Emptying the Notebook: 'Other guys' make SDSU pay for focusing on Dent, who still reaches two milestones

Here are some extra notes, quotes, stats, streaks, trends and other odds & ends I managed to empty out of the old notebook after Saturday's 62-48 Lobos win over San Diego State in the Pit:

First, lets talk about those 'other guys'...

It isn't as though San Diego State was the first team that figured out the best way to stop the Lobos is to stop Donovan Dent and Nelly Junior Joseph from masterfully executing the high pick and roll they've been running all season.

It's just that San Diego State is one of the few teams on the Lobos schedule good enough defensively to actually do it.

Lets look at that UNM offense/SDSU defense cat-and-mouse game the coaches were open about playing before Saturday's game ever tipped off.

SDSU coach Brian Dutcher on Thursday:

“Dent and Joseph are as good a point guard/center combination as there is in the country. Most good teams are really good up the middle, and they’re good up the middle — center and point guard. So we have to do a good job dealing with the ball screens and find a way to slow Dent and Joseph down.”

UNM coach Richard Pitino on Friday:

“Yeah, the other guys have got to be willing to make some shots. ... Donovan’s always going to find guys, but the pick and roll, it’s five guys really connected, not just Nelly and Donnie. So, the other three guys gotta make them pay.”

Dent was held to just four of his game-high 16 points in the first half and the two-man game of the high screen action with him and Nelly that has been great was, in fact, pretty well shut down by the switching defense of the Aztecs. And most of Dent's success in the second half was in transition.

So, credit SDSU for that much.

But, those "other guys" as Pitino talked about who needed to make SDSU pay if they spent that much time and energy trying to slow Dent, well on Saturday they did their jobs and UNM's offense looked balanced.

The Lobos were successful in countering SDSU's switching defense — often putting forwards on guards and leaving SDSU guards to try and rebound misses against UNM's big men. That latter part clearly being a big part of UNM's domination on the boards (UNM out-rebounded SDSU 51-35 and 18-3 on the offensive glass).

But for now, let's just keep the focus on how those other three starters — Tru Washington, Filip Borovicanin, and Mustapha Amzil — made SDSU pay for the attention on Dent.

Tru Washington

• 13 points

• 3-7 on 3-pointers

• 5 rebounds

• 3 fouls drawn

• Defensively, 1 steal, 1 block

Filip Borovicanin

• 9 points

• 9 rebounds

• 2 assists

• 2 fouls drawn

• Defensively, his size made the first half miserable for SDSU star wing Miles Byrd

Mustapha Amzil

• 10 points

• 11 rebounds (4 offensive)

• 6 fouls drawn

• 2 assists

• Defensively, he had two steals and three blocked shots

Dent + Junior Joseph for Saturday:

• 22 points

• 7 assists

• 5 turnovers

• 6 fouls drawn

'Other guys' combined

• 32 points

• 5 of UNM's six made 3s

• 5 assists

• 2 turnovers

• 13 fouls drawn

There's no stopping Dent

With his 16 points Saturday, Donovan Dent now has score 1,010 for his college career, becoming the 38th player in UNM history to score 1,000 points as a Lobo.

He is now tied with Alex Kirk (2010-11 through 2013-14) and Ron Becker (1967-68 through 1969-70) at 35th all-time on the list, each also scoring 1,010 points in their three-year Lobo careers. Dent passed Hugh Greenwood (1,006 points from 2011-12 through 2014-15), who is now No. 38.

UNM's all-time scoring list:

33. 1,016 — Ira Harge 1963-1964 (54 games)

34. 1,011 — Rob Loeffell, 1986-1989 (108 games)

t35. 1,010 — Donovan Dent, 2022-23 - current (86 games)

t35. 1,010 — Alex Kirk, 2011-2014 (101 games)

t35. 1,010 — Ron Becker, 1968-1970 (80 games)

38. 1,006 — Hugh Greenwood, 2012-2015 (130 games)

In addition to all those points scored, Dent is actually best known for his passing. He had five assists on Saturday, breaking into the Top 10 on UNM's all-time assists list.

UNM career assists

1. Darrell McGee, 1987-90 — 684 (137 games)

—

8. Willie Banks, 1089-92 — 419 (126 games)

9. Jaelen House, 2022-24 — 395 (94 games)

10. Donovan Dent, 2023-present — 385 (86 games)

11. Marlon Parmer, 2000-2002 — 384 (84 games)

12. Hugh Greenwood, 2012-2015 — 372 (130 games)

Dent on the season is averaging 19.1 points (28th in the country) and 6.8 assists per game (tied for 7th with fellow Mountain West player Alvaro Cardenas of Boise State).

D-I players averaging 19.0 points/6.5 assists

• Donovan Dent, UNM — 19.1 points/6.8 assists

The list doesn't exactly grow much if even if you drop down the assists benchmark down to 5.0, which is nearly two full assist fewer than Dent's 6.8 average.

D-I players averaging 19.0 points/5.0 assists

• Donovan Dent, UNM — 19.1 points/6.8 assists

• Kam Jones, Marquette — 19.7 points/6.4 assists

• Adam Clark, Merrimack — 20.1 points/5.2 assists

The gamer...

Here is the gamer I filed Saturday from the Pit media room:

• Donovan Dent, elite defense key Lobos' win over San Diego State

They're still streaking!!!!

The UNM Lobos have now won seven games in a row (since that Dec. 7 overtime loss to rival NM State).

It's the third longest win streak in the Richard Pitino era, tied for the 8th longest active streak in the country, and tied for the 12th longest in the Mountain West era, which started in the 1999-2000 season.

Top Lobo win streaks in Mountain West era (1999-2000):

• 15 — 2009-10 season (Jan. 13 - March 11)

• 14 — 2022-23 season (Nov. 7 - Dec. 31)

• 13 — 2011-12 season (Nov. 25 - Jan. 14)

• 12 — 2012-13 season (Nov. 12 - Dec. 19)

• 12 — 2009-10 season (Nov. 14 - Dec. 19)

• 11 — 2023-24 season (Nov. 16 - Dec. 29)

• 9 — 2004-05 season (Feb. 14 - March 12)

• 9 — 2000-01 season (Nov. 27 - Jan. 2)

• 8 — 2019-20 season (Nov. 26 - Dec. 29)

• 8 — 2010-11 season (Nov. 24 - Dec. 22)

• 8 — 2001-02 season (Dec. 1 - Jan. 5)

** 7 — 2024-25 season (Dec. 14 - present)

• 7 — 2017-18 season (Feb. 14 - March 9)

• 7 — 2011-12 season (Jan. 25 - Feb. 18)

• 7 — 2007-08 season (Dec. 8 - Jan. 5)

• 7 — 2007-08 season (Nov. 9 - Nov. 28)

** — active streak

We have a troll off!

San Diego State's social media account, about 45 minutes before the game in the Pit, posted an "Aztec Insight" sort of trivia-like statement about past games against the Lobos, including a 28-point win in the Pit the 30-2 team had over Paul Weir's Lobos in 2020.

After the Lobo win, UNM's social media account posted a "Lobo Insight" graphic stating the Jan. 11, 2025 Lobos win made it three of the last four for the Lobos over SDSU with two double-digit wins in the Pit on national television (CBS) and the other win being in last year's Mountain West Tournament championship game. (Not mentioned by UNM was that the MW tourney championship game was also on national television on CBS).

Steve Kirkland stat of the night!

Lobo hoops SID Steve Kirkland coming in strong for this edition of the Steve Kirkland Stat of the Night!

UNM won back-to-back games shooting under 40% in the past week:

• 35.4% (Saturday) — W, 62-48 over San Diego State (the Pit)

• 33.3% (Tuesday) — W, 61-53 over Wyoming (in Laramie)

The last time UNM won back-to-back games shooting under 40% was in the 2012-13 season:

• 34.7% (Feb. 16, 2013) — W, 60-50 over Boise State (in the Pit)

• 37.5% (Feb. 13, 2013) — W, 54-48 over Fresno State (in Fresno)

Specialty stat domination...

UNM not only dominated the "specialty stats" — the ones often linked to hustle, effort, grittiness, toughness, or whatever sports cliché you want to throw out there — they did things in those stats that haven't happened to SDSU all season.

Points off turnovers

• UNM +8 (9-1)

• SDSU had not lost the points off turnover stat all season

• SDSU's 1 point off a turnover was its lowest of season (previous low was 11 vs. Cal Baptist on Dec. 11)

• SDSU's 1 point off turnover was the lowest since SDSU had zero points off turnovers vs. New Mexico in the March 16 Mountain West Tournament championship game.

Points in the paint

• UNM +12 (32-20)

• SDSU had won points in the paint in 11 of 13 games before Saturday

• SDSU's 20 points in the paint was a season low.

• UNM's 32 points in the paint tied a season high for a SDSU opponent (Gonzaga and Cal. Baptist each scored 32 as well)

Second chance points

• UNM +13 (14-1)

• SDSU had won second chance points by a combined 79-26 in its previous four games before losing by 13 Saturday.

• SDSU's 1 second chance point was the team's lowest since having 0 at Stanford on Nov. 15, 2022 — a span of 88 games.

Down in the West Texas Town of El Paso...

The New Mexico State Aggies are on a heckuva run, going 7-1 in their last eight games and blowing out rival UTEP, 85-57, on Saturday at the Don Haskins Center.

And, whether Lobo fan likes it or not, the Aggies are helping UNM out in a big way with their success.

In that eight-game span for NM State:

• NMSU beat both their rivals on the road in their sold-out arenas

• NMSU jumped from 225 to 126 in KenPom

• NMSU is 3-0 and alone in first place in Conference USA

• NMSU beat UTEP by 28 on the road, preseason CUSA favorite La. Tech by 30 in Las Cruces, and Sam Houston State in Las Cruces

• NMSU's NET after the road blowout of the UTEP Miners went from 176 to 129

That last one matters big time for the Lobos (and I realize most reading this are of the UNM fandom variety) because prior to the UTEP win, the home loss to NMSU counted as a "Quad 4" loss. Now, it's a "Quad 3" loss — dramatically less damaging to a team's postseason résumé.

The magic number there is 160. If you lose to a team ranked 161 or worse in the NET, it's a Quad 4 loss. If that opponent that beat you on your home court is ranked between 76 and 160, it's just a Quad 3 loss.

NET gains...

Here is how the Mountain West's NET rankings moved from Saturday (before any Division I games were played) to now (after all of Saturday's DI games were completed):

(current NET / yesterday's NET — Team)

29 / 27 — Utah State

41 / 31 — San Diego State

52 / 55 — Boise State

58 / 69 — New Mexico

64 / 63 — Nevada

85 / 94 — Colorado State

123 / 112 — UNLV

155 / 156 — Wyoming

195 / 199 — San Jose State

273 / 271 — Fresno State

305 / 300 — Air Force

A few more highs, lows, firsts, etc., ...

• SDSU's 48 points was its lowest point total of the season by 15 points (previous low was 63 vs. UC San Diego on Nov. 6)

• SDSU's 17 made shots vs. UNM was the team's fewest FGs made all season (previous low was 22 vs. Utah State on Dec. 28)

• UNM's 18 offensive rebounds was a season high for a SDSU opponent

• SDSU's 3 offensive rebounds was a season low

• UNM's 20-point lead (62-42 with 3:52 remaining) was the largest deficit San Diego State has had all season (trailed by 16 vs. Gonzaga)

• SDSU led for 1:01 of Saturday's game, the second shortest amount of time with the lead this season (never led against Gonzaga)

• SDSU's 8.3% offensive rebound rate was the fourth-lowest since at least the 1996-97 season (6.5% at Nevada on Dec. 9, 1998; 2.8% at Nevada on March 9, 2019; and 0.0% at Utah State on Jan. 26, 2022).

The high-scoring Lobos are a defensive power?

A lot of these stats I've filled this ETN with sort of prove the point, but I also wrote a column Saturday basically saying this Lobos team, even though it leads the MW in scoring and entered Saturday's game ranked 13 nationally in scoring per game, is now a defensive power.

• Grammer: Somewhere along the way, the high-scoring Lobos became a defense-first team

Ummm, well at least they were bad, too?

UNM hit just 8-of-20 free throws on Saturday. 40%

SDSU hit just 9-of-17 free throws. 52.9%

That 40.0% clip for the Lobos at the line was a season low and the 10th-worst FT shooting game UNM has had since at least the 1996-97 season.

UNM now ranks 8th in free throw shooting in the 11-team Mountain West at 68.2%. SDSU is seventh at 68.4% on the seasons.

Attendance...

The announced attendance for San Diego State vs. New Mexico in the Pit: 15,428

Top attended games in Mountain West...

Here are the 10 most attended Mountain West conference games this season:

1. 15,428 — San Diego State at UNM (Saturday)

2. 14,622 — Nevada at UNM (Jan. 3)

t3. 12,414 — Utah State at San Diego State (Dec. 28)

t3. 12,414 — Air Force at San Diego State (Jan. 8)

5. 12,058 — San Diego State at Boise State (Saturday)

6. 10,658 — San Jose State at UNM (Dec. 4)

7. 10,471 — Air Force at Boise State (Dec. 21)

8. 10,270 — Boise State at Utah State (Saturday)

9. 10,117 — UNLV at Boise State (Jan. 7)

10. 9,356 — Fresno State at Utah State (Jan. 4)

Onions!

“We keep getting force-fed that football is king, football is king. And I love football, but you’ve got ambassadors like Bill Raftery who just — they promote this amazing game. He’s as genuinely a good person as I have ever been around." — UNM coach Richard Pitino

I wrote a feature on college basketball icon Bill Raftery being in Albuquerque for the call of Saturday's SDSU at UNM game in the Pit and learned he and UNM coach Richard Pitino know each other well.

Here's the feature after talking with both of them:

• College basketball icon Bill Raftery and Lobo coach Richard Pitino share special bond

Eck, Raftery. Raftery, Eck.

New UNM Lobo football coach Jason Eck made his way over to the broadcast crew during a timeout to say hello to the great Bill Raftery.

So, who is the MW Player of the Week?

Here are three players in the mix, in my estimation, for Mountain West Player of the Week, which gets announced on Monday mornings:

Nique Clifford, Colorado State

• Home win vs. Fresno State, home win vs. UNLV

• 18.0 ppg

• 7.0 rpg

• 5.5 apg

• 2.5 spg

• 6-10 3s

Donovan Dent, New Mexico

• Road win at Wyoming, home win vs. San Diego State

• 19.0 ppg

• 5.5 apg

• 2.5 spg

• Drew 11 fouls

Ian Martinez, Utah State

• Road win at San Jose State, home win vs. Boise State

• 16.0 ppg

• 4.0 rpg

• 3.5 apg

• 6-11 3s

Photos!

Albuquerque Journal photographer Eddie Moore put together a heckuva photo gallery from Saturday's game in the Pit.

• PHOTO GALLERY LINK (SDSU at UNM in the Pit)

Plus/minus...

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

NEW MEXICO

+15 Filip Borovicanin (29:12)

+11 Mustapha Amzil (33:23)

+11 C.J. Noland (13:51)

+8 Atiki Ally Atiki (10:06)

+7 Donovan Dent (30:58)

+6 Nelly Junior Joseph (29:54)

+6 Tru Washington (29:10)

+6 Kayde Dotson (10:31)

+5 Jovan Milicevic (5:06)

-1 Braden Appelhans (4:47)

-2 Quinton Webb (1:31)

-2 Ibrahima Sacko (1:31)

SAN DIEGO STATE

+2 Kimo Ferrari (1:55)

+1 Magoon Gwath (28:48)

0 Taj DeGourville (17:07)

-1 Wayne McKinney III (14:20)

-5 Pharoah Compton (16:35)

-10 Nick Boyd (30:32)

-12 Jared Coleman-Jones (27:33)

-12 Miles Heide (7:04)

-15 Miles Byrd (32:52)

-18 B.J. Davis (23:14)

Line 'em up...

The UNM Lobos played 12 players and used 13 unique lineup combinations. The San Diego State Aztecs played 10 players and used 24 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 (35-32)

• TIME ON COURT: 20:32

• NOTE: That's a lot of time on the court together for the starting five, especially when the group wasn't overly dominant. They played well, though — dishing out eight of UNM's 13 assists.

BEST LINEUP

• WHO: Kayde Dotson, C.J Noland, Filip Borovicanin, Jovan Milicevic, Atiki Ally Atiki

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6 (6-0)

• TIME ON COURT: 3:07

• NOTE: How about this mostly bench lineup not only giving the Lobos starters a chance to rest, but actually extending the lead while they were on the court? Impressive. The Lobos bench was outscored on Saturday, 9-8, and eight isn't a lot of bench points, but make no mistake, the UNM bench was very good for Richard Pitino and Co. on Saturday.

WORST LINEUP

• WHO: Kayde Dotson, Braden Appelhans, Quinton Webb, Ibrahima Sacko, Atiki Ally Atiki

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -2 (0-2)

• TIME ON COURT: 1:02

• NOTE: Look, the stats show -2 and that was the worst of any combination for the Lobos, but this is hardly even worth a note. This was the unit that basically closed the game, wasn't trying to score and SDSU managed just two points.

VIDEO: Postgame with Pitino and Washington...

Here is the postgame media session with UNM coach Richard Pitino and Lobo guard Tru Washington...

VIDEO: Pregame in the Pit...

Here is the pregame show I did Saturday morning in the Pit...

Meanwhile, in Logan....

All the drama!

Ian Martinez hits a 4-point play with under 10 seconds remaining and Utah State erased a 13-point deficit to beat Boise State and improve to 16-1 on the season and, like the Lobos, a perfect 6-0 in Mountain West conference play.

Meanwhile, in Fresno....

At first, it almost looked as the the Nevada Wolf Pack might just blow another one with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of regulation to force overtime at Fresno State.

Then, it was all Nevada in the extra period, nearly covering the 12.5-point spread they were favored by.

Nevertheless, Nevada (now 1-4 in league play) finally gets a MW win, but clearly still isn't what many expected this season.

Around the Mountain...

There was a full slate of five games around the Mountain (West) on Saturday. Here's a look at those and the midweek games coming up:

SATURDAY

• New Mexico 62, San Diego State 48

• San Jose State 69, Air Force 62

• Colorado State 84, UNLV 62

• Nevada 77, Fresno State 66 (OT)

• No. 25 Utah State 81, Boise State 79

TUESDAY

• Wyoming at Boise State, 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT (TheMW)

• Air Force at Nevada, 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT (TheMW)

• New Mexico at San Jose State, 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT (TheMW)

• Colorado State at San Diego State, 8 p.m. PT/9 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)

WEDNESDAY

• No. 25 Utah State at UNLV, 8 p.m. PT/9 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)

FRIDAY

• Air Force at Fresno State, 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT (TheMW)

• Boise State at New Mexico, 8 p.m. PT/9 p.m. MT (FS1)

SATURDAY

• Colorado State at Wyoming, 1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT (TheMW)

• San Jose State at Nevada, 3 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT (TheMW)

• UNLV at San Diego State, 5 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)

Mountain West standings...

Through Saturday's games:

6-0 Utah State

6-0 New Mexico

4-1 Colorado State

4-2 Boise State

3-2 San Diego State

3-2 UNLV

2-3 Wyoming

1-4 Nevada

1-5 San Jose State

0-5 Air Force

0-6 Fresno State

Home/Road standings

A team gets +1 for a road win and -1 for a home loss.

+3 Utah State

+3 New Mexico

+1 San Diego State

+1 Boise State

+1 Colorado State

+1 UNLV

-1 Wyoming

-1 Nevada

-2 San Jose State

-3 Air Force

-3 Fresno State

Stats and stats...

Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted online Saturday night: New Mexico 62, San Diego State 48

And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: New Mexico 62, San Diego State 48

Grammer's Guesses...

The Guesses have a winning day, going 3-2 against the spread!

And, of course, my daughter's coin flip picks have a better day, going 4-1.

My hoops expertise is now 14-16 on the season. My daughter's mindless coin flips are 19-11.

Also, my daughter is now grounded.

Up next...

For New Mexico: The Lobos play at San Jose State on Tuesday.

For San Diego State: The Aztecs host Colorado State on Tuesday.

Lobo schedule/results...