Emptying the Notebook: Lobos need to get their House in order

MORAGA, Calif. — Here are a few extra notes, quotes, stats, videos and whatever else I managed to empty out of the old notebook after Thursday's 72-58 Lobos loss to Saint Mary's:

House value is high...

First, some love for three Lobos I think are vital to the UNM season.

Jamal Mashburn Jr. is a third-year captain, returning leading scorer in the Mountain West and the Lobos need him if they are going to be really good this season.

Nelly Junior Joseph is a multiple-time All-Conference center who isn't the offensive threat Morris Udeze was, but can rebound and defend as well as anyone in the Mountain West and the Lobos need him if they are going to be really good this season.

Donovan Dent is a star sophomore who is coming into his own, clearly would start on probably every team in the conference, is currently leading the team in scoring and assists and the Lobos need him if they are going to be really good this season.

HOWEVER ...

It is increasingly clear that Jaelen House, the energizer bunny point guard who can score, pass, get in the paint, pester opposing players, steal the ball, drive opposing players/fans/coaches crazy, drive his own fans/teammates/coaches crazy, too, is absolutely essential for the Lobos not only to be good this season, but without him, dare I say they may be merely average?

After all, the 6-foot, fifth-year senior has missed only three games against Division I opponents and the Lobos have lost all three by double digits.

Thursday at No. 23 Saint Mary's

• Gaels 72, Lobos 58

• Lobos trailed by as many as 22

Feb. 10 at Air Force

• Falcons 89, Lobos 77

• Falcons finished 10th in 11-team Mountain West last season

Feb. 14 vs. Wyoming in the Pit

• Cowboys 70, Lobos 56

• Wyoming finished dead last in the Mountain West, and three weeks later with House back, UNM beat them by double digits in the Mountain West Tournament.

"One of our best players was out. We have not shown in three games that he's been out that we can play at the level we need to," Lobos coach Richard Pitino said. "We were obviously really bad last year. It felt very, very similar to those two games where we just were not ready for the moment."

House made the trip to Moraga this week and did so because the team was hopeful he could play.

They decided on game day that just wasn't going to be possible.

Pre-game story: UNM Lobos point guard Jaelen House to miss Thursday night's game at No. 23 Saint Mary's

UNM Lobos point guard Jaelen House to miss Thursday night's game at No. 23 Saint Mary's

It's still not clear when House will be back, but it is very clear they need him, even if Dent is filling in on the pure point guard front more than admirably. It's just that House does so many things — frankly so many unorthodox things — that can't be replicated by anyone else on the Lobos roster.

"On both ends, he brings so much," Lobo guard Quinton Webb said. "Even just watching film before this game (of last year's UNM/Saint Mary's game), his intensity on defense — he's picking up 90 feet, he's just speeding up the (opposing team's) game so much."

The gamer ...

Here was the quick gamer I filed at the buzzer on Thursday night and went back in and added just a couple quotes to later on (print deadlines and late-starting game in the Pacific time zone creates some issues for us deadline reporters) ...

No. 23 Saint Mary's jumps out to early lead, never lets up in win over UNM

It started off so nice ...

The tiny campus of Saint Mary's College in Moraga, Calif., genuinely is one of the most beautiful in the country.

A number to know: 40%

The Lobos ended Thursday's game with a 43.5 assist rate, assisting on 10 of their 23 made field goals.

That's what they ended with, so that's what I want to share first.

But I also think it's fair to point out that with Saint Mary's deep bench emptied (the Gaels played 13 players) and in the game in the final 3 minutes, the Lobos managed to get 3 of those 10 assists over the course of their final five made baskets in what essentially was garbage time.

Prior to the 2:48 mark, in the part of the game where it was actually being decided, UNM had assisted on 7 of 18 made field goals for a 38.9% assist rate.

Why is that significant?

Saint Mary's has ranked in the top 4 in the country (out of 362 Division I teams this season) in defensive assist rate each of the past four seasons, holding teams under 40% in each of those four seasons.

Here is a look at SMC's defensive assist rate the past four seasons with A%, national rank and how many Division I teams were under 40% in those seasons:

• 2022-23: 37.3% (3rd) — 8 of 363

• 2021-22: 36.7% (1st) — 6 of 368

• 2020-21: 38.4% (2nd) — 2 of 348

• 2019-20: 39.3% (4th) — 7 of 353

No, it's not a common stat. But think about being one of only a handful of teams for four consecutive years absolutely dominating one aspect of the defensive end of the court — preventing efficient ball movement.

'Battery Near End'

I assure you, I had nothing to do with the audio on the online stream on Thursday, or the "Battery Near End" alert that was on the screen much of the game or any of the video production whatsoever for the ESPN+ feed.

But from what I saw on social media, it was ... well ... not great.

At least one Lobo fan had a positive spin for the ESPN+ audio issues...

Dollars & cents ...

UNM got paid $75,000 to play Thursday's game.

They also got paid $75,000 for last year's game, which came with a nice win, too.

So, if you're keeping game contract notes at home, well, you're weird. But if you are, that's $150,000 Saint Mary's has paid the University of New Mexico over the past two seasons to play two games in the University Credit Union Pavilion and the teams split, 1-1.

• Nov. 30, 2022: UNM 69, SMC 65 (UNM gets $75,000)

• Nov. 9, 2023: SMC 72, UNM 58 (UNM gets $75,000)

While UNM would have loved for this to be a home-and-home series and got Saint Mary's to play in the Pit, the Gaels weren't interested, at least not for now.

Pitino did say earlier in the week he hopes it can happen, though.

"I talked to Coach Bennett (SMC coach Randy Bennett) about maybe returning something here (in the Pit in Albuquerque) because I think these are two really good programs on the West Coast," Pitino said.

Gol'DENT' State warrior ...

Donovan Dent, the 2022 Mr. California selection as the best high school basketball player in the state when he was leading Corona Centennial to a state title and No. 2 national ranking, went 3-1 in California with the Lobos last year and now starts this season 0-1.

But, much like a year ago when the Lobos upset Saint Mary's, he still shined on Thursday in his home state despite the loss.

Dent ended Thursday night with the following stat line:

• Points: 15 (career high)

• Assists: 5

• Turnovers: 2

• Steals: 3

• Fouls drawn: 5

Aiden Mahaney is good, too ...

For those Lobo fans who didn't know the name before Thursday night, you know it now.

Aiden Mahaney, just a sophomore like Dent, is one one of the best guards in the country. He scored 21 of his game-high 25 points in the first half on Thursday and had the game been closer down the stretch, he easily would have had far more than just three shot attempts in the second half (he had 16 FGA in the first half)

The 25 points on Thursday matches a career high for Mahaney, who has now hit that number three times:

• Thursday vs UNM: 25 points

(4-9 2FG, 5-10 3FG, 2-4 FT)

• Jan. 12 vs. Loyola Marymount: 25 points

(8-12 2FG, 2-8 3FG, 3-3 FT)

• Nov. 7, 2022, vs. Oral Roberts: 25 points

(3-7 2FG, 5-12 3FG, 4-7 FT)

Attendance ...

The announced attendance for Thursday's game in the 3,500 seat University Credit Union Pavilion: 3,500

No, not every seat was taken, but it was close and it was very much an intense little small court environment.

I don't think the crowd bothered the Lobos as much as the size of the Saint Mary's interior defenders, but props to SMC for creating a pretty cool atmosphere for the night. A year ago, the announced attendance was 3,088.

Nelly's first double-double ...

He's been in the country 17 days now. Nelly Junior Joseph was ready for his first double-double as a Lobo.

The 6-foot-10 Iona transfer, clearly still getting acclimated to his new team, new school, elevation, etc., had a rough first half on Thursday but still managed to be just fine in the post overall on Thursday with the size of the Gaels.

Junior Joseph's final stat line:

• 11 points

• 13 rebounds (7 def, 6 off)

• 1 blocked shot

Junior Joseph's first double-double coming in Game 2 at UNM matches how long it took him to get one at Iona.

Three years ago, in his second game with the Gaels (the East Coast version of the Gaels; Saint Mary's being the West Coast version), he had 14 points and 10 rebounds in an 82-74 win over Hofstra on Dec. 5, 2020.

On the one hand ...

Did you know the Lobos were one of only eight 362 Division I teams to open the season playing back to back games against NCAA Tournament teams from last season?

And they also happened to open the season with back-to-back games against teams picked to win their league this season — Texas Southern in the SWAC, Saint Mary's in the West Coast Conference.

But on the other hand ...

Thursday was likely UNM's only chance in 13 nonconference games for a Quad 1 victory within the NCAA's NET ranking.

For a quick refresher on what that means, here's what Pitino told his team:

"I told them, you've got four quads, right? The key to this whole thing is winning as many 1s and 2s as you can and trying to stay as clean as you can the 3s and the 4s," Pitino said. "This won't hurt us. This is a really, really good program that we're trying to get to the consistency that they've gotten to. We've just got to be humble and learn from it."

No, UNM's loss on Thursday won't hurt any computer formula, but it is a huge loss because it was one of the few opportunities the team is going to get this season at a high-level win.

VIDEO: Journal's postgame interviews ...

Here is the Journal's postgame interviews with Lobos coach Richard Pitino and redshirt freshman guard Quinton Webb ...

Plus/minus ...

Here are the Lobos' plus/minus stats from Thursday with minutes played in parenthesis:

+6 Quinton Webb (14:05)

+4 Tru Washington (24:02)

+2 Braden Appelhans (1:14)

0 Isaac Mushila (2:05)

-1 Sebastian Forsling (7:37)

-7 Donovan Dent (29:06)

-11 Jemarl Baker Jr. (23:22)

-11 JT Toppin (15:44)

-16 Nelly Junior Joseph (27:45)

-18 Jamal Mashburn Jr. (32:35)

-18 Mustapha Amzil (22:25)

Line 'em up ...

The Lobos used 11 players and 24 lineup combinations on Thursday. Saint Mary's used 13 players and 22 lineup combinations.

Here's a quick look at three lineup combinations the Lobos used, starting with the starters...

STARTING LINEUP

• Who: Donovan Dent, Jamal Mashburn Jr., Mustapha Amzil, JT Toppin, Nelly Junior Joseph

• Point differential: -7 (13-6)

• Time on court: 6:25

• NOTE: Prepping for this game with Jaelen House being in the starting lineup alongside Donovan Dent and Jamal Mashburn and then having that changed day of game would have been bad enough anytime. But considering the Lobos, in an effort to try and combat Saint Mary's size advantage in the frontcourt, also trotted out the trio of 6-9 Dayton transfer Mustapha Amzil, 6-9 true freshman JT Toppin and 6-10 center Nelly Junior Joseph, a trio that probably hasn't worked together much, it was just a risky starting lineup. With Junior Joseph having arrived in country only two weeks ago, it was clear this combination needs more reps.

BEST LINEUP

• Who: Donovan Dent, Tru Washington, Jemarl Baker Jr., Quinton Webb, JT Toppin

• Point differential: +4 (5-1)

• Time on court: 1:48

• NOTE: Yes, the highest score differential of the game for the Lobos, albeit in a short stint, came from a group with one Lobo who saw game action last season (Dent), one transfer (Baker) and three freshmen. Go figure. It's also a lineup I'm guessing we don't actually see a lot of this season, at least not when House is healthy (it's hard to imagine House or Mashburn on the court together most of the season if both are healthy).

WORST LINEUP

• NOTE: As I noted whenever it happened last season, whenever your starting lineup is your statistically worst lineup, you know you probably just had a bad game. On Thursday, the starting five — again, as noted, one that hasn't probably practiced much — scored just 0.6356 points per possession.

But the future is looking bright ...

In case you missed it, Wednesday was early signing day for college basketball. For the Lobos, they got pen to paper from both high school seniors who earlier this fall gave verbal commitments to the program — Texas combo guard Kayde Dotson and Toronto power forward Jovan Milicevic.

Here's what you need to know about the two future Lobos:

Kayde Dotson, Jovan Milicevic officially sign on as future Lobos

Around the Mountain ...

There were two games around the Mountain West on Thursday, three coming your way on Friday and then a pretty busy weekend slate after that:

THURSDAY

• No. 23 Saint Mary's 72, New Mexico 58

• San Jose State 117, NAIA Bethesda 72

FRIDAY

• Air Force at Long Island University, 11 a.m. MT

• No. 17 San Diego State at BYU, 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT — ESPN+

• Wright State at Colorado State, 7 p.m. MT — TheMW

SATURDAY

• Fresno State at Kent State 4 p.m. PT/5 p.m. MT — ESPN+

• Stetson at UNLV, 4 p.m. PT/5 p.m. MT — TheMW

• Utah State at Bradley, 6 p.m. MT — ESPN+

• Cal Poly at Wyoming, 7 p.m. MT — TheMW

SUNDAY

• Air Force at Delaware, 11 a.m. MT,

• San Jose State at Texas Tech, 11 a.m. PT/noon MT — ESPN+

• San Francisco at Boise State, 2 p.m MT — TheMW

• Nevada at Washington 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT — Pac12 Network

Wednesday flashback ...

If you thought Thursday night's loss by the Lobos was bad, it was nothing compared to the egg laid on Wednesday night by UNLV, at home in the Thomas & Mack Center, no less.

Southern, the preseason No. 5 team in the SWAC that was a 21.5-point underdog and had lost 48 hours earlier in Texas to TCU by 33 points, dominated the Rebels from start to finish.

The final score of 85-71 doesn't even do it justice. Southern entered the game rated 326th in KenPom. UNLV, meanwhile, entered the game ranked 76th in KenPom and dropped 30 spots to 106.

Meanwhile, down the coastline ...

The UNM women's basketball team improved to 2-0 on Thursday with a win at Pepperdine.

Colleague Ken Sickenger has a write-up of that game here:

Defense steps up as UNM women shut down Pepperdine

Stats and stats ...

Here is a look at the postgame stat sheet: Saint Mary's 72, New Mexico 58

And here is the digital version of the stats: Saint Mary's 72, New Mexico 58

Lobo schedule/results ...

Here's a look at the Lobos schedule and results for the season in a pretty little table format:

Up Next...

Thursday (Nov. 16): UT Arlington at New Mexico, 7 p.m., the Pit

Yes, the Lobos have to sit on Thursday's loss for a week before regrouping and hosting UT Arlington. The Mavericks are 1-0 and were led by a 24-point, 13-rebound double-double from a familiar name to some in New Mexico, DaJuan Gordon.

Why is that a familiar name?

DaJuan played at New Mexico State last season before the Aggies season got shut down (he's not linked to any of the chaos, other than having been on the team with all the chaos).

The 6-foot-5 Gordon started his college career with two seasons at Kansas State, then one at Missouri, then one at NMSU and is finishing things off this season at UT Arlington.

Until next time

Until next time, University Credit Union Pavilion, on the campus of Saint Mary's College in Moraga, Calif., ...