Emptying the Notebook: Lobos offense stalls in one of season's biggest moments in road loss at Nevada

RENO, Nevada — Here are some notes, quotes, stats, trends and other odds & ends I emptied out of the old notebook after Tuesday's 67-60 UNM Lobos loss to the Nevada Wolf Pack at the Lawlor Events Center:

No O, lost opportunity

No, the bubble didn't burst, but another opportunity was lost for the UNM Lobos to inch their way onto the right side of the NCAA Tournament at-large discussion with Tuesday's 67-60 road loss at Nevada.

Instead, with a precious Quad 1 opportunity sitting there for the taking, and their having managed to hold Nevada to its fifth-worst offensive efficiency game (94.7 per KenPom) of the season in the Wolf Pack's 28 games played, the Lobos squandered their chance by laying an egg offensively — both to start the game and even more frustrating to the Lobos fans watching, to end it.

There were a lot of similarities to the Dec. 30 road loss at Boise State in the way both teams struggled to hit shots, and UNM went ice cold down the stretch, leading at Boise State by 11 in the second half and losing and by nine in the second half Tuesday and losing.

Tuesday, UNM held Nevada under 40% shooting (23-of-58/39.7%) and under 30% on 3s (5-of-17/29.4%).

The problem for UNM was they posted their second worst offensive efficiency game of the season at 84.9. The Lobos shot just 38.2% (21-55), 28.6 from 3-point range (6-21) and a dreadful 57.1% (12-21) at the free throw line.

Tuesday was just the third time this season the Lobos have posted a sub-100 offensive efficiency in the same game as holding an opponent to a sub-100 efficiency in the same game.

Tuesday at Nevada (67-60 loss)

• UNM offensive efficiency: 84.9
• UNM defensive efficiency: 94.7

Dec. 30 at Boise State (62-53 loss)

• UNM offensive efficiency: 75.5
• UNM defensive efficiency: 88.3

Nov. 5 vs. East Texas A&M (76-54 win)

• UNM offensive efficiency: 98.6
• UNM defensive efficiency: 70.1

UNM opened Tuesday's game hitting 1-of-11 shots with a Deyton Albury fast break layup in transition (with Nevada's halfcourt defense not set) being the only make in the first 8 minutes, 27 seconds of the game.

And to close the game, it was 2-of-10 shooting for the Lobos with a tough Uriah Tenette midrange jumper and a lightly guarded JT Rock 3-pointer with under 20 seconds remaining wut the team was already down 10.

"I would say we were just stagnant," Lobos guard Deyton Albury said of the offensive struggles. "The ball wasn't moving as much In the final minutes) — that's on and off the ball. And we weren't able to get the shots we wanted."

UNM scored 20 fast break points against Nevada — which would rank in the 90th percentile in the country for fast breaks points per game. That the Lobos scored only 60 points, putting their fast break points at 20% of their total scoring is in the 99th percentile of what Division I teams are doing (i.e., nobody has to get 1/3 of their scoring off fast breaks).

UNM was 8-of-21 (28.6%) shooting in the first half, but only two of those baskets made were against Nevada's half court, set defense. The rest came in transition.

Let that sink in. Playing for an NCAA Tournament berth and a chance at a Mountain West championship, the Lobos hit only TWO shots the entire opening half against the half court defense of Nevada. UNM did draw some fouls against the half court, set defense and was 5-of-7 at the three throw line in the opening half, but between the 1-11 start shooting and the inability to score vs. the half court defense, it was troubling, to say the least.

"We weren't able to create the advantages or create rotation the way we normally want to, and they forced us into a bunch of one on one (offense), and we weren't able to make the plays," UNM coach Eric Olen said."

But how were they able to take a normally offensively efficient team so far out of what they normally do?

"They were just able to get into the ball. They were super physical on the ball, and we couldn't really force help," Olen explained. "We weren't able to beat them off the dribble. We weren't able to manage that contact where we could either make the right play or finish. ... We just had a lot of empty possessions."

As for whether Tuesday's struggles to score vs. a set defense is a concern moving forward, Olen was erring on the side of trusting the larger sample size of the season.

"We weren't very good in the half court tonight," Olen said. "A lot of what we got was at a transition, but we've been doing a pretty good job in the half court. So, we'll look at the film and see if there's anything we can take away. But it's not like a huge concern going forward."

For Nevada, meanwhile, the team closest on the heels of the Lobos just one game back in the standings at 11-6 in the Mountain West standings, that's back-to-back games of high-level defense after having beaten Utah State at home on Saturday.

And while, like the Lobos, there were some concerns offensively (sure it's great for the Wolf Pack to have three 20 point scorers, but six points from the rest of the roster?), the mood after the game for Steve Alford was one that allowed him to enjoy that defensive performance far more than Eric Olen was able to for his team.

"The two teams we played are the top two offenses in our league," Alford said of Utah State and New Mexico. "So to defend the way we've defended the last two games has been a huge jump. ... Our practices have been great. They've been super connected. And the thing I like tonight is that it never really went great because of not making shots. But they just they never dropped their head. They just kept fighting. They were connected the whole time. I saw smiles on their faces when it was tight, and that's a good sign."

The gamer

Here's the gamer I filed from the Lawlor Events Center on Tuesday night:

• UNM struggles early, stumbles late in costly loss at Nevada

The high cost of the freebies

The Lobos went 12-of-21 at the free throw line on Tuesday night, a season worst 57.1% clip.

That doesn't even tell the whole story. Two of those misses were front ends of 1-and-1's (both by Uriah Tenette, who entered the game as an 85.7% free throw shooter). Those, when rebounded by Nevada as they were, are essentially the same as turnovers.

As was the pair of FTs Tomislav Buljan missed with 3:36 left that Nevada rebounded, giving the Lobos another empty offensive possession in crunch time.

UNM's worst FT games this season:

• 57.1% (12-21) — Tuesday loss at Nevada
• 60.0% (9-15) — Jan. 21 win vs. Fresno State
• 60.9% (14-23) — Nov. 5 win vs. East Texas A&M
• 61.9% (13-21) — Jan. 6 win at Colorado State
• 62.5% (15-24) — Feb. 17 win vs. Air Force
• 62.5% (10-16) — Dec. 30 loss at Boise State

I know some may find this hard to believe based on the moaning and groaning that is heard in the Pit for free throws, and certainly watching Tuesday's game would lead anyone to think this, but the Lobos aren't actually bad at free throws this season.

They aren't great, but they are actually above average, ever so slightly.

• Lobos free throws: 74.0%
• National DI average: 72.4%

The good for Hall...

Jake Hall broke another record on Tuesday and os closing in on one more.

Hall scored 17 points and has now scored 447 for the season, pushing him for the first time to a 16.0 points per game average (ok, it's a round up to get there since he's at 15.96, but you get the point).

He also now has 291 points scored in 17 Mountain West games, making him the conference's new freshman scoring record holder for league games, breaking the previous mark of 278 point scored in 18 league games by former UNLV big man Brandon McCoy in the 2017-18 season.

Here's the bucked he set the record on and the CBS Sports Network call of Chris Lewis:

By notching his 14th straight double digit scoring game, the 6-foot-4 sniper from Carlsbad, California, is now one shy of Kenny Thomas’ UNM freshman record of 15 straight double figure scoring games set in the 1995-96 season.

And like Kenny, Jake can do some scoring through contact, too.

The bad for Hall...

Despite Hall scoring 17 points, Nevada outscored UNM by 16 points in the 34 minutes, 58 seconds Hall was on the court.

In the 5 minutes, 2 seconds he was on the bench, the Lobos outscored Nevada by nine.

Hall's defense has been so much better as the season has gone on. Tuesday, well, the Wolf Pack found some advantages, and Hall was a part of those.

Planting a seed

A win Tuesday in Reno would have put the Lobos at 13-4 and clinched for them at least a top four finish in the Mountain West, which means a top four seed in the conference tournament in a year that the top four seeds get a bye past the first round and into the quarterfinals.

Of course, that didn't happen. But the Lobos' odds of still finishing in the top four are good. Just not a lock.

Here's a look at the current seeding probabilities for the league based on remaining game-by-game probabilities over the next week and a half:

Steve Kirkland Stat of the Night

UNM hoops Sports Information Director Steve Kirkland passed along this nugget for his world famous Steve Kirkland Stat of the Night:

Tuesday, three Wolf Pack players scored 20 or more points: Elijah Price with 21 and Corey Camper Jr. and Vaughn Weems with 20 points apiece.

The last time UNM allowed three 20-point scorers in the season game was pm Jan. 23, 2023, also against Nevada, also in Lawlor Events Center: Will Baker 28, Jarrod Lucas 22 and Kenan Blackshear 20.

Two notes to add. One, Lucas is now an assistant at Nevada and was on the bench for Tuesday's game. Two, that 2023 game did go two overtimes and the Wolf Pack at least had 27 points scored by other players. Tuesday, the non-big three scores of the game scored six points for Nevada.

Rock on

Move over Jake Hall, the Lobos may have a new sharpshooter.

Lobo center J.T. Rock has had three-consecutive games of going 2-for-2 from 3-point range.

Take a look at his past three games.

JT Rock at Nevada

• Points: 8
• 2 FG: 0-0
• 3 FG: 2-2
• FT: 2-2
• Rebounds: 4
• Blocks: 2
• Fouls: 3
• Minutes: 15

JT Rock at Fresno State

• Points: 8
• 2 FG: 1-2
• 3 FG: 2-2
• FT: 0-0
• Rebounds: 1
• Blocks: 0
• Fouls: 1
• Minutes: 12

JT Rock vs. Air Force

• Points: 12
• 2 FG: 3-3
• 3 FG: 2-2
• FT: 0-2
• Rebounds: 4
• Blocks: 3
• Fouls: 5
• Minutes: 18

Oh, those 3s

The Lobos were 6-of-21 (28.6%) from 3-point range on Tuesday night, just three days after a 7-of-19 game at Fresno from beyond the ac.

The volume of 3-pointers made for UNM on the two-game road trip compared to what it had been doing recently, and over the course of all of league play has really dipped.

Lobos 3-point shooting three games before road trip:

(Feb. 7 vs. Boise State, Feb. 11 at Grand Canyon, Feb. 17 vs. Air Force)

• 35-71 (49.3%)
• 11.6 makes per game
• 23.7 attempts per game

Lobos 3-point shooting this two-game road trip:

• 13-40 (32.5%)
• 6.5 makes per game
• 20.0 attempts per game

The Lobos are 36.3% from 3-point range on the season and the national Division I average is 34.0%.

Three of the Lobos four lowest number of 3-pointers made through 17 conference games have come in the past five games since Feb. 7.

UNM's fewest made 3s in MW play

• 3 — L at Boise State (Dec. 30)
• 3 — L vs. Boise State (Feb. 7)
• 6 — L at Nevada (Tuesday)
• 7 — W at Fresno State (Saturday)

End of the NCAA Tourney chances? 

Prisoner of the moment, hot takes and lack of perspective of what other bubble teams are, or aren't doing leads many a fan base, not just UNM Lobo fans, to assume a loss like Tuesday means your team is doomed. No way they'll make the NCAA Tournament now, right? 

Well, here is Joe Lunardi's take Wednesday morning, AFTER the Tuesday loss, which is accounted for in his updated NCAA Tournament projection. 

Joe has the Lobos listed in his "Last four teams in" section, albeit as THE last team in the NCAA Tournament. 

But, you know what they call the last team in the NCAA Tournament? 

An NCAA Tournament team. 

Point is, there's still an NCAA Tournament to play for if you're the Lobos and the only path there is not, yet, having to win the Mountain West Tournament, although UNM wouldn't mind doing that just to take away any chances.  

Got your stripes ready?

Saturday's game against San Diego State will be another stripe out game.

For those who haven't been to one, or forgot the past two sold out, stripe-out games the Lobos have had against the Aztecs in the Pit (also both Lobo wins), here's a look at an Albuquerque Journal pic of both games over the past two seasons:

Jan. 11, 2025: UNM 62, San Diego State 48

Jan. 13, 2024: UNM 88, San Diego State 70

Last three are last timers

The Lobos final three games of the regular season are each against teams leaving the Mountain West to form a new league with the Pac-12 name.

For now, with nothing set in stone for next season's schedule, this is the last time the Lobos will be playing these teams for the foreseeable future.

Now, in the case of Colorado State, it's all but a certainty a home-and-home series is on the way. For Utah State, I wouldn't be surprised if that also happens.

For San Diego State, however, Saturday will be it for awhile. Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher has already said he will not schedule nonconference games against teams at elevations.

That guy!

Nevada basketball legend Ramon Sessions was sitting courtside on Tuesday, which of course Wolf Pack fans were thrilled about.

Of course Lobo fans also know Sessions as the agent who signed JT Topping after the 2023-24 season and instead of telling UNM they were heading to Texas Tech waited until the final day of the transfer portal being open to announce the transfer and shortly after announced the Texas Tech part.

For the money, nobody blamed Toppin in the slightest. For UNM giving him the opportunity out of high school when Texas Tech and others didn't and then having an agent that chose to handle things the way Sessions did certainly sits a certain way with the Lobo fans aware of how that all played out.

(and for the record, there's not a Lobo player or coach at Tuesday's game who probably has any idea about any of this as none of them were around the program two offseasons ago when it happened.)

Bo's got bench bragging rights

Nevada and New Mexico split the season series 1-1.

But there is one area the Lobos dominated in both games: Bench scoring.

• Game 1 bench scoring: UNM 26, Nevada 6
• Game 2 bench scoring: UNM 21, Nevada 2
• Series bench scoring: UNM 47, Nevada 8

This goes to show you that depth and bench scoring doesn't always mean as much as fans sometimes want it to mean.

You'd rather win the stat than not, but it's hardly an indication every night that you're going to be the better team.

The Lobos leader off the bench all season, and a candidate for Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year, has been Uriah Tenette who had 11 points, three assists and a steal on Tuesday.

It's my column, I'll brag if I want to

This whole stay up all night after a game writing an Emptying the Notebook really backfired on me. It's become real popular and I enjoy doing it, but not sleeping the night after games sort of beats an old guy up a little bit.

But it has some perks, too.

Like being able to publish whatever I want online without any editors seeing it, which means I get to brag about my 6-year-old daughter right now in the middle of a Lobo basketball column and there's nobody around to stop it!

OK, back to hoops...

Rematches

The Lobos are now 4-2 in rematches this season:

Rematch wins (Game 2 vs. a team)

• Air Force
• Grand Canyon
• Fresno State
• San Jose State

Rematch losses (Game 2 vs. a team)

• Boise State
• Nevada

Attendance...

The announced attendance for Tuesday's New Mexico at Nevada game in the Lawlor Events Center: 8,020

As I say to those who get mad when I post obviously inflated (relative to actual butts in seats attendance) for Lobo home games, I will just say that was a generous number for Tuesday night in Reno.

UNM's true road games 2025-26:

• 12,414 — Jan. 17 at San Diego State
• 9,980 — Dec. 30 at Boise State
• 8,106 — Nov. 15 at New Mexico State
• 8,020 — Tuesday at Nevada
• 7,637 — Dec. 10 at VCU
• 6,988 — Feb. 11 at Grand Canyon
• 5,642 — Jan. 27 at UNLV
• 5,402 — Saturday at Fresno State
• 4,189 — Jan. 31 at San Jose State
• 3,640 — Jan. 6 at Colorado State
• 2,017 — Jan. 10 at Air Force

Series notes

UNM trails Nevada 15-12 overall in the series, and had its five-game win streak in the series snapped on Tuesday. Steve Alford, the former Lobos coach, had won his first eight times against his old team as Nevada's coach, then dropped five, and got back on the winning side of things Tuesday night.

The game earlier this season in the Pit was also decided by seven points with the Lobos winning 80-73 behind their trio of freshmen: 19 points, four assists from Jake Hall; 11 points, 15 rebounds from Tomislav Buljan; and 13 points, five assists and two steals from Uriah Tenette.

Plus/minus...

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

NEW MEXICO

• +3 Tajavis Miller (15:30)
• +1 Antonio Chol (20:51)
• +1 Uriah Tenette (25:00)
• -2 JT Rock (14:55)
• -4 Deyton Albury (31:04)
• -5 Tomislav Buljan (25:05)
• -13 Luke Haupt (32:37)
• -16 Jake Hall (24:58)

NEVADA

• +19 Vaughn Weems (28:36)
• +6 Corey Camper Jr. (37:45)
• +6 Tyler Rolison (14:52)
• +4 Elijah Price (35:30)
• +4 Jeriah Coleman (4:33)
• +3 Tayshawn Comer (23:25)
• +3 Kaleb Lowery (18:19)
• 0 Peyton White (5:18)
• -2 Myles Walker (1:43)
• -4 Amire Robinson (11:25)
• -4 Joel Armotrading (18:34)

Line 'em up...

The UNM Lobos played eight players and used 11 unique lineup combinations on Tuesday. The Wolf Pack played 11 players and used 17 unique lineup combinations.

Here's a look at some of the Lobos lineup combinations, starting with the starters.

STARTING LINEUP and WORST LINEUP

• WHO: Deyton Albury, Jake Hall, Luke Haupt, Antonio Chol, Tomislav Buljan
• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -9 (9-18)
• TIME ON COURT: 10:36
• NOTE: Well, what did you expect? Another bad start with the starters in, obviously, and two starters — Luke Haupt and Antonio Chol — shoot a combined 0-for-9 in the game. That won't win many games, and certainly not ones with conference title implications. This unit scored nine points in more than 10 and a half minutes on the court. NINE! That was 0.5196 points per possession and needless to say, but in a column analyzing the game it's going to be said: that's HORRIBLE basketball.

BEST LINEUP

• WHO: Uriah Tenette, Deyton Albury, Tajavis Miller, Antonio Chol, Tomislav Buljan
• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +9 (9-0)
• TIME ON COURT: 5:02
• NOTE: Holding Nevada scoreless in more than 5 minutes of court time in a game you lose by seven is a pretty key stretch. And this was about defense. Tenette and Miller in for Hall and Haupt, on this night, were just better.

AND THEM?

• NOTE: Vaughn Weems was the key. The top two (of 17) lineups that Nevada used on Tuesday (a plus-8 lineup and a plus-5 lineup) included Weems. The two worst (a minus-7 and a minus-4) he was on the bench.

VIDEO: Eric Olen and Deyton Albury

Here's the Journal's postgame interview video with UNM coach Eric Olen and guard Deyton Albury in the Lawlor Events Center:

Pregame from Reno

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, I had nothing to do with the placement of the cheerleaders in front of the camera, and you can watch the video for proof of that!)

Meanwhile, at the U.S. Air Force Academy...

It wasn't their last chance at a Mountain West win this season, but Tuesday night at home vs. 11th-place San Jose State was the last good chance at a league win this season for the Air Force Falcons.

And while they made a game of it (and did cover the 6.5-point betting spread), the Falcons did lose, 86-80, to San Jose State to fall to 0-17 on the season.

Around the Mountain...

There were four games Tuesday around the Mountain West. Here's a look at the league's scores and some upcoming games:

TUESDAY

• Colorado State 74, Fresno State 70
• Boise State 72, Wyoming 62
• San Jose State 86, Air Force 80
• Nevada 67, New Mexico 60

WEDNESDAY

• UNLV at Grand Canyon, 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)
• Utah State at San Diego State, 8 p.m. PT/9 p.m. MT (FS1)

SATURDAY

• San Diego State at New Mexico, 11 a.m. PT/noon MT (CBS)
• Air Force at Wyoming, 1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• Colorado State at San Jose State, 2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• Boise State at Fresno State, 4:30 p.m. PT/5:30 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• Nevada at UNLV, 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)
• Grand Canyon at Utah State, 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT (FS1)

Mountain West standings

Here are the conference standings through Tuesday's games:

• 13-3 Utah State
• 12-4 San Diego State
• 12-5 New Mexico
• 11-6 Nevada
• 10-6 Grand Canyon
• 9-7 UNLV
• 9-8 Boise State
• 9-8 Colorado State
• 6-11 Wyoming
• 6-11 Fresno State
• 3-14 San Jose State
• 0-17 Air Force

• • •

Here are the home/road standings through Tuesday's games with road wins counting as a +1 and home losses as a -1:

• +5 Utah State
• +4 San Diego State
• +4 New Mexico
• +2 Nevada
• +2 Grand Canyon
• +1 UNLV
• 0 Boise State
• 0 Colorado State
• -2 Wyoming
• -2 Fresno State
• -5 San Jose State
• -9 Air Force

If it started now...

The Mountain West Tournament doesn't start now. But if it did, this is what the bracket would look like, based on current tie breakers that could change over next two weeks of games (through Tuesday's games, and with games on Wednesday night not all teams even have equal numbers of games, so big grain of salt needed here):

Top half of bracket

• 8 Colorado State/9 Wyoming —> 1 Utah State
• 5 Grand Canyon/12 Air Force —> 4 Nevada

Bottom half of bracket

• 7 Boise State/10 Fresno State —> 2 San Diego State
• 6 UNLV/11 San Jose State —> 3 New Mexico

Stats and stats...

Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted after Tuesday's game: Nevada 67, New Mexico 60

And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: Nevada 67, New Mexico 60=

Grammer's Guesses

The Guesses go 3-1 and I'm 55-45 on the season which means I'm close to wrapping this up and having an entire offseason of bragging rights on my daughter and her coin!

The coin flips went 2-2 and are 48-52 on the season.

SEASON STANDINGS:

• Grammer's Guesses: 55-45
• My daughter's coin: 48-52

Up next

• For New Mexico: The Lobos host San Diego State at noon MT on Saturday in the Pit in a game being broadcast on CBS (the main, network CBS, not the cable-only CBS Sports Network).
• For Nevada:  The Wolf Pack plays at in-state rival UNLV on Friday night in Las Vegas at 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT in a game being televised on CBS Sports Network.

Until next time...

Until next time, Lawlor Events Center on the campus of the University of Nevada in Reno, Nev., ...

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