Emptying the Notebook: JT rocks Rams on road

RICHMOND, Virginia — Here are some notes, quotes, stats, trends and other odds & ends I emptied out of the old notebook after Wednesday's 81-78 UNM Lobos win over VCU in the Siegel Center:

Rock's on a roll

My game story Wednesday night from the Siegel Center focused on the end of the game.

More specifically the fact that in his worst game as a Lobo, Tomislav Buljan made the defensive stop and rebound to seal the road victory for UNM.

In this space, however, let me point out that the Lobos don't survive Buljan's off night — 11 points, three rebounds, four turnovers and UNM was outscored by 15 in his 21:44 on the floor — had it not been for the continued emergence and strong play of his backup, and UNM's only true center on the roster, 7-foot-1 Iowa State transfer J.T. Rock.

"JT Rock played awesome off the bench," UNM coach Eric Olen told me after the game. "I think he was plus-18 in 18 minutes. That's huge for us. And you know, he's another guy who's improving, right? And we got a lot of guys who are getting better, and JT was awesome tonight."

Not just another guy improving, you can argue nobody has take a leap over the past three games for UNM that Rock has.

Most reading this ETN know by know what the plus/minus stat is since I reference it so often, but because I know I can bog things down with stats, here's a reminder of what that means.

Plus-18 for Rock in Wednesday's game means in the time he was in the game (18 minutes, 12 second to be exact), the Lobos outscored VCU by 18 points.

Eighteen points.

Eighteen minutes.

In a game won by three points (81-78, UNM).

With Buljan picking up three first half fouls, Rock's minutes didn't just hold things over until Buljan could get back on the court. Rock's minutes (and those of senior guard Luke Haupt, one could argue) were the reason the Lobos won Saturday.

Rock's statline Wednesday:

• Points: 7
• Rebounds: 4
• Blocks: 2
• Assists: 2
• Plus/minus: +18

He scored some...

He passed some...

His stats weren't overwhelming, but his presence was.

And it's been a factor for three consecutive games now as the Lobos wrap up nonfoncerence play and appear headed into the Mountain West portion of their schedule with a legitimate threat off the bench at the five spot.

JT Rock last 3 games:

• Points: 28 (9.3/game)
• Rebounds: 19 (6.3/game)
• Blocks: 5 (1.7/game)
• Minutes: 47 (15.7/game)

Game by game +/- totals for last three games (point differential for UNM for any time Rock is on the court):

• +18 — W, VCU
• +19 — W, Santa Clara
• +37 — W, D-II New Mexico Highlands

JT Rock first 7 games:

• Points: 19 (2.7/game)
• Rebounds: 10 (1.4/game)
• Blocks: 3 (0.4/game)
• Minutes: 55 (7.9/game)

Game by game +/- totals for first seven games (point differential for UNM for any time Rock is on the court):

• -2 — W, Alabama State
• 0 — W, Mississippi State
• +4 — L, Nebraska
• -7 — L, New Mexico State
• +12 — W, UC Riverside
• +2 — W, UT Arlington
• +6 — W, East Texas A&M

The gamer

Here's the gamer I filed from the Siegel Center Wednesday night:

• Lobo men's hoops, as massive underdogs, take a big win over VCU

Better Call Hall

Saturday's one-game slump for freshman Jake Hall was, indeed, just a one-game slump. 

Hall matched his season high with 24 points, hitting 5-of-7 3-pointers in the process and, as he's already been known to do less than six full weeks into his college career, matched or set some new Lobo program benchmarks for a freshman. 

"We've done a good job on guys like that. And then tonight," said VCU head coach Phil Martelli Jr. of Hall, "he goes and gets seven threes, and was the best player in the game, you know, and makes five of them. So, you know, we've seen a lot of guys like that through this early part of the season, and we we've been able to limit their opportunities. And tonight we didn't limit his opportunities."

So, about those Lobo benchmarks...

20-point games for Lobo freshmen

• 4 — Jake Hall (2025-26)*
• 4 — Kenny Thomas (1995-96)
• 4 — Charles Smith (1993-94)
• 4 — Phil Smith (1980-81)
• 3 — JT Toppin (2023-24)
• 3 — Makuach Maluach (2017-18)
• 3 — Willie Banks (1988-89)

*Through 10 games

Highest scoring road game by a true freshman

Hat tip to UNM SID Steve Kirkland for this note, though I put it here and not in the "Steve Kirkland Stat of the Night" section below only because this one is on topic for Hall.

• 26 — Makuach Maluach (at Air Force on Feb. 10, 2018)
• 25 — JT Toppin (at Air Force on Jan. 20, 2024)
• 24 — Hall (at VCU, Wednesday)

Most 3-pointers made by a Lobo freshman (season)

NOTE: I don't have the full list here, just first place and Hall, who barring injury could have this record in January.

55 — Kendall Williams (2010-11)

31 — Hall (2025-26)*

*Through 10 games

Uriah, too...

So it isn't the scoring quite like Hall, but Uriah Tenette is having a phenomenal freshman year himself. 

In fact, it seems most nights have been as Uriah goes, so go the Lobos. 

Tenette on Wednesday had eight points, two assists and two steals in a team-high 31:58 on the floor. 

That last stat — minutes — is absurd to think about for a true freshman in a true road game at a place like VCU that plays high-pressure defense. Yet, Olen and crew trust Tenette to not just be in high-pressure moments, but to often run the show (he and Albury on the floor together still seems to be one of my favorite duos to watch teams try to defend).

That said, as impressive as the freshman from Prescott, Arizona, was (again), he did have on streak come to an end. 

Tenette had scored double figures in six-consecutive games before his "just" eight point showing on Wednesday. That was tied for the fifth-longest double-figure scoring streak by a UNM Lobo freshman.

Also, how can I not post this clip from the UNM social media team of the 5-11 Tenette pulling off a little baseline Dream Shake action like he was Hakeem Olajuwon? 

OK, this isn't fair, but Tenette's move above had me going down a YouTube rabbit hole for some Dream Shake highlights. 

Here's Hakeem doing his best Uriah Tenette impressions from during his Hall of Fame career.  

Steve Kirkland Stat of the Night

Wednesday's win was UNM’s first true road win in the Eastern Time Zone since a 55-54 win over Mick Cronin's Cincinnati Bearcats on Dec. 27, 2012.

It was a game I happen to remember sitting next to Bobby Knight as he did color commentary for ESPN. He often complimented the play that night of "53" for the Lobos, known by most broadcasters by the name Alex Kirk, but to Knight, he was "53".

Kirk had 15 points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots and a steal in the game that didn't even hit 110 total points.

A number to know: 18

The UNM Lobos were 8-of-18 (44.4%) from 3-point range on Wednesday, tied for the fewest 3-point attempts in a game this season. 

Fewest 3-point attempts in a game this season

• 18 — Wednesday at VCU (8-of-18)
• 18 — Nov. 11 vs. UC Riverside (5-of-18)
• 20 — Nov. 5 vs. East Texas A&M (8-of-20)
• 23 — Saturday vs. Santa Clara (9-of-23)

Grateful Dead

Wednesday's game was a long strange trip.

And it started with the Grateful Dead t-shirt giveaway before the game. I'm not sure what the VCU/Grateful Dead connection is, if any, but I applaud any Grateful Dead t-shirt giveaway.

New Mexico TRUE

UNM's win over VCU is, according to multiple analytics sites, the best win for a Mountain West team so far this season.

Entering the game, VCU was ranked No. 41 on KenPom.com and fell after the loss to just 43.

As a true-road win — weighted heavier in the data for all computer ratings and in the eyes of the humans on the NCAA Selection Committee — is a real feather in the cap for a team hoping to get into the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately for the Mountain West, there haven't been a ton of those so far in nonconference play.

MW's highest ranked true road wins:

Based on KenPom.com rankings after all of Wednesday's game were completed.

• 43 — VCU (beat by UNM on Wednesday)
• 48 — Butler (beat by Boise State on Saturday)
• 65 — Memphis (beat by UNLV on Nov. 16)
• 90 — Stanford (beat by UNLV on)

It's worth noting there is one more MW nonconference game that would be huge if San Diego State won, though it's not exactly a true road game. The Aztecs play KenPom No. 5 Arizona on Dec. 20 in Phoenix — two hours from campus, but likely amid a very pro-Wildcats crowd.

Attendance...

The announced attendance for New Mexico at VCU in the Siegel Center: 7,637

That was an announced sell out for the Rams.

New Mexico road game attendances this season:

• 8,106 — at New Mexico State (Pan Am Center/Las Cruces)
• 7,637 — at VCU (Siegel Center/Richmond, Virginia)

Series notes

UNM now leads the series between the two schools, 2-1. And, they won both ends of a two-year, home-and-home agreement that saw VCU come to the Pit in December 2024 and lost to the Lobos.

Last game: New Mexico 78, VCU 71 (Dec. 18, 2024)

Donovan Dent went off. The former Lobo point guard scored 25 of his game-high 40 points in the second half and Nelly Junior Joseph added a 15 point, 11 rebound double-double.

VCU, then coached by former Utah State coach Ryan Odom, got a team-high 20 points from former star Max Shulga.

Speaking of...

Look who was on hand for Wednesday's game: Max Shulga!

Plus/minus

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

NEW MEXICO

• +18 JT Rock (18:12)
• +14 Luke Haupt (20:23)
• +7 Antonio Chol (27:25)
• +4 Deyton Albury (21:37)
• +4 Uriah Tenette (26:29)
• +1 Kevin Patton Jr. (3:56)
• -2 Jake Hall (31:58)
• -15 Tomislav Buljan (21:44)
• -16 Chris Howell (28:16)

VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH

• +9 Brandon Jennings (31:10)
• +1 Nyk Lewis (25:24)
• 0 Keyshawn Mitchell (8:19)
• -1 Michael Belle (25:12)
• -3 Lazar Djokovic (31:41)
• -3 Tyrell Ward (1:47)
• -4 Jadrian Tracey (27:19)
• -7 Terence Hill Jr. (16:15)
• -7 Barry Evans (32:53)

Line 'em up...

The UNM Lobos played nine players and used 17 unique lineup combinations on Wednesday. The Rams played nine players and used 20 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: 0 (20-20)
• TIME ON COURT: 8:52
• NOTE: Not sure I recall the starting five ever play to a draw, but that was the kind of game Wednesday night was. Very competitive. Very entertaining. I thought the starting units for both teams came ready, but the adjustments and production from the bench turned things for UNM.

BEST LINEUP

• WHO: Uriah Tenette, Deyton Albury, Luke Haupt, Antonio Chol, JT Rock
• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +12 (12-0)
• TIME ON COURT: 3:22
• NOTE: In a 3-point game, a 12-0 run from a group that plays together just 3:22 is the decider. This was a great group on the floor (obviously), fro the Tenette/Albury combination I've written about in the past working well together to Haupt's big second half minutes and, of course, the rock that was JT Rock off the bench. Big game for 7-footer.

WORST LINEUP

• WHO: Uriah Tenette, Deyton Albury, Chris Howell, Antonio Chol, Tomislav Buljan
• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -6 (0-6)
• TIME ON COURT: 1:27
• NOTE: On the other hand, the Albury/Tenette combination didn't solve all problems when this unit played. No points scored, no rebounds, one turnover. Good thing this combination didn't even see 90 seconds together. It just wasn't working.

VIDEO: Eric Olen and Jake Hall 

Here's my postgame video with UNM coach Eric Olen and Jake Hall:

Hey, remember that time before the game?

Here's the ABQJournal Sports Live! PREGAME show I did from the Siegel Center on Wednesday:

Meanwhile, back on the Mesa...

Their defense still isn't where it is expected to be back on Montezuma Mesa, but San Diego State's offense sure has looked the part.

In fact, as of Wednesday night, the Aztecs' offense was rated higher in KenPom than its defense. The last time an SDSU team finished the season with an offensive rating higher than its trademark defense was at the end of the 2009-10 season.

Around the Mountain...

There were four games around the Mountain West on Wednesday night with none scheduled for Thursday or Friday. Here's a look at some recent games and others that are coming up around the league.

TUESDAY

• Wyoming 106, South Dakota 79

• Colorado State 76, Dartmouth 55

• San Jose State 89, Long Beach State 83 (OT)

WEDNESDAY

• New Mexico 81, VCU 78

• Boise State 86, Duquesne 64

• San Diego State 89, Lamar 71

• Cal State Northridge 89, Fresno State 87

THURSDAY

• no games

FRIDAY

• no games

SATURDAY

• Utah State vs. Illinois State (in Salt Lake City), 3 p.m. MT

• Stanford at San Jose State, 5 p.m. MT

• Coastal Carolina at Grand Canyon, 6 p.m. MT

• Tennessee State vs. UNLV (in Henderson, Nevada), 7:30 p.m. MT

• Duquesne at Nevada, 8 p.m. MT

SUNDAY

• NAIA Northern New Mexico at Colorado State, 1 p.m, MT

• Florida Gulf Coast at New Mexico, 2 p.m. MT

• Saint Mary's vs. Boise State (in Idaho Falls, Idaho), 4 p.m. MT

Stats and stats...

Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted after Wednesday's game: New Mexico 81, VCU 78

And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: New Mexico 81, VCU 78

Up next...

For New Mexico: The Lobos host Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday in the Pit to conclude their nonconference schedule. The game will be available on Altitude (tv), TheMW.com (stream) and 770 AM/96.3 FM (radio).

For VCU: The Rams host Niagra on Monday.

Until next time...

Until next time, Stuart C. Siegel Center on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia…