earned the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Mountain West Tournament — no tie-breakers necessary.

They will play Thursday in the Thomas & Mack Center in the quarterfinals against the winner of the No. 6 Boise State/No. 11 San Jose State game.

To see the actual Mountain West Tournament bracket, CLICK HERE. 

2026 Mountain West Tournament seeds

1. Utah State

2. San Diego State

3. New Mexico

4. Grand Canyon

5. Nevada

6. Boise State

7. Colorado State

8. UNLV

9. Wyoming

10. Fresno State

11. San Jose State

12. Air Force

2026 Mountain West Tournament schedule

Wednesday • First Round

• No. 8 UNLV vs. No. 9 Wyoming, noon PT/1 p.m. MT

• No. 5 Nevada vs. No. 12 Air Force, 2:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. MT

• No. 7 Colorado State vs. No. 10 Fresno State, 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT

• No. 6 Boise State vs. No. 11 San Jose State, 8:30 p.m. PT/9:30 p.m. MT

Thursday • Quarterfinals

• No. 1 Utah State vs. winner No. 8 UNLV/No. 9 Wyoming, noon PT/1 p.m. MT

• No. 4 Grand Canyon vs. winner No. 5 Nevada/No. 12 Air Force, 2:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. MT

• No. 2 San Diego State vs. winner No. 7 Colorado State/No. 10 Fresno State, 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT

• No. 3 New Mexico vs. winner No. 6 Boise State/No. 11 San Jose State, 8:30 p.m. PT/9:30 p.m. MT

Friday • Semifinals

• Game 1: 6:30 p.m. PT/7:30 p.m. MT

• Game 2: 9 p.m. PT/10 p.m. MT

Saturday • Championship

• 3 p.m. PT/4 p.m. MT

Now, if the idea of UNM earning the No. 3 seed only to likely be matched up with a No. 6 seeded team that swept them in the regular season, as Boise State did, sounds daunting to you, at least know this: The Lobos aren't alone.

If the seedings hold serve in Wednesday's opening round (meaning all the better seeded teams win), then take a look at this craziness that the league is giving us for the quarterfinals:

• No. 1 Utah State went 0-2 vs. No. 8 UNLV in regular season

• No. 2 San Diego State went 1-1 vs. No. 7 Colorado State in regular season

• No. 3 New Mexico went 0-2 vs. No. 6 Boise State in regular season

• No. 4 Grand Canyon went 0-1 vs. No. 5 Nevada in regular season

That's the four seeds who earned the byes into the quarterfinals, the four teams with the best records in the leagues, going a combined 1-6 in the regular season against the four teams that finished behind them — seeds five through eight — in the standings.

As for the Boise State-UNM matchup possibility, the Broncos are coming off a big road win Saturday over Colorado State, who by wins was considered the hottest team in the league, winners of nine games in a row before a home loss Saturday. (UNM fans remember how they couldn't seem to miss a shot this past Wednesday in the Pit).

Well, statistically speaking, it's been the Broncos over the past four weeks of games who have been the best team in the Mountain West, according to BartTorvik.com, which allows for the sorting of rankings across Division I basketball by certain dates.

Since Feb. 10 — the start of the league's midweek slate of games four weeks ago — here are the Mountain West's rankings based on who performed the best statistically (meaning offensive and defensive efficiency):

Top rated MW teams since Feb. 10 (last four weeks of season)

1. Boise State

2. Grand Canyon

3. Utah State

4. Colorado State

5. San Diego State

6. New Mexico

7. Wyoming

8. UNLV

9. Fresno State

10. Nevada

11. San Jose State

12. Air Force

    SOURCE: BartTorvik.com

So, yeah. Good luck to the Lobos — a team that finished above expectations (they were picked fifth in the preseason poll, remember) who now may face a team that swept them in the regular season at the last start time of the day on Thursday night (an 8:30 local start time in Las Vegas for the last game of the day almost guarantees a start past 9 p.m. local/10 p.m. Mountain).

Here's a hint of good news. The NCAA Tournament bubble the Lobos have been on for a month, well, they're still on it. How? All the other bubble teams keep losing, too, meaning nobody is really moving past the Lobos — at least not at a pace you might expect for a team that has now lost three of its last four games.

They certainly have the vote of confidence of Saturday's opposing coach.

"First of all, that's an NCAA Tournament team if I've seen one," Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun said to start his postgame remarks on Saturday evening. "I really think Coach (Eric) Olen is one of the best in the country."

Calhoun isn’t actually on the NCAA Selection Committee. So, UNM's best bet to get into the Big Dance is still to go ahead and win this MW Tournament and get the league's automatic berth, but just a couple of wins and a championship game loss doesn't mean they're out with 100% certainty.

But, maybe for now, just go win a game, then worry about two games, or even three.

The gamer

Here's the gamer I filed from the Spectrum on Saturday evening:

• Hall’s 32 points not enough as Lobos fall at Utah State

What happened to the defense?

Saturday night, I posted on social media that despite the loss, I thought Saturday's game was a good sign for both Utah State AND the Lobos, neither of whom had been playing well down the stretch of the season.

I am now using this space in ETN to amend my statement (that's a roundabout way of saying man, was I wrong).

While the Lobos and Aggies both played hard, genuinely, and both fought and scrapped and both made a lot of tough shots, neither will frame Saturday’s stat sheet to show off what were horrific defensive efforts overall.

In fact ...

Utah State's 94 points scored is the highest UNM allowed all season.

UNM's 90 points are the second-highest Utah State has allowed all season (92 on Tuesday at UNLV is the high).

Utah State's 135.8 offensive efficiency, per KenPom, is not only the highest of the season for a Lobos’ opponent, it's the worst UNM has allowed in more than a decade — sixth-worst in the KenPom era that started tracking such data in the 1996-97 season.

And that 91-90 loss to Boise State in the Pit a month prior (Feb. 7) had a 135.0 efficiency that was the ninth-worst at that time.

So, yeah. That defense is sort of an issue right now.

Shot Fake Jake's best game, yet

If you didn't get to see any of Saturday's game, let's start by telling you what Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun said before he was asked a single question on Saturday evening as part of his opening statement to media about the shooting performance of UNM Lobo freshman sensation Jake Hall, who went for 32 points on seven 3-pointers.

"I think Jake Hall, as we all saw tonight, how good of a player he really is, just a tremendous shooter," Calhoun said. "I haven't seen anything like it from a freshman in a long time. There's a reason he set the record."

What record, you ask? Take your pick...

• UNM freshman season scoring record. He now has 506. Saturday, he passed previous record holder Kenny Thomas' old record of 484 set in the 1995-96 season

• UNM single-game freshman scoring record with 32 points. Previous record was 31 points by Alex Kirk vs. CSU Bakersfield on Jan. 5, 2011

• Ties Mountain West freshman record with 17th consecutive double-digit scoring games (Anthony Bennett, UNLV, 2012-13)

• Ties MW freshman record with six 20-point games in league games (Desmar Jackson, Wyoming, 2009-10; Brandon McCoy, UNLV, 2017-18; Koby McEwen, Utah State, 2016-17)

• Ties UNM freshman record with seven 3-pointers, which he's done two other times. The one other Lobo freshman to have done so is Kevin Henry in 1998-99.

• Mountain West freshman scoring record in league games with 350 points (set before Saturday)

• Ties UNM single-season record for 3s in Mountain West season (Anthony Mathis made 66 in 2017-18 MW season)

• Ties UNM record with eighth game with at least five 3s (Ruben Douglas 2002-03, Kevin Henry 1998-99, Marlow White 1993-94)

Slow starts

The Lobos have now lost the first quarter (the first 10 minutes of the first half) in five consecutive games.

I don't know when a sample size or a trend becomes something to acknowledge (I would think it's now). I've asked Eric Olen about the slow starts to games (and second halves, as the Lobos were outscored 12-2 quickly to start the second half on Saturday in Logan), and he so far hasn't seemed to think there is anything to it.

To be fair, Saturday he didn't dismiss the idea that there's something to it because when I asked him if he could pinpoint why the bad starts to halves keep happening — I noted specifically that Utah State started Saturday's game 10-2 then the second half 12-2 — he said directly, "No."

No context added. No acknowledgement that it's an issue. Just "No."

At Nevada last week, he told me he didn't think there was anything to the bad starts at both Nevada on Feb. 24 and Fresno State three days prior on Feb. 21.

Just a coincidence.

That is a combined -41 point differential over the past five "first quarters" of Lobo games.

Is Olen making adjustments? Of course. The Lobos have outscored those same five opponents by +29 over the final 30 minutes of those same five games.

For those not as proficient at math as this Aggie grad is, let me tell you, combining a -41 start with a +29 finish still results in the Lobos being outscored in the past five games, hence their 2-3 record over those five games heading into the Mountain West Tournament.

Point differential in first 10 minutes

• -14 at Fresno State (26-12 at 10:00 1H)

• -5 at Nevada (10-5 at 10:00 1H)

• -9 vs. San Diego State (22-13 at 10:00 1H)

• -3 vs. Colorado State (17-14 at 10:00 1H)

• -10 at Utah State (22-12 at 10:00 1H)

TOTAL: -41

Point differential in final 30 minutes

• +16 at Fresno State (68-52, UNM, over final 30:00)

• -2 at Nevada (57-55, Nevada, over final 30:00)

• +14 vs. San Diego State (68-14, UNM, over final 30:00)

• -5 vs. Colorado State (65-60, CSU, over final 30:00)

• +6 at Utah State (78-72, UNM, over final 30:00)

TOTAL: +29

Rematches

The Lobos are now 5-4 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

• Colorado State

• Utah State

Attendance

The announced attendance for Saturday's New Mexico at Utah State game in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum: 10,270

UNM's true road games 2025-26:

• 12,414 — Jan. 17 at San Diego State

• 10,270 — Saturday at Utah State

• 9,980 — Dec. 30 at Boise State

• 8,106 — Nov. 15 at New Mexico State

• 8,020 — Feb. 24 at Nevada

• 7,637 — Dec. 10 at VCU

• 6,988 — Feb. 11 at Grand Canyon

• 5,642 — Jan. 27 at UNLV

• 5,402 — Feb. 21 at Fresno State

• 4,189 — Jan. 31 at San Jose State

• 3,640 — Jan. 6 at Colorado State

• 2,017 — Jan. 10 at Air Force

Plus/minus

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

NEW MEXICO

• +7 Tajavis Miller (18:38)

• +6 Uriah Tenette (28:34)

• -1 JT Rock (19:16)

• -1 Jake Hall (38:27)

• -2 Luke Haupt (34:47)

• -7 Tomislav Buljan (30:25)

• -11 Deyton Albury (19:28)

• -11 Antonio Chol (10:25)

UTAH STATE

• +12 Zach Keller (21:20)

• +7 MJ Collins (29:17)

• +7 Mason Falslev (35:09)

• +7 Drake Allen (36:42)

• +3 Adlan Elamin (17:20)

• +2 Garry Clark (8:04)

• -3 Elijah Perryman (3:18)

• -6 Kolby King (25:50)

• -9 Karson Templin (23:00)

Line 'em up

The UNM Lobos played eight players and used 15 unique lineup combinations on Saturday. The Aggies played nine players and used 13 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: -6 (6-12)

• TIME ON COURT: 5:55

• NOTE: You could argue this was the worst lineup of the night if you'd like. I won't stop you. And considering this starting five is now on back-to-back games of minus-point differentials, that's a problem. Yes, I think Saturday actually was a positive overall for the Lobos, who haven't been playing great lately. But that doesn't mean I'm ignoring the fact that the starting five isn't very good together lately.

BEST LINEUP

• WHO: Uriah Tenette, Jake Hall, Luke Haupt, Tajavis Miller, JT Rock

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +4 (13-9)

• TIME ON COURT: 5:04

• NOTE: There was another group at 5:36 that had a matching plus-4 with 13-9, but I think this group, with five assists and nice ball movement, was a little better. Great game off the bench for Tajavis Miller.

WORST LINEUP

• WHO: Deyton Albury, Jake Hall, Luke Haupt, Tomislav Buljan, JT Rock

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -7 (2-9)

• TIME ON COURT: 2:39

• NOTE: The big/big experiment wasn't as good in this stretch as a few weeks back against ... Air Force ... when everyone got real excited about it. I think it showed glimpses of why it is a nice wrinkle to have, but I just don't see the offense being very good with Buljan and Rock both out there — it just seems to go against the floor spacing principles the team plays with most of the rest of the season, hence this 2:39 providing UNM a measly 0.50 points per possession.

Video links

Here is a link to the Journal’s postgame interviews with Eric Olen and Jake Hall: VIDEO LINK

Here is a link to the Journal’s pregame show from Logan, Utah, on Saturday: VIDEO LINK

Around the Mountain

There were five games on Saturday's final day of the Mountain West regular season. Here is a look at the scores from Friday and Saturday to close the regular season:

FRIDAY

• San Diego State 89, UNLV 86

SATURDAY

• Utah State 94, New Mexico 90

• Boise State 78, Colorado State 67

• Wyoming 88, San Jose State 78

• Grand Canyon 85, Fresno State 60

• Nevada 74, Air Force 59

Mountain West FINAL standings

Here are the FINAL conference standings through Saturday:

• 15-5 Utah State

• 14-6 San Diego State

• 13-7 New Mexico

• 13-7 Grand Canyon

• 12-8 Nevada

• 12-8 Boise State

• 11-9 Colorado State

• 11-9 UNLV

• 9-11 Wyoming

• 7-13 Fresno State

• 3-17 San Jose State

• 0-20 Air Force

• • •

Here are the FINAL home/road standings with road wins counting as a +1 and home losses as a -1:

• +5 Utah State

• +4 San Diego State

• +3 New Mexico

• +3 Grand Canyon

• +2 Nevada

• +2 Boise State

• +1 Colorado State

• +1 UNLV

• -1 Wyoming

• -3 Fresno State

• -7 San Jose State

• -10 Air Force

Stats and stats

Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted after Saturday's game: Utah State 94, New Mexico 90

And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: Utah State 94, New Mexico 90

Grammer's Guesses

And the final standings everyone (ok, nobody but me) really cares about, I BEAT MY DAUGHTER'S COIN FLIP PICKS!!!!!

The Guesses go 3-2 ATS on Saturday and the coin had a nice 4-1 day, but too little, too late, coin!

FINAL STANDINGS:

• Grammer's Guesses: 67-53

• My daughter's coin flip picks: 59-61

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