Emptying the Notebook: Lobos' disruption defense kept Bulldogs off balance

Here are some notes, quotes, stats, trends and other odds & ends I emptied out of the old notebook after Wednesday's 83-74 UNM Lobos win over Fresno State in the Pit:

Disrupting D

UNM continues to have the No. 1 rated defense during Mountain West play.

They force teams into long, drawn out offensive possessions that, if working to perfection for the Lobos, end with the opposing team taking a long jump shot, often a 3-point attempt, that is either heavily contested or being taken from a spot on the floor or by a player whose numbers don't give the opponent a high probability of success.

On Wednesday, however, the Lobos defense seemed far more predicated on never even giving the Fresno State Bulldogs a chance to get a shot off whatsoever.

UNM had a season-high 18 steals (the most in a Mountain West game by UNM since having 19 against Colorado State in 2005), and turned 22 Fresno State turnovers into 29 points off turnovers — the second most points off turnovers for the season.

"Yeah, we pride ourselves on disruption, so we're trying to do that every game," said Lobo senior guard Luke Haupt. "Today, it was very clear that we were able to get disruption and get out and run."

Fresno State was without starting point guard Zaon Collins, something the team did a good job of keeping under wraps a long as it could. So the Lobos didn't really change any game plan to adjust to his being out. They were going to be heavy on the ball pressure either way. But with no Collins, it turned into a lopsided affair.

"Once we knew he wasn't playing, then we just sort of leaned into it," Lobos head coach Eric Olen said. "We always want to pressure the ball and then be disruptive, but without him, we just got into more matchups where we felt like we could do that, and we felt like we had them pushed out pretty far for a lot of their possessions and got a lot of disruption."

To say the least.

The Lobos 18 steals was the most in a Mountain West game this season vs. a Division I opponent (UNM also has the second most) and Wednesday was the seventh most in any Division I vs. Division I game.

Most steals by MW team vs. a DI opponent this season

• 18 — New Mexico vs. Fresno State (Wednesday)
• 16 — New Mexico at Air Force (Jan. 10)

Most steals in a DI game this season

• 26 — SMU vs. Arkansas State (Nov. 21)
• 21 — Saint Peter's vs. UMass Lowell (Nov. 22)
• 21 — Marquette vs. Dayton (Nov. 19)
• 19 — Iowa vs. Bucknell (Dec. 20)
• 19 — Tarleton State vs. Mississippi Valley (Dec. 16)
• 19 — Florida State vs. UT Martin (Nov. 18)
• 18 — New Mexico vs. Fresno State (Wednesday)
• 18 — High Point vs. Gardner Webb (Jan. 7)
• 18 — Tennessee State vs. UNC Asheville (Nov. 25)
• 18 — Gonzaga vs. Southern Utah (Nov. 17)
• 18 — Marquette vs. Albany (Nov. 3)

UNM points off turnovers 2025-26 (vs. DI)

• 32 — vs. UT Arlington (Nob. 8)
• 29 — vs. Fresno State (Wednesday)
• 22 — two times

Both the steals (18) and turnovers (22) were season highs for Fresno State, too.

As far as that particular magic number of 29 for the points off turnovers scored by UNM, it hasn't been done a lot in the past decade or so, but clearly is something that is a bit part of the Olen defense.

Here's a look at how many games the Lobos have had 29 or more points off turnovers in a game under each of the past four Lobo coaches (these are only counting games vs. DI teams):

• 2 times — Eric Olen (18 games vs. DI)
• 3 times — Richard Pitino (98 games vs. DI)
• 5 times — Paul Weir (115 games vs. DI)
• 0 times — Craig Neal (124 games vs. DI)

The gamer

Here's the gamer I filed from the Pit on Wednesday night:

• Lobo defense steals show, beats Fresno State

Shot Fake Jake

There have been a few nicknames thrown around for Lobo freshman Jake Hall this season.

And he admitted Wednesday that he, and his family, are well aware of a lot of them.

I've tried making "Shake and Jake" a thing when he goes up and under and has defenders confused, or even the "Jake Fake" when referencing his shot fakes.

"Better Call Hall", with the nod to Better Call Saul has become a thing on social media.

But I think Adam Diehl and the 101.7 ESPN radio crew probably have nailed the proper phrasing and cadence with the one Diehl said Wednesday night their afternoon show uses: "Shot Fake Jake."

Hall finished Wednesday's game with 16 points, six rebounds and two steals and hit three more 3s (more on that below) and was asked after the game about his increased comfort in the offense this season that allows him to show more and more of his offensive skill set, including those shot fakes.

"I think it was all just getting comfortable and kind of seeing what I could do within the offense and kind of just seeing what Coach lets me do," Hall said. "He's been he's been letting me rock out. So I've been getting more comfortable. And I think that's always been a part of my game — back down, middies and whatnot. He got pretty mad at my step back this game, but, yeah, (I'm) just getting more comfortable."

And as for the nicknames?

"Yeah, I've seen them. They're funny," Hall said. "All my friends and family are sending me them. It's really cool. They love it."

So, let's check in on where Hall ranks now among Lobo freshmen all-time on those 3-pointers.

Most 3s by UNM freshman

• 55 — Kendall Williams, 2011 (35 games)
• 54 — Jake Hall, 2026 (19 games)
• 54 — John Robinson II, 1999 (34 games)
• 44 — Kevin Henry, 1998 (32 games)
• 42 — Cullen Neal, 2014 (34 games)
• 40 — Charles Smith, 1994 (31 games)
• 40 — Rob Robbins, 1988 (36 games)

Red Panda delivers!

I posted a nearly four-minute video of the world's best halftime entertainer, Red Panda, so I'm not going to waste a lot of words here other than saying this:

SHE IS AWESOME!

Unfortunately for some, they were busy during halftime and couldn't see the GOAT's performance.

Don't worry, Lobo Nation and critiquers of postgame press conference questions, I was there to ask the hard-hitting ones of Eric Olen about the real star of the night, Red Panda.

And here are a couple pics from the Red Panda of the Journal photo department, Chancey Bush:

Steve Kirkland stat of the night

From the research of UNM men's basketball Sports Information Director Steve Kirkland, how about this company being kept by Lobo senior Luke Haupt.

The 6-foot-7 Haupt had a great stat sheet stuffer of a game on Wednesday with nine points, four rebounds, six assists, five steals and a blocked shot.

Per Kirkland, it was the fifth time in at least the past 15 seasons that a Lobo had at least six assists and five steals in a game.

Lobos with 6 assists/5 steals (past 15 years)

• Jaelen House — 3 times
• Donovan Dent — once
• Luke Haupt — once

They're still streaking...

Another home win for the Lobos means the home win streak is up to 22 in a row — 11-0 this season plus the last 11 home games of last season, meaning half the streak is now credited to Pitino's Lobos and half to Olen's Lobos.

That is tied for the fifth longest active home win streak in Division I basketball and is tied for the third longest in program history.

DI active home win streaks:

• 27 — St. Thomas (Summit League)
• 26 — Akron (MAC)
• 26 — Miami (Ohio) (MAC)
• 25 — Duke (ACC)
• 22 — New Mexico (Mountain West)
• 22 — Utah Valley (WAC)
• 21 — Saint Mary's (WCC)
• 20 — McNeese (Southland)

Technically speaking...

Last Tuesday, a visiting coach (Grand Canyon's Bryce Drew) drew a pair of technical fouls and was ejected from the game. It was the first opposing coach ejection in the Pit in a quarter century, and some fans felt it was deserved based on Drew's antics for yelling and being out on the court.

Contrast that with what happened Wednesday night with Olen, who drew his first technical foul as the Lobos coach in what I believe to be the calmest coaching technical I've ever seen.

(Side note, we've all heard of the announcer's jinx when a broadcaster talks about a player's free throw shooting success so much, that player misses a free throw was the praise is being heaped on? Well how about CBS Sports Network's Chris Lewis, who is one of the best doing what he does, talk with analyst and former coach Pete Gillen about Olen being so calm and laid back literally as he's being T-d up).

Here's the technical foul from the CBS Sports Network broadcast and then video of what Olen said about the technical, apparently just the third in his 21 year coaching history. 

Here's the technical foul from the CBS Sports Network broadcast and then video of what Olen said about the technical, apparently just the third in his 21 year coaching history,.

A good point, or three

The UNM Lobos have been making more 3-pointers in Mountain West play, and it's been coming from a lot more than just Jake Hall (though let's not kid ourselves, he's still as good a 3-point shooter as there is in the league).

UNM 10 nonconfrence DI games

• 2x 10 or more made 3-pointers
• 85 made 3-pointers
• 8.5 made 3s per game

UNM eight conference games

• 5X 10 or more made 3-pointers
• 78 made 3-pointers
• 11.0 made 3s per game

Their missing PG

Fresno State star point guard Zaon Collins did not play on Wednesday night.

Collins was not on the team's initial injury report required by the league to be turned in at 9 p.m. the night before games then was added as "questionable" to the report required by the league two hours before game time.

There wasn't really a way for anyone to know for sure if he would be playing until game time because Fresno State did very little on-court warmups, with the team back in the locker room for the final 30 minutes of warmups until game time, something other Lobo opponents have not done before.

No, Chol won't slow his roll

Antonio Chol missed his first seven shots on Wednesday — all 3-point attempts. He ended up with eight points on 3-of-11 shooting (2-of-10 from 3-point range).

And with his two made 3s (well, with just one of them), he remains the only Mountain West player to have hit a 3-pointer in every game this season.

Asked if that rough 3-point shooting night was something Eric Olen would want to see Chol address being stopping all the outside shooting, the coach said not really.

If they're good shots — and a lot of the misses on Wednesday were — the Olen believes in the formula and doesn't want Chol to slow his roll.

"No, we want him shooting those shots. I like his shot profile," Olen said. "If he continues to get them, we want him to keep shooting them. He's a high volume 3-point shooter who can do it at an efficient level. So he's playing exactly the way we want him to play. We're really pleased with how he's playing and his shot selection."

Tip of the cap

Here's a tip of the cap to one of the best opponent statlines you'll see in the Pit this season, maybe the best.

Freshman DeShawn Gory, who has come on strong since Christmas time for the Bulldogs, had the following statline:

• Points: 31
• Shooting: 12-19 (63.2%)
• 3-pointers: 4-6 (66.7%)
• Rebounds: 14
• Assists: 5
• Turnovers: 6
• Minutes: 36

DA 1K

Senior point guard Deyton Albury was honored at midcourt before the game for having scored his 1,000th career Division I point during Saturday's road loss at San Diego State.

Albury entered Wednesday's game with 1,004 points, and with 11 more scored on Wednesday against the Bulldogs, he's now at 1,015 in two and a half Division I seasons.

Deyton Albury DI scoring

• 544 — Queens College (2023-24)
• 265 — Utah State (2024-25)
• 206 — New Mexico (2025-26)
• 1,015 — TOTAL (84 DI games/12.1 ppg)

NOTE: Albury also scored 511 junior college points while playing at Chipola College in Marianna, Florida. (Quick math, that's a total of 1,526 collegiate points.

Wednesday, DA did his work inside...

And out...

This team did this to that team!

Don't ever compare scores.

Like, ever.

It doesn't mean anything. Different games, different matchups, different refs, different circumstances. Comparing scores is meaningless.

So, let's compare some scores, to see if UNM's ugly, disjointed, rough around the edges 9-point win over Fresno State is like anything else the Bulldogs have had so far this season against the other top teams in the Miountain West.

• 1-point home loss to Nevada (66-65)
• 9-point home loss to Utah State (72-63)
• 9-point road loss to New Mexico (83-74)
• 19-point road loss at San Diego State (71-52)

So, what should you read into all this?

Nothing, really. Thanks for your time.

Legend in the house!

It probably deserved a lot more attention than it got, but world champion miler Josh Kerr, the former UNM Lobo national champion, was in the Pit on Wednesday and got a nice round of applause when pointed out to the crowd.

Also, apparently when you are the world champion in the 1,500 meters, you are comfortable with seats about 1,500 meters from the court.

(Really? A former Lobo National Champion and a World Champion can't get a little closer to the court?!)

Tic-tac-toe drama!

Once again, they pulled it off.

UNM's game promotions crew managed to find a participant for the in-game tic-tac-toe layup game who apparently didn't know how to play tic-tac-toe.

Attendance...

The announced attendance for Wednesday's Fresno State at New Mexico game in the Pit: 11,924

Pit games 2025-26:

• 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
• 12,204 — Dec. 14 vs. Florida Gulf Coast
• 12,037 — Nov. 26 vs. Alabama State
• 11,924 — Wednesday 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

MY TWO CENTS: I think UNM basketball attendance has largely been fine this season. Wednesday's game, with Red Panda and a team that is playing for a Mountain West championship getting under 12K was honestly the first time this season I was left just unimpressed with the fans overall.

Still, a great number for DI basketball. But don't tell me Alabama State, Florida Gulf Coast or San Jose State in December before we knew UNM was playing its way into a potential Mountain West championship run should have all been better home attendance numbers than Wednesday.

Series notes

UNM now leads the all-time series 22-21 with UNM having won the last five games in the series.

Wednesday was the first time the two teams have played when both programs have a .500 or better record since March 3, 2018, in the Pit — the regular season finale between a 21-9 (11-6 MW) Fresno State team (record entering the game) and the 16-14 (11-6) UNM Lobos in the first season under head coach Paul Weir.

Of course with the Lobos winning on Wednesday, Fresno State is now 9-10 overall.

Plus/minus...

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

NEW MEXICO

• +13 Tomislav Buljan (30:37)
• +11 Jake Hall (30:04)
• +10 Luke Haupt (31:29)
• +9 Deyton Albury (21:38)
• +5 Tajavis Miller (21:49)
• +3 Antonio Chol (26:42)
• +2 Milos Vicentic (1:44)
• -2 Uriah Tenette (28:18)
• -6 JT Rock (7:39)

FRESNO STATE

• 0 David Douglas Jr. (28:36)
• -1 Bastien Rieber (24:02)
• -4 DeShawn Gory (36:35)
• -4 Wilson Jacques (32:09)
• -7 Jake Heidbreder (39:34)
• -8 DJ Stickman (16:56)
• -10 Jac Mani (9:22)
• -11 Cameron Faas (12:46)

Line 'em up...

The UNM Lobos played nine players and used 12 unique lineup combinations on Wednesday. The Bulldogs played eight players and used 12 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: +12 (24-12)
• TIME ON COURT: 10:37
• NOTE: I say it a lot, but when your starters are also the best combination on the floor for the game, and play more than a quarter of the game together, things usually turn out pretty well for you. Case in point, Wednesday. With the Lobos starting five, the score was doubled up and it was thanks to offense (1.3 points per possession) and defense (six steals).

2ND BEST LINEUP

• WHO: Uriah Tenette, Jake Hall, Luke Haupt, Tajavis Miller, Tomislav Buljan
• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6 (18-12)
• TIME ON COURT: 10:39
• NOTE: I don't usually do a "2nd best" lineup here when the starters are the best, but in this case, this unit actually ended up playing more time on the floor together than the starting five, though three of these players are on both units (the difference being this group has Uriah Tenette and Tajavis Miller instead of Deyton Albury and Antonio Chol). 15 rebounds is impressive, but also speaks to this unit didn't exactly shoot very well (0.89 points per possession).

WORST LINEUP

• WHO: Uriah Tenette, Jake Hall, Luke Haupt, Antonio Chol, Tomislav Buljan
• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -4 (17-21)
• TIME ON COURT: 5:16
• NOTE: Uriah Tenette in for Deyton Albury bore the brunt of some of the ugly minutes late where Fresno State scored a bunch of its points. Allowing 21 points in just over five minutes is just awful. But the way the game ended, it's hard to read a whole lot into that if only because I've not seen any stretch of a game this season (19 games in now) play out quite like that, so, for now, I'm chalking up the final five minutes Wednesday to a very unique stretch of game that likely doesn't mean a whole lot because it likely won't really happen again that way.

AND THEM?

• NOTE: Fresno State had one lineup combination that was plus-12, outscoring UNM 37-25 in 13:35. A lot of that was in that weird late stretch of the game, but nonetheless, this combination's scoring (1.35 points per possession, 2.73 points per minute) were pretty wild. That combination: Bastien Rieber, Jake Heidbreder, David Douglas Jr., DeShawn Gory, Wilson Jacques

VIDEO: Eric Olen, Luke Haupt, Jake Hall

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

Pregame in the Pit (w/ UNM assistant Scott Waterman)

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. (Also, we were joined by special guest Scott Waterman, UNM Lobos' Assistant to the Head Coach).

Meanwhile, at GCU...

Was it or wasn't it?

A pair of Makaih Williams free throws with 1.8 seconds left in the game lifts Grand Canyon to a home win over the last unbeaten team in league play, San Diego State. Why were the Aztecs the final unbeaten team in league play? That's because the second-to-last unbeaten team in Mountain West play, Utah State, lost at Grand Canyon just four days ago.

So, checking notes, GCU loses by 23 last Tuesday in the Pit.

GCU beats then-No. 23 and first place Utah State at home on Saturday for the Aggies first loss in conference.

GCU beats first place San Diego State at home on Wednesday for the Aztecs first loss in conference.

That's a wild eight days for one team.

Meanwhile, back on Tuesday night...

Yeah, this one is worth going back to Tuesday night for in case any of you missed the news. UNLV, a 14.5-point underdog at Utah State, handed the Aggies their second-consecutive loss, this one an 86-76 defeat in front of the Hurd.

Around the Mountain...

There were two games around the Mountain West on Wednesday night. Here's a look at recent scores since the last Lobos game and some upcoming games around the league:

TUESDAY

• Boise State 81, Wyoming 65
• Colorado State 81, Air Force 52
• Nevada 87, San Jose State 54
• UNLV 86, Utah State 76

WEDNESDAY

• New Mexico 83, Fresno State 74
• Grand Canyon 70, San Diego State 69

FRIDAY

• Utah State at Colorado State, 8 p.m. MT (FS1)

SATURDAY

• San Jose State at Wyoming, 2 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• San Diego State at UNLV, 2 p.m. MT (CBS)
• Air Force at Boise State, 2 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• Grand Canyon at Fresno State, 5:30 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• Nevada at New Mexico, 6 p.m. MT (FS1)

Mountain West standings

Here are the conference standings through Wednesday's games:

(listed alphabetically where records are same)

• 7-1 San Diego State
• 6-2 Nevada
• 6-2 New Mexico
• 6-2 Utah State
• 5-2 Grand Canyon
• 5-2 UNLV
• 3-5 Boise State
• 3-5 Colorado State
• 3-5 Fresno State
• 2-6 Wyoming
• 1-7 San Jose State
• 0-8 Air Force

Stats and stats...

Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted after Wednesday's game: New Mexico 83, Fresno State 74

And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: New Mexico 83, Fresno State 74

Grammer's Guesses

OK, 1-1 on the night for the Guesses and my daughter's coin flips went 0-2, so I'm back in the lead.

But with the way both games ended Wednesday night in relation to the point spreads, yeeesh. What a mess. UNM was blowing out Fresno State, then the Bulldogs score 25 points in the final 5:36 to cover the spread, with a ton being at the free throw line. And at Grand Canyon, they're still searching for the contact on that final foul that allowed the Lopes to come from one point down to one point up and win with free throws with 1.8 seconds left.

And that's why you should NEVER GAMBLE!

But if you do, always make sure to take my betting advice!

SEASON STANDINGS:

• Grammer's Guesses: 26-21
• My daughter's coin: 25-22

Up next

For New Mexico: The Lobos host Nevada at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Pit in a game being televised on FS1.

For Fresno State: The Bulldogs host Grand Canyon on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PT in Fresno (5:30 p.m. MT).

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