Emptying the Notebook: Dominant 8-day stretch shows Lobos know how to close

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — Here are some extra notes, quotes, videos, statistics, trends and other random odds & ends I managed to empty out of the ol' reporter's notebook after Saturday's 88-53 Lobos road win over Air Force:

They know what to do at closing time...

Earlier this season, there was question about whether the Lobos could actually close out games with the type of confidence and authority befitting a team making a serious run at a championship.

Big leads, on more than one occasion, turned into more pedestrian-looking final scores as the Lobos had a tendency to play with their food a bit too much instead of just killing it.

But after the past eight days — from a blowout road win at 2nd place Utah State to a thumping in the Pit of 3rd place Colorado State for a season sweep to even what they showed in Saturday's dismantling of last-place Air Force — the Lobos showed star power (is Nelly Junior Joseph now the biggest threat to Donovan Dent's run toward being Player of the Year?), roster versatility, truly elite on-ball and team defense, and the mindset of a closer.

While men's college basketball doesn't have quarters (and it should), what the Lobos are doing in the "4th quarter" (final 10 minutes) of their games — the time many sports fans and media tend to consider the high-pressure, most important stretch of the game — is nothing short of remarkable.

UNM outscored Utah State, Colorado State and Air Force 83-36 in the "4th quarter" of the past three games over that Feb. 1-8 stretch.

UNM's "4th Quarter" scoring:

10:00 mark to final buzzer.

• UNM 26, Utah State 10

• UNM 30, Colorado State 12

• UNM 27, Air Force 14

TOTAL: 83-36

Those are insanely good numbers for what would actually only be 3/4 of a full, regulation college basketball game.

Extrapolate those numbers to a full 40-minute game, and the final score would be 111-48.

UNM scored 52 points in the second half at Utah State, 52 points in the second half vs. Colorado State and then 54 points in the second half vs. Air Force — seeming to find more and more energy as the games wore on, even at about 4,500 feet in Logan, 5,100 feet at the Pit and 7,200 feet Saturday in Clune Arena.

Air Force coach Joe Scott on Saturday explained a good amount of his team's preparation for the Lobos centered on knowing players he referred to as 0, 2 and 3 (C.J. Noland, Donovan Dent and Tru Washington) will stick their hands into passing lanes and pounce on lazy passes on the perimeter to set up fast break points the other way (all four of Tru Washington's steals turned into eight fast break points, including three in a 13-0 first half run).

Air Force also had a plan on how to score near the rim even though UNM' leads the league in blocks. Instead, they still played with hesitancy down low, leading to Nelly Junior Joseph repeatedly setting up the Lobos transition offense with his defense near the rim — be it with blocked shots, altered shots or his rebounding dominance.

"Those are the things that stop their runs because the run in the first half and the run in the second half sort of were the game," Scott said.

UNM had runs of 13-0 and 20-3 on Saturday that did Air Force in.

Three days prior, Niko Medved lamented his team seeming to be in it until all of a sudden the Lobos finished with a flurry down the stretch.

"That last 10 minutes or whatever it was, it just got away from us," Medved said. "... When they needed it, they made a lot of big shots to stretch it (the lead). And then they just kind of deflated us down the stretch. ... The scoreboard's the scoreboard. You got to play 40 minutes, and it's hard to do that (vs. UNM)."

Here's a look at the final 10 minutes — closing time — of the Lobos last three games:

Final 10 minutes UNM at Air Force

• SCORE: UNM 27, Air Force 14

• SHOOTING: UNM 9-16 (56.3%); Air Force 2-11 (18.24%)

• TURNOVERS: UNM 2; Air Force 7

Final 10 minutes UNM vs. Colorado State

• SCORE: UNM 30, CSU 12

• SHOOTING: UNM 12-14 (85.7%); CSU 4-15 (26.7%)

• TURNOVERS: UNM 1; CSU 2

Final 10 minutes UNM at Utah State

• SCORE: UNM 26, Utah State 10

• SHOOTING: UNM 7-15 (46.7%); Utah State 3-14 (21.4%)

• TURNOVERS: UNM 4; Utah State 4

Steve Kirkland Stat of the Game!

UNM hoops sports information director Steve Kirkland's assist after this game feeds off that second half dominance, so let's not waste time getting to it.

As noted above, Saturday marked the Lobos' third-consecutive conference game of scoring in the 50s in the second half:

• 52-point second half at Utah State (Feb. 1)

• 52-point second half vs. Colorado State (Wednesday)

• 54-point second half at Air Force (Saturday)

But here's the good stuff.

The last time a Lobo team had three-consecutive conference games with 50-point second halves was in 1978!

In that 1977-78 season, in six-consecutive WAC games, the Lobos broke 50 points in the second half from Jan. 26, 1978, vs. BYU through Feb. 11, 1978, vs. Arizona State.

Between that stretch and this past week, the Lobos never had more than two conference games in a row breaking 50 points in the second half.

The gamer...

Here is the gamer I filed from Clune Arena on Saturday afternoon.

• Board game: Junior Joseph grabs 21 rebounds as Lobos clobber Falcons

Nelly appreciation time...

I've written a lot about Nelly Junior Joseph in the past week, and with good reason.

But, since the game story was pretty heavy on the Nelly, let's just get into the nitty gritty and look at his numbers from Saturday at Air Force.

Nelly Junior Joseph at Air Force:

• POINTS: 14

• REBOUNDS: 21 (14 def., 7 off.)

• STEALS: 2

• BLOCKS: 1

• NEW HIGHS: His 14 first half rebounds was the most in a first half for a Lobo in a Mountain West game; His career-high 21 rebounds is second most for a Lobo in a Mountain West game (Drew Gordon had 23 vs. Utah in 2011).

• DOUBLE-DOUBLE: It was his fifth-consecutive double-double and 56th of his career.

By collecting more than 15 rebounds, Nelly Junior Joseph also climbed this list:

Most 15-rebound games in a season (UNM):

8 — Bill Hagins (1974-75)

7 — Lewis LaMar (1993-94)

*5 — Nelly Junior Joseph (2024-25)

5 — Drew Gordon (2010-11)

5 — Lary Gray (1975-76)

4 — Carlton Bragg (2019-20)

4 — Drew Gordon (2011-12)

* = active.

One more thing... Junior Joseph is the reigning MW Player of the Week. I don't see how he doesn't get it again this coming Monday after his crazy statline both Saturday at Air Force and Wednesday in the Pit vs. CSU.

His averages from the two games:

• 16.0 ppg

• 16.0 rpg (11.5 def./4.5 off.)

• 3.0 blocks per game

• 2.5 steals per game

• 52.6% shooting 10-19

• 75.0% FT shooting (12-of-16)

NET gains...

Here are the Mountain West's NET rankings for the teams in the Top 100 through Saturday's games, with the Lobos atop the league for the first time this season:

37 — UNM

38 — Utah State

48 — Boise State

52 — San Diego State

76 — Nevada

77 — Colorado State

Defense travels...

UNM held Air Force to 31.5% shooting in the Falcons' home arena. That's the second-worst shooting percentage of the season for the Falcons (30.6% at San Diego State on Jan. 8) and worst in their home arena since a 30.0% game (15-of-50) vs. Fresno State on Feb. 2, 2022.

According to KenPom, it was UNM's third best defensive efficiency output on the road in Mountain West play, which began in the 1999-2000 season. It was also just the ninth MW game the Lobos defensive efficiency was under 70.0 (home, road or neutral).

UNM's top defensive efficiency ROAD games in MW play:

1. 63.0 — Jan. 31, 2012 (W, 81-42 at Air Force)

2. 65.0 — Feb. 11, 2006 (W, 53-42 at TCU)

3. 69.5 — Saturday (W, 88-53 at Air Force)

Just how good has the D been all season?

The crazy run of defense the Lobos have been on has made for a rare occurrence in Mountain West land.

UNM has the No. 1 defense in MW play per KenPom. San Diego State has held the No. 1 spot the past three seasons and eight of the past 12 seasons.

Top defensive efficiency in MW play (KenPom):

2025 - UNM*

2024 - SDSU

2023 - SDSU

2022 - SDSU

2021 - Utah State

2020 - SDSU

2019 - Nevada

2018 - Boise State

2017 - SDSU

2016 - SDSU

2015 - SDSU

2014 - SDSU

* = still a month left to play

As for the tweet below, which was sent before the San Diego State played at Colorado State, it's actually much more comfortable a lead now for the Lobos — 92.0 to SDSU's 93.7 after the Aztecs' loss to the Rams.

Something you don't see often...

Nothing really knew here based on all the stats I was posting above, but how about this?

• 54 — UNM Lobos 2nd half

• 53 — Air Force game

Agony of da feet...

UNM starting forward Mustapha Amzil, the team's third leading scorer, second leading rebounder and player who has made the most 3-pointers missed Saturday's game to rest the plantar fasciitis in his foot that's been giving him fits in recent weeks.

He was at the game, walking without a limp and, frankly likely would have played if this was a game vs. a top-half in the standings opponent. But at some point, he also needs to rest that foot. Saturday was that day.

No word, yet, on whether that may extend through Wednesday's game vs. Wyoming so he can be more rested for next weekend's game vs. Utah State.

"Day-to-day" is the official word.

In his place, freshman Jovan Milicevic got the start and finished with 3 points, 7 rebounds and a steal in 21:55 on the court.

Donovan Dent is still a star...

If there's a such thing as a quiet 25 point, six assist game, I think Dent may have had it on Saturday.

He just plays with such calm composure, and is playing lights out with such regularity, that it's hard to even notice him doing it again and again.

We haven't updated his climbing of the UNM all-time assists list in a awhile, so, let's do it now after his six dimes on Saturday.

UNM career assists

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

—

7. David Gibson, 1995-98 — 460

8. Donovan Dent, 2023-present — 424 (93 games)

9. Willie Banks, 1089-92 — 419 (126 games)

10. Jaelen House, 2022-24 — 395 (94 games)

20 win seasons...

Saturday was UNM's 20th win (20-4). It's the program's third-consecutive 20-win season after not having one for the eight previous seasons.

Number of 20 win seasons by UNM coach:

Modern era of UNM basketball, since Bob King

• 10 — Dave Bliss (11 seasons)

• 6 — Steve Alford (6 seasons)

• 3 — Richard Pitino (4 seasons)

• 3 — Gary Colson (8 seasons)

• 3 — Norm Ellenberger (7 seasons)

• 2 — Bob King (10 seasons)

• 1 — Craig Neal (4 seasons)

• 1 — Ritchie McKay (5 seasons)

• 1 — Fran Fraschilla (3 seasons)

• 0 — Paul Weir (4 seasons)

• 0 — Charlie Harrison (1 season)

Half the story...

OK, so all that talk above about how dominant the Lobos were in the past three games in the second halves of games or in the "4th quarter" of games, well, it's true. But so, too, is the fact that in the five games prior to that stretch, the Lobos hadn't won a "4th quarter," though none were separated by more than one possession:

UNM's "4th quarters" Jan. 11-Jan. 25:

• UNLV 17, UNM 15 (Lobos won, 75-73)

• Fresno State 28, UNM 28 (Lobos won,95-67)

• Boise State 28, UNM 25 (Lobos won, 84-65)

• San Jose State 18, UNM 15 (Lobos lost, 71-70)

• San Diego State 13, UNM 12 (Lobos won, 62-48)

How cool is this?

Every year, the same thing.

And every year, it's pretty damn cool to see both teams, win or lose, blowout or nail biter, share the court as the U.S. Air Force cadet band plays the Third Verse...

Extended runs...

The Lobos' extended runs this season — yes, their 10-0's and 13-0's, like they had in the first half Saturday at Air Force, are one thing, but it's the even longer ones that "deflate" teams, as CSU's Niko Medved put it.

Saturday, the new addition to the list below (a list I have admittedly used recently, but now need to update) was a 20-3 run in the second half.

Lobos' dominant extended runs in MW play:

• 20-3 run in the second half after Air Force pulled within 36-31. In 5 minutes, 20 seconds, it went from 36-31 to 56-34.

• 38-15 run to close out Wednesday's game in the Pit after Colorado State took a 50-49 lead with 12:51 remaining in the game.

• 43-15 run to close out Saturday's game in Logan, Utah, after Utah State took a 48-39 lead with 15:24 left. UNM gave the Aggies their worst home loss (19 points) since November 1996.

• 25-4 run to start their Jan. 20 game vs. Fresno State, which ended up being a 28-point victory.

• 23-2 run to close out the first half vs. Boise State on Jan. 17, taking a 48-21 lead into halftime.

• 17-1 run to start 2nd half at Wyoming on Jan. 7 after trailing 32-18 at halftime.

• 21-0 run in the first half at Colorado State on Dec. 28, turning a 16-16 tie game into a 37-16 Lobos lead in just under seven minutes.

• 22-8 run to close out their Dec. 4 win over San Jose State after the Spartans went up 69-61 with 8:47 left in the game.

Salute, Ethan Taylor...

Ethan Taylor made his 113th start for the Air Force Falcons on Saturday, the new program record.

Home again, home again...

Two weeks ago, the home/road split in the Mountain West looked like this:

• 9 — Home team wins

• 1 — Road team wins

This week, it didn't complete flip the script, but the road did get its revenge for the week:

• 3 — Home team wins

• 7 — Road team wins

Attendance...

The announced attendance for Saturday's game in Clune Arena between the UNM Lobos and Air Force Falcons: 2,619

Speaking of attendance...

The Lobos have already sold out next Sunday's game with Utah State in the Pit.

So, always the marketer, Richard Pitino took advantage of the good postgame vibes Saturday after getting back to Albuquerque to stump for another sell out.

Top Pit crowds...

Here are the top five Pit crowds this season:

1. 15,428 — Jan. 11 vs. San Diego State

2. 15,411 — Dec. 7 vs. New Mexico State

3. 14,622 — Jan. 3 vs. Nevada

4. 14,519 — Jan. 17 vs. Boise State

5. 13,436 — Feb. 5 vs. Colorado State

NOTE: Next Sunday's game vs. Utah State already being a sell out would rank will rank in the Top 3 of this list.

Meanwhile, back in the Pit...

The UNM Lobo women lost their fifth-straight game Saturday, the longest losing streak in 15 years and longest under head coach Mike Bradbury at UNM.

Plus/minus...

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

NEW MEXICO

+31 Donovan Dent (32:40)

+28 C.J. Noland (17:55)

+21 Nelly Junior Joseph (28:07)

+21 Braden Appelhans (17:17)

+19 Tru Washington (23:35)

+17 Ibrahima Sacko (13:02)

+14 Atiki Ally Atiki (11:53)

+12 Filip Borovicanin (20:00)

+5 Quinton Webb (6:16)

+4 Kayde Dotson (7:20)

+3 Jovan Milicevic (21:55)

AIR FORCE

-3 Sam Diskin (3:35)

-5 A.J. Patterson (7:04)

-5 Sam Springer (4:04)

-7 Caleb Walker (10:45)

-8 Yoda Oke (12:41)

-9 Will Cooper (4:30)

-12 Beau Becker (12:05)

-16 Byron Brown (9:27)

-16 Jeffrey Mills (25:38)

-17 Wesley Celichowski (22:10)

-21 Luke Kearney (27:01)

-24 Kyle Marshall (30:07)

-32 Ethan Taylor (30:53)

Line 'em up...

The UNM Lobos played 11 players and used 18 unique lineup combinations. The Air Force Falcons played 13 players and used 20 unique lineup combinations.

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

STARTING LINEUP -and- WORST LINEUP

• WHO: Donovan Dent, Tru Washington, Filip Borovicanin, Jovan Milicevic, Nelly Junior Joseph

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -10 (2-12)

• TIME ON COURT: 6:12

• NOTE: Welp, that didn't go so well. UNM starting 0-10 shooting in the game, and Jovan Milicevic hitting the side of the backboard on a 3-point attempt on the first possession of the game certainly had a lot do with this awful production. I would not have guessed that would happen when I was told Mustapha Amzil wouldn't be starting. Don't pin this all on Jovan, by any means. The Lobos other starters should have been better.

But, however it happened, understand that a -10 over 6 minutes in a game that the other 34 minutes was a +45 scoring differential for the Lobos is pretty wild to think about.

BEST LINEUP

• WHO: Donovan Dent, Tru Washington, C.J. Noland, Nelly Junior Joseph

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +12 (15-3)

• TIME ON COURT: 4:18

• NOTE: A freshman getting his first career start vs. a senior co-captain (C.J. Noland) tells the story here. Things rolled better here with Noland in.

To be clear, there was also a lineup that was +9 (11-2 over 2 minutes, 40 seconds) that included Milicevic, so it wasn't like the Lobos didn't have some good run with him on the floor. It was just when he played with the other starters that they failed to figure out how to get going with him in there — again, as much or more on those veteran starters to figure out than it was on Milicevic.

VIDEO: Postgame with Pitino and Nelly...

Here's the postgame talk with UNM Lobo coach Richard Pitino and center Nelly Junior Joseph, courtside, with myself and Santa Fe New Mexican reporter Will Webber:

VIDEO: Pregame from Clune...

Here's the pregame preview show I did from Clune Arena on Saturday if you'd like to relive it:

Meanwhile, in Fort Collins...

After a rough on in the Pit three days earlier, the Colorado State Rams solidified their spot as a top three team in the Mountain West, beating San Diego State in a sold out Moby Arena.

Around the Mountain...

There were a pair of games Friday and three more on Saturday around the Mountain (West). Here's a look at the weekend scores and the upcoming midweek slate of games.

FRIDAY

• Boise State 79, San Jose State 52

• Utah State 89, Fresno State 81

SATURDAY

• New Mexico 88, Air Force 53

• UNLV 68, Wyoming 57

• Colorado State 68, San Diego State 63

MONDAY

• Fresno State at Nevada, 8 p.m. PST/9 p.m. MST (FS1)

TUESDAY

• Air Force at UNLV, 7 p.m. PST/8 p.m. MST (TheMW)

• Colorado State at Utah State, 8 p.m. PST/9 p.m. MST (FS1)

• San Diego State at San Jose State, 8 p.m. PST/9 p.m. MST (CBS Sports Network)

WEDNESDAY

• Wyoming at New Mexico, 7 p.m. PST/8 p.m. MST (FS1)

Mountain West standings...

Through Saturday's games (70 of 110 games played) ...

12-1 New Mexico

11-2 Utah State

9-3 Colorado State

9-4 Boise State

8-4 San Diego State

6-7 UNLV

5-7 Nevada

5-8 San Jose State

4-9 Wyoming

1-12 Fresno State

0-13 Air Force

MW home/road standings...

A team gets plus-1 for a road win, minus-1 for a home loss.

+6 New Mexico

+5 Utah State

+3 Colorado State

+2 Boise State

+2 San Diego State

0 UNLV

-1 Nevada

-1 San Jose State

-3 Wyoming

-6 Fresno State

-7 Air Force

Stats and stats...

Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted Saturday Afternoon: New Mexico 88, Air Force 53

And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: New Mexico 88, Air Force 53

They know me here...

I feel seen...

Grammer's Guesses...

Take that coin!

The Guesses go 2-1 on Saturday and the coin has a rare 0-fer (my daughter' coin flips were 0-3 on Saturday.

Season standings:

• My daughter's coin flip picks: 39-31

• Grammer's Guesses: 34-36

Up next...

For New Mexico: The Lobos host Wyoming at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Pit. The game will be broadcast on FS1.

For Air Force: The Falcons play at UNLV on Tuesday at 7 p.m. PST/8 p.m. MST. The game will be streamed on TheMW.com.

Until next time...

Until next time, Clune Arena in the Cadet Field House on the campus of the United States Air Force Academy...

Lobo schedule/results...