Emptying the Notebook: Lobos no longer have the offense to overcome the defense not showing up

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Here are some extra notes, quotes, stats, videos and other odds & ends I managed to empty out of the old reporter's notebook after the Lobos' 83-73 loss at UNLV on Tuesday night:

A total turnover turnaround ...

It shocks me to write this.

Even as I've seen it playing out all season, and I've been mentioning it in plenty of articles I've written, it still seems almost incorrect.

But, yes, this Lobos team appears to be one that doesn't seem to have an offense capable of overcoming bad games from its defense.

Seriously. The only shot, it seemed, for some time now for Lobos' success was to have its offense show up and hope they got a little something, anything at all some nights, from the defense.

But the offense was never the question.

Not with the Jamal Mashburn Jr./Jaelen House show (and last season throw in Morris Udeze's post offense). Shootouts may have meant the defense didn't show up, but the Lobos knew with their offense, they'd take their chances anyway.

Now, if the defense is a no-show, I'm not so sure there is enough offense to overcome it.

Entering Tuesday's game, UNM ranked 28th (out of 362 Division I teams) in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom.com. That is up from their 120th ranking last season.

And on the other side of the court, last season's 24th national rating in adjusted offensive efficiency dropped to 70th after Tuesday's UNLV loss.

As crazy as it sounds, some of the Lobos' high-scoring games masked the fact that the offense has never looked all that good, especially now that teams are taking away the Donovan Dent/JT Toppin pick and roll magic we saw in November.

The reason the point totals were still there some nights was because of points off turnovers and transition buckets, but the halfcourt offense has never looked very good.

The defense making teams uncomfortable has been the best offense for UNM.

And on Tuesday, UNLV wasn't uncomfortable enough (there were stretches the pressure defense looked OK, but not nearly enough).

UNLV's 83-73 win in a 71-possession game was the most efficient offensive game by any Lobo opponent this season, and that includes No. 17 Colorado State, which has one of the most efficient offenses in the nation (the Rams were ranked 11th in offensive efficiency the day they played the Lobos).

So, what happened?

To show the juxtaposition of what the Lobos' norm has been (and even what they got just one game prior to the UNLV loss in their Saturday win over Wyoming), let‘s pull out some bullet points to compare the numbers:

UNM ENTERING TUESDAY (per/game)

• Steals: 10.4 (No. 1 MW)

• Turnovers: 10.3 (No. 2 MW)

• Opponent turnovers: 16.7 (No. 1 MW)

• Turnover margin: plus-6.33 (No. 1 MW)

• Points off turnovers: 18.7 (No. 1 MW)

• Opponent points off turnovers: 10.7

UNM PREVIOUS GAME (Saturday vs. Wyoming)

• Steals: 16 (at least one by 7 players)

• Turnovers: 6 (t-season low)

• Opponent turnovers: 23 (2nd highest of season)

• Turnover margin: plus-17 (season high)

• Points off turnovers: 28 (season high)

• Opponent points off turnovers: 0 (season low)

UNM ON TUESDAY (at UNLV)

• Steals: 5 (all by one player, Tru Washington)

• Turnovers: 16 (t-season high)

• Opponent turnovers: 10 (opponent season low)

• Turnover margin: minus-6 (first game UNM has had a negative turnover margin all season)

• Points off turnovers: 8 (season low)

• Opponent points off turnovers: 28 (season high)

So, yeah. When the Lobos' offense struggles to score in the half court and the defense isn't forcing turnovers — be it by steal or otherwise — then things could get ugly, as was the case in the second half Tuesday when UNLV opened up as much as a 21-point lead.

The gamer ...

Here is the gamer I filed after Tuesday's late-starting game in Las Vegas ...

UNLV powers past UNM: Second-half struggles cost Lobos another conference game on the road

Second-half struggles ...

My Tuesday game preview in the Albuquerque Journal carried a headline that read: "Lobos looking for complete 40 minutes as they seek Mountain West road win at UNLV on Tuesday"

The contents of that article included breaking down the Lobos' games by "quarter."

Yes, the men's college game is played in two 20-minute halves, but if you break things down like every other level of basketball does (men's or women's, professional or not) does with four quarters, the Lobos have clearly been struggling mightily in the "third quarter" — the start of the second half until the 10-minute mark — of their Mountain West games.

The article, and me pointing out a potential weak spot with these Lobos, didn't sit well with every reader, especially on a day my weekly "Around the Mountain (West)" column was about four teams (not the Lobos) getting votes in the AP Top 25 poll.

Well, this is really going upset some people, then.

On Tuesday, it got even worse.

UNLV blew open a two-point lead at halftime with a 24-10 "third quarter" of play, extending its lead to 64-48 at the 10:00 mark of the second half. (UNLV actually grew the lead to 21 at 69-48 before the Lobos went on a run of their own to make the score look more respectable late.

So, here's a look at the scoring totals this season by 10-minute "quarters." You'll notice, there is only one "quarter" in nonconference or league games that the Lobos are getting outscored, and it's by a lot.

SCORE BY 'QUARTERS' — 13 nonconference games

• 1Q (20:00-10:00 1H): UNM 18.3, Opponents 14.8

• 2Q (09:59-00:00 1H): UNM 23.1, Opponents 15.5

• 3Q (20:00-10:00 2H): UNM 21.4, Opponents 17.3

• 4Q (09:59-00:00 2H): UNM 21.5, Opponents 20.2

SCORE BY 'QUARTERS' — three Mountain West games

• 1Q (20:00-10:00 1H): UNM 17.7, Opponents 15.7

• 2Q (09:59-00:00 1H): UNM 18.0, Opponents 16.0

• 3Q (20:00-10:00 2H): Opponents 21.3, UNM 12.0

• 4Q (09:59-00:00 2H): UNM 25.0, Opponents 20.0

“It’s been the three games in conference now,” UNM coach Richard Pitino said. “This kind of felt similar to Colorado State a lot of ways. ... We talked about it. We said, ‘Hey, we’ve not been great this first four minutes (out of halftime).’ And we weren’t again.”

It was the first four minutes, but it was also more than the first four minutes.

The sample size is still small. But two games moving now to three games in just an 18-game conference schedule is something to start worrying about, and as both Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Donovan Dent said in postgame interviews after the CSU loss and the Wyoming win, respectively, the stretch after halftime so far has been all about the Lobo players showing a lack of energy and communication.

Tuesday, it was more of the same.

Hey, you can still catch a show in Vegas ...

They do put on a show in Vegas still, that's for sure.

Here's video of the pregame intros (or the show-up until the intros, actually) from media row up by the concourse in the Thomas & Mack Center:

House call ...

You'll see the game-specific plus-minus in its usual spot later in this ETN column, but I wanted to pull up much higher the plus/minus numbers for the Lobos through three Mountain West games.

Based on social media, which is already an awful way to start a sentence, but based on social media, I'm guessing some people might be surprised where some of these players appear on this list of how the Lobos are actually performing as a team when a particular player is on the court.

Reminder, the Lobos are -1 overall in MW play — losses of 8 and 10 points, a win of 17 points.

UNM PLUS/MINUS IN MW PLAY

The nine who have appeared in all 3 games

+28 Jaelen House

+9 Mustapha Amzil

+5 Nelly Junior Joseph

0 JT Toppin

-2 Jamal Mashburn Jr.

-3 Tru Washington

-3 Donovan Dent

-15 Isaac Mushila

-18 Jemarl Baker Jr.

Two of a kind beats Lobos ...

Twin brothers Kalib Boone and Keylan Boone beat up on the Lobos pretty good on Tuesday, combining for 46 points, seven assists, six fouls drawn, five 3-pointers and a pair of blocked shots.

It now takes over, as far as I can recall, as the best performance by twins against the Lobo men's basketball team in the state of Nevada.

The previous holder of that distinction: Caleb and Cody Martin combining for 33 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, two blocks and six steals in a win over the Lobos in Reno on Feb. 9, 2019.

I'm not aware of any other twins in the league right now.

Lobo freshmen getting it done ...

In a night of struggles for the Lobos, you can't fault freshmen JT Toppin and Tru Washington for their efforts.

JT TOPPIN vs. UNLV

• 16 points

• 7-11 FG

• 2-2 FT

• 6 rebounds (3 offensive)

• 1 block

• 29 minutes

TRU WASHINGTON vs. UNLV

• 9 points

• 3-6 FG

• 3-3 FT

• 3 rebounds

• 5 steals

No love in LV ...

You can call the four victories earlier this season in the Dollar Loan Center in nearby Henderson, Nev., Vegas victories all you want.

But what happens in Henderson apparently stays in Henderson.

In Las Vegas, the city UNM Lobo fans love to claim as their home away from home, things are getting a little rough for the old Cherry and Silver.

Like 13 losses in the last 17 games played in the actual Sin City city limits, including six losses in a row in the Thomas & Mack Center to the UNLV Runnin' Rebels:

• L, UNLV 83, New Mexico 73 (Tuesday)

• L, Utah State 91, New Mexico 76 (March 9, 2023 - MW Tournament)

• W, New Mexico 87, Wyoming 76 (March 8, 2023 - MW Tournament)

• W, New Mexico 67, San Francisco 64 (Dec. 12, 2022 - Jack Jones Hoopfest at Mandalay Bay)

• L, Nevada 79, New Mexico 72 (March 9, 2022 - MW Tournament)

• L, UNLV 85, New Mexico 56 (Jan. 11, 2022)

• L, Towson 73, New Mexico 58 (Nov. 26, 2021 - Las Vegas Invitational at the Orleans)

• L, UAB 86, New Mexico 73 (Nov. 25, 2021 - Las Vegas Invitational at the Orleans)

• L, Fresno State 85, New Mexico 77 (March 10, 2021 - MW Tournament)

• L, UNLV 53, New Mexico 46 (Jan. 18, 2021)

• L, UNLV 77, New Mexico 54 (Jan. 16, 2021)

• L, Utah State 75, New Mexico 70 (March 5, 2020 - MW Tournament)

• W, New Mexico 79, San Jose State 66 (March 4, 2020 - MW Tournament)

• L, UNLV 99, New Mexico 78 (Jan. 18, 2020)

• L, Utah State 91, New Mexico 83 (March 14, 2019 - MW Tournament)

• W, New Mexico 78, Wyoming 68 (March 13, 2019 - MW Tournament)

• L, UNLV 74, New Mexico 58 (Jan. 22, 2019)

OF NOTE: Despite this being his third season as Lobos coach, Tuesday was Richard Pitino's first regular season game against UNLV coached in Las Vegas.

In the 2021-22 season, he had COVID and stayed in Albuquerque while Eric Brown was acting coach for the night (and the Lobos lost 85-56).

Last season (2022-23), due to the Mountain West's unbalanced 18-game schedule, the road game the Lobos did not play was the one at UNLV.

Overall, Pitino's Lobos (counting the Eric Brown-coached loss) are now 1-3 vs. the Runnin' Rebels.

The Lobos host UNLV in the Pit on Saturday, Feb. 10.

Midrange Mash starting to get comfortable?

It wasn't a dominant scoring game by any stretch for Jamal Mashburn Jr. on Tuesday night, not like one of the program's most prolific two-season scorers has had in his first two seasons.

But Mashburn on Tuesday didn't look as uncomfortable taking some of the shots he took as he has at times this season while playing through his thumb injury.

He hit some midrange jumpers, drove to the basket, didn't seem to force much (I recall one borderline bad one, but it was fairly late in the shot clock) and he even had more free throw attempts than any game since he's returned from his seven-game absence to rest that thumb.

Mashburn's final line:

• 13 points

• 4-9 shooting

• 5-5 FTs

• 4 rebounds (season high)

• 2 assists

• 1 turnover

Attendance ...

The announced attendance Tuesday night in the Thomas & Mack Center: 5,760

Sellout tracker ...

I set an over/under last week of 17.5 for the number of sold-out arenas the Mountain West will get this season in league play. And, as I've said, I'm taking the over. And it would be great for the league if it happens.

There was another sold-out Mountain West arena on Tuesday in Boise.

So the tally now looks like this:

San Diego State: 2

Boise State: 1

Utah State: 1

TOTAL: 4

There should be another one this Saturday in Albuquerque with SDSU visiting the Pit for a noon tipoff and a CBS game.

UNM has fewer than 1,000 tickets remaining and they're asking fans to try for a stripe out.

He said it: Stay in front ...

UNLV coach Kevin Kruger said what every Mountain West coach is going to preach to his team when playing the Lobos.

It may sound simple, but just stay in front of the Lobo guards. Even if that means sag off them like crazy. The Lobos' danger is when the guards penetrate and get to the rim, not as much when you give them space on the perimeter.

The pick your poison is an easy one right now for Mountain West coaches with the Lobos, no matter how good the trio of starting guards has been at times. Make the Lobos beat you from the outside and pack the paint — sag off the guards.

Oh, those 3s ...

UNM was outscored 30-6 on the 3-point line on Tuesday.

• UNLV: 10-22 3FG

• UNM: 2-11 3FG

It was the fewest 3-pointers made (2) and attempted (11) in a game by the Lobos all season. And UNLV's 10 made triples was second-most for a Lobos' opponent.

The Lobos can't allow teams to hit double digit 3-pointers, but it's only happened twice in 16 games.

The lack of attempts and made 3s by UNM's offense is a much larger problem for this team as defenses will only continue to make scoring at the rim, both for the Lobo big men and the attacking guards, more and more difficult.

UNM ranks 300th in the country in 3-pointers attempted per game at 18.7.

Their 6.5 made 3-pointers per game ranks 260th.

The Lobos really need to start hitting some 3s.

"And shoot them," Richard Pitino noted in our postgame interview. "We're not shooting a lot. What was the first half? We were 0-for-3? That's such a low number. You know we were able to get back to the foul line, which was good. But yes, we've got to be more confident shooters out there. We've got to get more attempts, for sure. I'm not saying you got to jack up shots, but you gotta be ready to knock those things down."

Plus/minus ...

Here are the plus/minus numbers from Tuesday's game in Las Vegas with minutes played in parenthesis:

NEW MEXICO

0 Jaelen House (26:21)

-2 JT Toppin (29:16)

-3 Mustapha Amzil (21:15)

-3 Tru Washington (23:07)

-4 Jamal Mashburn Jr. (29:55)

-6 Isaac Mushila (4:13)

-9 Nelly Junior Joseph (25:18)

-10 Jemarl Baker Jr. (12:24)

-13 Donovan Dent (28:15)

UNLV

+16 Keylan Boone (29:22)

+13 Kalib Boone (28:07)

+12 Dedan Thomas Jr. (38:21)

+11 Luis Rodriguez (32:22)

+10 Jackie Johnson III (16:31)

+1 Justin Webster (23:48)

-1 Shane Nowell (2:05)

-3 Rob Whaley Jr. (14:16)

-4 Karl Jones (6:34)

-5 Brooklyn Hicks (8:34)

Line 'em up ...

The UNM Lobos used 9 players Tuesday night and 16 lineup combinations. The UNLV Runnin' Rebels used 10 players and also had 16 lineup combinations.

Here's a look at a few of the lineups for the Lobos, starting with the starters:

STARTING LINEUP

• WHO: Jaelen House, Donovan Dent, Jamal Mashburn Jr., JT Toppin, Nelly Junior Joseph

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -9 (18-27)

• TIME ON COURT: 12:59

• NOTE: Truth be told, I'm surprised this wasn't worse considering the Rebels jumped out to a 13-4 lead early in the first half and, as noted above, had a huge run to start the second half (though that was a 10-minute stretch, clearly with substitutions involved to break some of that up).

Nevertheless, the starting five having the worst plus/minus is always a bad sign.

BEST LINEUP

• WHO: Jaelen House, Jamal Mashburn Jr., Tru Washington, JT Toppin, Mustapha Amzil

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6 (14-8)

• TIME ON COURT: 4:34

• NOTE: Haven't had this particular combination appear here this season, but I bet it gets some run in league play. Fourteen points in 4:34 on a night the Lobos offense otherwise struggled (remember, the starters got 18 points in 12:59) is hard to ignore.

WORST LINEUP

• WHO: Donovan Dent, Tru Washington, Jemarl Baker Jr., Isaac Mushila, Mustapha Amzil

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -7 (2-9)

• TIME ON COURT: 4:04

• NOTE: The starting five was at -9, but it took 13 minutes to get there. This grouping needed just 4:04 to get a quick -7.

VIDEO: Pitino and Baker postgame ...

Here is the postgame interviews I had with UNM Lobos coach Richard Pitino and senior guard Jemarl Baker Jr. after Tuesday's game in Las Vegas (with apologies for the arena volume being so loud during parts of the Baker interview) ...

Meanwhile, in San Jose ...

How about those Spartans? (almost)

Jay Pal saved the day for the No. 19 San Diego State Aztecs as he came up with a closing-seconds block in a 2-point game to help preserve the Aztecs‘ victory against the still winless-in-league-play San Jose State Spartans, who lost at the buzzer at Wyoming, saw a four-point lead squandered in the final minutes to Boise State and now lost a one-possession game at home to defending league champion SDSU.

And here's Pal's play:

Around the Mountain ...

There was a full slate of five games around the Mountain West on Tuesday. Here's a look at the full week's slate of games:

TUESDAY

• Boise State 65, Colorado State 58

• Utah State 83, Wyoming 59

• Nevada 67, Air Force 54

• UNLV 83, New Mexico 73

• San Diego State 81, San Jose State 78

FRIDAY

• Boise State at Nevada, 7:30 PT/8:30 MT (FS1)

SATURDAY

• No. 19 San Diego State at New Mexico, noon MT (CBS)

• No. 20 Utah State at UNLV, noon PT/1 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)

• Fresno State at Wyoming, 2 p.m. MT (TheMW)

• San Jose State at Air Force, 7:30 MT (TheMW)

Mountain West standings ...

Here are the Mountain West standings through Tuesday night's games:

3-0 San Diego State

3-0 Utah State

2-0 Boise State

2-0 Nevada

1-1 UNLV

1-2 Colorado State

1-2 New Mexico

1-2 Wyoming

0-2 Air Force

0-2 Fresno State

0-3 San Jose State

Mountain West on KenPom ...

Here is how the Mountain West teams looked on the KenPom.com rankings after all the games around the country were put into the old KenPom machine:

22 San Diego State

27 Colorado State

37 Nevada

40 Utah State

46 New Mexico

58 Boise State

88 UNLV

167 San Jose State

210 Wyoming

220 Air Force

222 Fresno State

KenPom by conference ...

Way more info on KenPom than you need on Jan. 10 of the season, but what else am I good for?

Conference teams in KenPom Top 50

10 — Big 12

7 — Big East

7 — SEC

6 — Big Ten

5 — ACC

5 — Mountain West

4 — Pac 12

3 — American

1 — Atlantic 10

1 — Ivy

1 — West Coast Conference

Stats and stats ...

Here are the final game stats from Las Vegas: UNLV 83, New Mexico 73

And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: UNLV 83, New Mexico 73

Grammer's Guesses ...

I DID IT! PERFECTION!

The Guesses go a perfect 0-5 on Tuesday and I'm an impressive 2-12 (that's not a joke) on the season picking Mountain West games against the point spread.

My daughter's coin flip picks went 3-2 and she's now 8-6 on the season.

Man, I hate this. But hopefully you all are making great money betting against my picks.

Up next ...

FOR NEW MEXICO: The Lobos host No. 19 San Diego State on Saturday in the Pit. The game is at noon and will be broadcast on CBS.

FOR UNLV: The Rebels host No. 20 Utah State on Saturday in the Thomas & Mack Center. The game is at noon PT/1 MT and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

Until next time ...

Until next time, Thomas & Mack Center, on the campus of UNLV in Las Vegas ...

Lobos schedule/results ...