Emptying the Notebook: Lobos find Tru (Washington) composure under fire in huge road win

LOGAN, Utah — Here are some extra notes, quotes, stats, videos, trends and other odds & ends I was able to empty of the ol' notebook after Saturday's 82-63 Lobo game against Utah State:

Tru progress...

Tru Washington got the Jaelen House treatment in the Lobos' 82-63 road win Saturday night in a hostile environment in Logan.

House, the former Lobo guard who Washington has specifically noted as a role model of sorts in terms of his high-energy defense, was harassed relentlessly last March in Logan by the Hurd, Utah State's loud, aggressive and highly-coordinated, student section.

Atop "The Bull Sheet", the unofficial scouting report for the Hurd, is the section called "The Dirt." In that section, it tells students who to go at the hardest and why.

So, target No. 1 on Saturday for the Lobos:

Not MW Player of the Year frontrunner Donovan Dent ...

Not double-double machine Nelly Junior Jospeh ...

Not the easy target Richard Pitino, whose dad apparently coached basketball, too ...

Tru Washington was, for some reason, the player the Hurd chose to go at the hardest.

The reasoning for that in "The Bull Sheet," which is available online for each game relays allegations that Washington and walk-on Shane Douma-Sanchez got into a physical altercation on a charter flight in November, leading to Douma-Sanchez filing suit against UNM. Douma-Sanchez's lawsuit does not state the name of the player who allegedly punched him, and no individual has been charged related to Douma-Sanchez's allegations. UNM has launched an investigation into the alleged incident.

Saying he was a wanna-be UFC fighter, the student section chanted "U-F-C! U-F-C!" every time Washington touched the ball, and got far more personal, albeit less coordinated whenever he was near their end of the court.

By the end of the game, the Hurd had to tap out as Washington, in a lot of ways, was the symbol of composure and patience that the Lobos needed to weather the hostile environment and roll to a blowout road victory.

While on March 9, Jaelen House looked the Hurd in the eye as they harassed him mercilessly and responded with 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and a LOSS, Washington on Saturday had a statline that ended with a WIN.

Tru Washington vs. Utah State:

• 13 points

• 8 rebounds

• 2 3-pointers

• 1 assist

• 2 steals

• Repeated clapping of his hands and glances over to the student section after key plays in key moments, of which he seemed to have plenty.

• 1 win

"I feel like right now, Tru is really playing a great game," Lobo center Nelly Junior Joseph said. "One thing I notice about him is he's mentally strong. He does not let (things) like turnovers get to him. He goes on to the next play. He's playing really good right now."

That wasn't always the case with Washington, who had a tendency to try and make up for mistakes by making a play on the very next possession, often leading to silly fouls. It was almost like clockwork at times last season: A Washington turnover or bad shot on offense would be followed by a defensive foul within 10-15 seconds as he tried relentlessly to get a steal from the other team.

"I thought it was a great — it was like a Jaelen House-type performance," UNM coach Richard Pitino said. "You've got a student section that's yelling all types of insane things, and more power to them. It's a great fan base. And Tru, you saw him kind of relish it a little bit. And he kept his head, he kept his cool. I've got no problem with guys feeding off the crowd, good or bad. I've shown that with Jaelen House.

"But the rebounding part, we needed. They were shooting so many 3s and Tru did an amazing job with eight rebounds."

Pitino may have liked the rebounding he got from Washington, but the 13 points was what hit the magic mark for the Lobos.

Washington has now scored in double figures 12 times this season. The Lobos record this season when Washington scored in double figures: 12-0.

The gamer...

Here is the gamer I filed Saturday night from the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah:

• UNM Lobos overwhelm Utah State and grab control of Mountain West

Ten and won ...

Saturday's win for the Lobos improves the team to 10-1 in Mountain West play.

That is the best start for UNM in the 26-season history of the Mountain West and the third best conference start of all-time.

UNM's best conference starts:

• 10-0 — 1977-78 (WAC)

• 10-0 — 1944-45 (Border Conference)

• *10-1 — 2024-25 (Mountain West

• 9-1 — 2013-14 (Mountain West)

• 9-1 — 1997-98 (WAC)

* = still active.

Frontcourt finishers...

UNM's starting frontcourt of 6-foot-10 center Nelly Junior Joseph and 6-9 forward Mustapha Amzil were, well, less than dominant in the first half on Saturday in Logan.

They combined in the first half for 6 points and took only four shots and zero free throw attempts.

In the second half, they combined for 25 points on 8-of-9 shooting.

For Amzil, whose plantar fasciitis in his foot left the team wondering until game time if he'd even play, he ended up leading all scorers.

Mustapha Amzil at Utah State:

• 16 points (game-high)

• 4-6 FG

• 2-4 3-point FG (both makes in 2nd half)

• 6-7 FTs (all in second half)

• 3 rebounds

As for Junior Joseph, who had a perfect night shooting (7-7 FG, 1-1 FT), his double-double is becoming expected at this point.

Nelly Junior Joseph at Utah State:

• 15 points (second highest in game)

• 7-7 FG

• 1-1 FT

• 13 rebounds

• 1 blocks

Junior Joseph now has 11 double-doubles this season, 54 in his career (fourth most among active players) and one in three-consecutive games.

His 7-of-7 FG game is the best for a Lobo this season without a miss and third best of any Mountain West player:

Most FGs w/o miss for MW player:

• 11-11 — Aubin Gaterestse, Utah State, vs. Alcorn (Nov. 6)

• 8-8 — Wesley Celichowski, Air Force, vs San Diego State (Jan. 22)

• 7-7 — Nelly Junior Joseph, UNM, at Utah State (Saturday)

• 7-7 — Magoon Gwath, SDSU, at Nevada (Jan. 25)

• 7-7 — Tyson Degenhart, Boise State, vs. Utah Tech (Def. 3)

Finally, the Lobos leave the L in Logan...

Saturday's win for the Lobos was the first win in Logan since 2015.

How long ago was that?

Stew Morrill, the guy whose name is on the court now a decade after his retirement, was coaching the Aggies the last time UNM beat them on their home court on Jan. 10, 2015.

That means the Lobos never beat the Aggies in Logan while they were coached by:

• Tim Duryea

• Craig Smith

• Ryan Odom

• Danny Sprinkle

Last 10 Lobo games in Logan...

• W, 82-63 (Saturday)

• L, 87-85 (March 9, 2024)

• L, 84-73 (Feb. 1, 2023)

• L, 81-56 (Feb. 22, 2022)

• L, 71-55 (Feb. 20, 2019)

• L, 80-90 (Jan. 31, 2018)

• L, 79-75 (Jan. 4, 2017)

• L, 80-72 (Feb. 9, 2016)

• W, 66-60 (Jan. 10, 2015)

• W, 78-64 (Jan. 28, 2014)

NOTE: Before that 2014 win, the Lobos hadn't played in Logan, Utah, in more than a half century — a 76-64 loss on Feb. 2, 1962.

It's been awhile since anyone at UNM was able to post a winning social media graphic after a men's basketball win in Logan, so they had some fun with it, playing off both the Hurd's "Winning team! Losing team!" chant, but also on the "Spectrum magic" phrase they use to describe big games in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, a phrase that also adorned 3,500 t-shirts given away to students on Saturday.

The 3s travel...

For a game in which the Lobos shot 1-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half, it's quite impressive that I found a positive stat about 3-point shooting for the team in this one.

But here we go...

The Lobos were 7-of-22 (31.8%) from 3-point range on Saturday with three players hitting multiple 3-pointers. They were:

Mustapha Amzil (2-for-4) ...

Tru Washington (2-for-5) ...

and Jovan Milicevic (2-for-5) ...

Saturday marked the first time this season that the Lobos have had three players with multiple 3-pointers in the same game away from the Pit. (UNM has done it three times in the Pit).

The last time UNM has three players with multiple 3-pointers made in a game away from the Pit was on Feb. 13, 2024, at Nevada when Jamal Mashburn Jr. (3-3), Mustapha Amzil (3-6) and Jemarl Baker Jr. (2-4) did it.

Those soul-crushing stretches...

I've written about them before, and will briefly again now.

The Lobos haven't just had nice 10-0 runs this season, they've had long, extended stretches that just visibly demoralize the opposition with defense being the key.

Here's a look at some of those runs Mountain West wins that really changed the complexion of the game:

• 22-8 to close Dec. 4 game vs. San Jose State

• 21-0 first half run at Colorado State on Dec. 28

• 17-1 to start 2nd half at Wyoming on Jan. 7

• 23-2 to close out first half vs. Boise State on Jan. 17

• 25-4 to start game in win vs. Fresno State on Jan. 20

• 45-13 to close the game Saturday in Logan, Utah, after Utah State took a 48-39 lead.

We get it. You have depth...

Utah State boasts its a team with depth and balance. And they should be happy about that. Entering Saturday's game, they did, in fact, have eight guys averaging 6.5 points or more.

A stat in their pregame notes package points out that the team's 30.43 bench points per game ranks 21st in college basketball. That's great (Saturday it was a 28-24 bench advantage for the Aggies over the Lobos).

But I've been doing the "Line 'em up" section of this ETC column for a few years now (you'll see it below). I don't remember seeing what Utah State did Saturday very often, if ever. They didn't even have one lineup up combination stay on the court together for more than 4:44.

Instead, there were 12 players who got in the game with 20 different lineup combinations, none ever playing long enough together to find rhythm.

There's a reason most coaches shorten their bench to 7-8 players at most and limit lineup combinations late in the season. By this time of the season, a coach should have an idea of who works best together and let that group/lineup actually play together for 10-plus minutes.

UNM's starting five on Saturday played 15:39 together. Utah State's starting five played just 3:47 together, but did outscore UNM by 4 points in that team. Not bad for a game you lost by 19.

Speaking of the bench...

The Lobos bench was tremendous on Saturday. Yes, it was outscored 28-24, but the first half minutes put up by even freshmen Kayde Dotson and Jovan Milicevic, and especially C.J. Noland, were huge in keeping things within reach when the Lobos were clearly struggling to find any good rhythm.

Consider these bench highlights for UNM:

• 24 points (+2.4 better than season average)

• C.J. Noland 11 points off bench

• Braden Appelhans had a +11 in the +/- stat despite playing just 3:40 and not even taking a shot.

• Jovan Milicevic 8 points and hit two of UNM's seven 3-pointers.

The Hurd showed up early ...

First come first serve on when you sit in the student section. So, the Hurd arrived early...

... and two hours before doors open ...

Turns out, the first of the Hurd to start camping was on Thursday evening.

Good for them, The Hurd is one of the cool things about college athletics and college basketball in particular.

I love the Hurd and love what great student sections, including the emerging Howl Raisers at UNM, can bring to the sport.

Even if some of them really need to get bigger goals in life...

NET gains...

Good news/bad news on the NET front this Sunday morning for the Lobos.

First, the bad. That awful home loss to in-state rival New Mexico State on Dec. 7 is still dragging you down. NM State lost by 30 on Saturday at Western Kentucky, dropping their NET ranking fro 158 to 175, meaning the Lobos have a Quad 4 loss (the cut off Lobo fans are looking for there is to have NMSU get to at least 160 in the NET for the Dec. 7 loss to move "up" to a Quad 3 loss).

The good news on the NET front for the day is the big win oat Utah State moves UNM from 51 to 45, which is the second best in the conference.

Mountain West NET as of Sunday, Feb. 2:

39 — Utah State

45 — New Mexico

49 — San Diego State

50 — Boise State

77 — Colorado State

78 — Nevada

104 — UNLV

162 — San Jose State

169 — Wyoming

273 — Fresno State

305 — Air Force

Attendance...

The announced attendance Saturday night in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum for UNM at Utah State: 10,270

Speaking of home crowds...

On Monday, I wrote an "Around the Mountain" column with this headline:

• Around the Mountain: What happened to it being tough to win on the road in this league?

It pointed out that, as of that writing when 50 of 110 Mountain West games had been played, 26 home teams won conference games and 24 road teams win.

For a league that used to pride itself on being so nearly impossible to win on the road, that 52.0% home win percent would be an all-time low for the Mountain West, who some years have had the home win percentage climb into the eye-popping 70s.

Well, since I wrote that, the Mountain West went 9-1 this week with home teams winning. The one exception, UNM on Saturday.

So...

Mountain West home win percentage:

• HOME WINS: 35

• ROAD WINS: 25

• PCT: 58.3%

• Conference rank: 17th out of 31

Meanwhile, in Houston...

Our old friend J.T. Toppin, now playing for Texas Tech, was ejected early in Saturday's game at Houston for this play — one the referee apparently felt was an intentional, non-basketball contact to the groin of an opponent.

... and upon hearing the news that the play would result in Toppin's ejection, Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland then got ejected, too (he certainly earned his, at least).

Did you hear? (or see?) ...

I posted episode 97 of the Talking Grammer podcast on Thursday, a fun conversation with UNM Lobo win Filip Borovicanin, the 6-9 University of Arizona transfer who is from Serbia.

You can watch on the embedded video here, or click the link below for more links on how to watch or listen. (or, of course, download it wherever you get your favorite podcasts).

Talking Grammer, Ep. 97: UNM Lobo wing Filip Borovicanin

The podcast also led to this article in Friday's paper:

• Filip Borovicanin's game is flourishing, and he has a lot of people to thank

Plus/minus...

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

NEW MEXICO

+17 Nelly Junior Joseph (25:49)

+16 C.J. Noland (20:58)

+16 Donovan Dent (35:31)

+12 Jovan Milicevic (9:47)

+11 Braden Appelhans (3:40)

+9 Mustapha Amzil (28:27)

+4 Tru Washington (30:48)

+3 Kayde Dotson (4:29)

+3 Quinton Webb (1:10)

+2 Filip Borovicanin (25:10)

+2 Atiki Ally Atiki (14:11)

UTAH STATE

+4 Tucker Anderson (3:47)

-4 Ian Martinez (25:27)

-4 Isaac Davis (1:10)

-4 Jaxon Smith (1:10)

-5 Isaac Johnson (4:18)

-6 Aubin Gateretse (19:52)

-6 Deyton Albury (25:10)

-7 Dexter Akano (24:55)

-12 Karson Templen (20:45)

-13 Mason Falslev (33:24)

-16 Jordy Barnes (9:33)

-22 Drake Allen (30:29)

Line 'em up...

The UNM Lobos played 11 players and used 16 unique lineup combinations. The Aggies played 12 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: Donovan Dent, Tru Washington, Filip Borovicanin, Mustapha Amzil, Nelly Junior Joseph

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +3 (28-25)

• TIME ON COURT: 15:39

• NOTE: The starters were in the plus. That's a good start, so to speak. But this was far from a stellar night for the starting five, scoring just 1.08 points per possession and committing seven of the team's 15 turnovers.

BEST LINEUP (Part 1)

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

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +7 (12-5)

• TIME ON COURT: 3:56

• NOTE: C.J. Noland was big for the Lobos on Saturday and his stepping in for Filip Borovicanin and not being hesitant to attack the rim (did you see that dunk attempt in the second half!?!?) was a key part of the Lobos win.

BEST LINEUP (Part 2)

• WHO: Donovan Dent, C.J. Noland, Braden Appelhans, Jovan Milicevic, Nelly Junior Joseph

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +8 (8-0)

• TIME ON COURT: 1:37

• NOTE: Clearly this was a very short time on the floor together, but at 8-0, it's gotta get some love in the "BEST LINEUP" section, even if I did have to pretty much just add a "Part 2" to the title.

WORST LINEUP

• WHO: Donovan Dent, Tru Washington, Filip Borovicanin, Mustapha Amzil, Atiki Ally Atiki

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -3 (1-4)

• TIME ON COURT: 2:03

• NOTE: Hard to find a lineup that was surely the "WORST" of the game. There were lots of tread water type of Lobo lineups on Saturday, but none that really just tanked it.

VIDEO: Postgame with Pitino and Nelly ...

Here is my Albuquerque Journal postgame interviews with Lobo basketball coach Richard Pitino and Nelly Junior Joseph after Saturday's game:

Congrats, Dutch...

Hey, it doesn't matter that Nos. 99 and 100 were one-possession nail-biters wins on your home court against Wyoming and San Jose State. All that matters is the W.

So, congrats to San Diego State's Brian Dutcher for getting Mountain West win No. 100 on Saturday in a 63-61 win over Wyoming.

Around the Mountain...

There was a full slate of five Mountain West games on Saturday with four more coming Tuesday and another near-the-top-of-the-standings showdown Wednesday night in the Pit:

SATURDAY

• Boise State 82, Fresno State 60

• San Jose State 75, Air Force 64

• San Diego State 63, Wyoming 61

• New Mexico 82, Utah State 63

• Nevada 71, UNLV 65

TUESDAY

• Utah State at Wyoming, 5:30 PST/6:30 MST (TheMW)

• Nevada at Air Force, 6 p.m. PST/7 p.m. MST (TheMW)

• San Jose State at Fresno State, 7 p.m. PST/8 p.m. MST (TheMW)

• Boise State at UNLV, 8 p.m. PST/9 p.m. MST (CBS Sports Network)

WEDNESDAY

• Colorado State at New Mexico, 7:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. MST (FS1)

FRIDAY

• San Jose State at Boise State, 6 p.m. PST/7 p.m. MST (FS1)

• Utah State at Fresno State, 7 p.m. PST/8 p.m. MST (TheMW)

SATURDAY

• New Mexico at Air Force, 1 p.m. PST/2 p.m. MST (TheMW)

• UNLV at Wyoming, 1 p.m. PST/2 p.m. MST (TheMW)

• San Diego State at Colorado State, 7 p.m. PST/8 p.m. MST (CBS Sports Network)

Mountain West standings...

Here are the Mountain West standings through Saturday's games:

10-1 New Mexico

9-2 Utah State

8-2 Colorado State

8-3 San Diego State

7-4 Boise State

5-6 UNLV

4-7 Nevada

4-7 San Jose State

4-7 Wyoming

1-10 Fresno State

0-11 Air Force

Home/road standings...

Mountain West home/road (+/-) standings through Saturday (plus 1 road win, -1 home loss):

+5 New Mexico

+3 Utah State

+3 Colorado State

+2 San Diego State

+1 Boise State

0 UNLV

-1 Wyoming

-2 Nevada

-2 San Jose State

-4 Fresno State

-5 Air Force

Stats and stats...

Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted late Saturday night: New Mexico 82, Utah State 63

And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: New Mexico 82, Utah State 63

Grammer's Guesses...

The Guesses go 2-3 on Saturday and I'm 28-32 on the season.

My daughter's coin flip picks also went 2-3 and she's now 37-23 on the season.

Up next...

For New Mexico: The Lobos host Colorado State on Wednesday night in the Pit.

For Utah State: The Aggies play at Wyoming on Tuesday in Laramie, Wyo.

Until next time...

Until next time, Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, on the campus of Utah State University in Logan, Utah ...

Lobo schedule/results...

Photos!

Photos: New Mexico dominates Utah State