Emptying the Notebook: Playing first college game in front of dad, Buljan blows up

Here are some notes, quotes, stats, trends and other odds & ends I emptied out of the old notebook after Saturday's 78-58 UNM Lobos win over Wyoming in the Pit:

Doin' it for dad

Before Saturday's game, a man who I assumed was Tomislav Buljan's brother came up to me and introduced himself.

"I'm Enes Buljan. Tomislav's father," said the 50-year-old man, who looked to be about 23 like his Lobo playing son.

As it turns out, Enes Buljan is in the United States visiting his son until later this week from Split, Croatia, something that not only makes the Lobo freshman big man get over some of the homesick blues, but also seems to be bringing out of him the best on-court version of himself.

"Today was a special night, because this is the first time that he saw me playing live here (in the United States)," said Tomislav Buljan after Saturday's game, one in which he scored 25 points and had 12 rebounds in under 24 minutes on the court. "That's why I appreciate the love.

"Also this game was for him, because he believes in me, and he follows me everywhere I go. And this was a special night."

The younger Buljan's big night came on 11-of-13 (0.846) shooting, the third best field goal percentage by a Lobo in a game in which he attempted at least 10 shots.

• 91.7% (11-12) — Nelly Junior Joseph (win over Utah State on Jan. 16, 2025 in the Pit)
• 91.7% (11-12) — Sam Logwood (win over Wyoming on Feb. 20 16, 2018 in Laramie, Wyoming)
• 85.6% (11-13) — Buljan (win over Wyoming on Saturday in the Pit)

After missing the Dec. 20 Mountain West opener with a hamstring injury, Buljan has come back strong as can be this week. In Tuesday's loss at Boise State, it was 16 points, 10 rebounds and a steal in 24 minutes. On Saturday vs. Wyoming, it was 25 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 23 minutes. He also drew eight fouls against the Cowboys.

Buljan season averages:

• Points: 12.5
• Rebounds: 9.4
• Offensive rebounds: 3.4
• Shooting: 58.3% (56-96)
• 2 FG%: 62.8% (54-86)
• 3 FG%: 20.0% (2-10)
• FT: 64.3% (36-56)
• Blocks: 7 total
• Steals: 10 total

So good Buljan was this week, he pushed his way into the KenPom.com All-Mountain West rankings for top five players — all based on computer statistics — in league games.

Said teammate and fellow freshman, albeit a much younger one, Uriah Tenette, what Buljan is doing this season is just special.

"His rebounding, it's insane. Very impactful," Tenette said. "He's a great player, great passer. He's getting better each and every game, and when he's doing good out there, we're a really scary team."

Steve Kirkland stat of the night!

Per Steve Kirkland, UNM's men's basketball sports information director, Buljan is just the third freshman this season among all 365 Division I teams to have a 25-point, 12-rebound (or better) double-double.

The other two:

• David Mirkovic, Illinois
• Cameron Boozer, Duke (four times!)

The gamer

Here's the gamer I filed from the Pit on Saturday night:

• Lobos clamp down on defense, trounce Cowboys in second half

Getting offensive

No, this isn't a section about how bad UNM's offense (and Boise State's for that matter) was on Tuesday. This is a shout out to UNM's season-high 17 offensive rebounds on Saturday night against a Wyoming team that entered the game ranked 13th in the country in defensive rebound rate.

Those 17 offensive rebounds, led by five offensive boards from Buljan, was the most Wyoming allowed to any team this season, as were the 16 second-chance points the Lobos turned those into.

Throw in the nine offensive boards UNM had on Tuesday (as noted, those came in a game the Lobos actually missed a lot of shots), and the Lobos looked the part this week of a team that can actually hold its own on the offensive glass — something first-year coach Eric Olen says he believes his team can do, but the stats haven't always shown that.

UNM is ranked 217th out of 365 Division I teams in offensive rebound rate on KenPom.com at 29.6% — a bit below the national average of 31.1%.

But there is no question this week, especially thanks to Buljan, the Lobos looked just fine in that category.

Olen is rollin

Eric Olen has the fifth-best win percentage in Division I basketball over the past two seasons. He's 41-8 — 30-5 last year with the UC San Diego Tritons and 11-3 this season with the UNM Lobos.

He's also one of only two coaches on this list not currently coaching in a power conference (Randy Bennett at Saint Mary's is the other).

Highest win pct. past two seasons:

• .906 (48-5) Jon Scheyer (Duke)
• .889 (48-6) Kelvin Sampson (Houston)
• .878 (43-6) Ben McCollum (Drake/Iowa)
• .843 (43-8) Randy Bennett (Saint Mary’s)
• .837 (41-8) Eric Olen (UCSD/New Mexico)
• .833 (45-9) Todd Golden (Florida)
• .824 (42-9) Tom Izzo (Michigan State)
• .816 (40-9) Ryan Odom (VCU/Virginia)

NOTE: A hat tip to Steve Kirkland for this note having been a regular in the game notes all season. (Of course, I want full credit for updating these records with Saturday's results! Included in that was updating the Florida loss at Missouri, which led to Olen and Todd Golden swapping spots on this list and Olen moving from sixth to fifth.)

They're still streaking

Another home win for the Lobos means the home win streak is up to 20 — 9-0 this season plus the last 11 home games of last season. That is good for the fifth-longest active home win streak in Division I basketball:

• 25 — St. Thomas (Summit League)
• 24 — Duke (ACC)
• 23 — Akron (MAC)
• 23 — Miami (Ohio) (MAC)
• 20 — New Mexico (Mountain West)
• 19 — Louisville (ACC)
• 19 — Utah Valley (WAC)
• 18 — Saint Mary's (WCC)
• 17 — McNeese (Southland)

The streak is also the fifth longest in program history and the longest for UNM since a 22-game win streak in the Pit that occurred from December 2004 to February 2006.

Little big man

I'm starting this section off with a downer.

Well, not for Leland Walker and the Cowboys. For them, this chase-down block of Uriah Tenette's would-be breakaway dunk in the first half was spectacular:

For Tenette, a true freshman listed at 5-11 and winner of UNM's dunk contest in the preseason Lobo Howl, it was a play that a kid just a few months out of high school might have shut down after, at least a bit.

Not Tenette.

"Nah, that's just part of the game," said Tenette. "You know, you're gonna get blocked a couple times. I'm not the tallest player out there, you know? I know I'm going to get blocked. So just staying aggressive is just a mindset."

He not only stayed aggressive, he played as good a game as anyone on Saturday.

Uriah Tenette on Saturday vs. Wyoming:

• Points: 14
• Rebounds: 2
• Assists: 3
• Turnovers: 0
• +/-: +18 (game best)
• Minutes: 29:10

His halftime dime to Buljan just two seconds before the break was a thing of beauty. So much so, I'm sharing three views of it:

View one:

View two:

View three:

Wyo-no O

The Cowboys entered Saturday's game averaging 85.0 points per game.

The Lobos held Wyoming 27 points below that average.

Wyoming's lowest-scoring games this season:

• 58 — loss at UNM (Saturday)
• 68 — win at Air Force (Tuesday)
• 70 — loss at Sam Houston State (Nov. 19)
• 70 — loss vs. Grand Canyon (Dec. 20)

Though it came in a loss, Boise State's 62 points on Tuesday vs. UNM was also the Broncos' season low (tied with two other games, and ironically all three were Boise State wins).

That same Boise State team just went to Viejas Arena on Saturday night and scored 107 points against the Aztecs. Sure, that included three overtimes, but it was 79 points at the end of regulation.

UNM is allowing opponents to score 67.4 points per game this season.

Mountain West points allowed per game:

1. 67.31 ppg — Utah State
2. 67.36 ppg — New Mexico
3. 68.85 ppg — Grand Canyon
4. 71.07 ppg — Nevada
5. 71.50 ppg — Colorado State
6. 71.79 ppg — Wyoming
7. 72.00 ppg — Boise State
8. 72.29 ppg — Fresno State
9. 73.21 ppg — Air Force
10. 74.77 ppg — San Diego State
11. 75.69 ppg — UNLV
12. 76.93 ppg — San Jose State

Cool hand Luke

Luke Haupt has played very well since being inserted into the starting lineup in place of the still injured Chris Howell (oblique injury).

In three games (all three of UNM's Mountain West games), Haupt has averaged:

• Points: 7.3
• FG%: 45.0% (8-14 2s, 16 3s)
• FT%: 75.0% (3-4)
• Assists: 1.7
• Rebounds: 4.3
• Steals: 1.3
• Total +/-: +34 (+14 vs. SJSU, +5 Boise State, +15 Wyoming)

The starting five with Haupt in it in the three Mountain West games, including Tuesday's loss at Boise State, has outscored opponents by plus-23 points.

Kill shots

It was two more kill shots on Saturday for the Lobos without allowing one.

UNM kill shot 1

• Score: Wyoming 29, New Mexico 22
• Total run: 10-0 (5:45 1H - 1:53 1H — 3 minutes, 52 seconds)
• Note: A 5-0 Buljan run — one of two free throws, an offensive rebound then dunk and an offensive rebound then layup — was the back half of this 10-0 run that changed the complexion of the entire game
• Ending score: New Mexico 32-Wyoming 29 (1:53 1H)

This kill shot was actually the front end of an overall 26-5 scoring run for the Lobos that spanned the end of the first half and beginning of the second, taking the score from Wyoming up 29-22 to UNM up 48-34.

UNM kill shot 2

• Score: New Mexico 66, Wyoming 53
• Total run: 10-0 (5:33 2H - 2:25 2H — 3 minutes, 8 seconds)
• Note: This one included a J.T. Rock offensive rebound and dunk and four Uriah Tenette points — a 3-pointer and a free throw.

Season kill shot tracker:

• 13 — UNM kill shots
• 2 — UNM kill shots allowed

*NOTE: This only accounts for DI games. The Lobos also had three kill shots and didn't allow one in the Dec. 1 win over Division II New Mexico Highlands.

Hall found his shot

Combined with Tuesday's 0-for-7 3-point shooting slump for UNM's leading scorer Jake Hall, the freshman had missed 10-consecutive 3-point attempts by half time of Saturday's game.

The former nationally ranked surfer then rode a nice wave of corner-3 action to start the second half against Wyoming.

Hall hit three 3-pointers in a 2-minute, 38-second span that had the Pit rockin' and Wyoming coach Sundance Wicks scrambling for a timeout trying to get his guys to remember the scout on Hall.

Don't pass this up

UNM's 15 assists against Wyoming, which was ranked No. 1 in defensive assist rate entering the game, was a season high against the Cowboys (previous high allowed was 11).

It was also a very welcome site for a Lobo offense that looks night and day better with that type of ball movement after a four-assist dud of a game in Boise on Tuesday.

The interim guy doing interim AD things

It's official. When you hand a fancy basketball to the game sponsor during the first media timeout of the game in the Pit, you really are the AD (or at least interim AD).

Congrats to Ryan Berryman for getting to do all the important Athletics Director things like this:

Another new guy

OK, so Ryan Berryman isn't new in these parts, just in a new position. But Brian Hosfeld is new.

UNM's new volleyball coach got the on-court introduction and wave to the crowd treatment on Saturday night in the Pit...

How about those other Lobos?

The UNM women's basketball team also won on Saturday, blowing out San Jose State on the road, 89-51, to improve to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in Mountain West play. Here is colleague Ken Sickenger's write up on their win:

• Lobos wake up from sleepy start, romp Spartans

Attendance

The announced attendance for Saturday's Wyoming at New Mexico game in the Pit: 13,763

That's the largest announced attendance for a game in the Pit this season.

• 13,763 — Saturday vs. Wyoming
• 13,614 — Dec. 6 vs. Santa Clara
• 12,785 — Dec. 20 vs. San Jose State
• 12,204 — Dec. 14 vs. Florida Gulf Coast
• 12,037 — Nov. 26 vs. Alabama State
• 11,689 — Nov. 11 vs. UC Riverside
• 11,513 — Nov. 8 vs. UT Arlington
• 10,726 — Nov. 5 vs. East Texas A&M
• 10,164 — Dec. 1 vs. D-II New Mexico Highlands

Series notes

UNM now leads the all-time series 83-72, 43-16 in the Pit. The Lobos' current six-game win streak against the Pokes is the team's longest active win streak among conference foes.

Here's a look back at last year's two meetings:

Feb. 12, 2025 in the Pit — UNM 71, Wyoming 67: It took a 20-point, 10 fouls drawn, seven-assist, six-rebound, three-steal and one-blocked shot performance from Donovan Dent and a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left from Lobo freshman Jovan Milicevic to break a 65-all tie to allow the Lobos to escape the upset bid.

Jan. 7, 2025 in Laramie — UNM 61, Wyoming 53: You thought Tuesday's offense in Boise was bad? Maybe Lobo fans blocked from their memory the 18-point first half in Laramie last year. UNM did come back to win, 61-53, thanks to a 43-21 second half, but the first half was, well, it was bad.

Plus/minus

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

NEW MEXICO

• +18 Uriah Tenette (29:10)
• +17 Tomislav Buljan (23:51)
• +15 Luke Haupt (22:42)
• +12 Jake Hall (28:00)
• +12 Tajavis Miller (19:29)
• +10 Antonio Chol (29:28)
• +7 Deyton Albury (25:14)
• +6 Milos Vicentic (5:57)
• +3 JT Rock (16:09)

WYOMING

• 0 Damarion Dennis (20:20)
• -2 Simm-Marten Saadi (4:59)
• -3 Kiani Saxon (7:57)
• -6 Abou Magassa (13:17)
• -8 Uriyah Rojas (14:48)
• -12 Gavin Gores (21:44)
• -13 Leland Walker (25:26)
• -17 Adam Harakow (32:03)
• -19 Nasir Meyer (33:37)
• -20 Khaden Bennett (25:49)

Line 'em up

The UNM Lobos played nine players and used 15 unique lineup combinations on Saturday. The Cowboys played 10 players and used 17 unique lineup combinations.

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

STARTING LINEUP

• WHO: Deyton Albury, Jake Hall, Luke Haupt, Antonio Chol, Tomislav Buljan
• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6 (15-9)
• TIME ON COURT: 7:07
• NOTE: Second game in a row that the best lineup was the starting lineup. And another strong performance from Luke Haupt starting in place of the injured Chris Howell. 

BEST LINEUP

• NOTE: See above. 

WORST LINEUP

• WHO: Deyton Albury, Jake Hall, Luke Haupt, Antonio Chol, JT Rock
• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -4 (7-11)
• TIME ON COURT: 3:43
• NOTE: Not the best of games for JT Rock. Not a huge deal. He's had plenty of good +/- minutes this season, but Saturday, when he was in with the starters other than Tomislav Buljan, the Cowboys, for one reason or another, scored 11 points in just 3:43. Not a horrible "worst" lineup at all for the Lobos in this 20-point win.

VIDEO: Eric Olen, Tomislav Buljan and Uriah Tenette

Here's my postgame video with UNM coach Eric Olen, Tomislav Buljan and Uriah Tenette:

Pregame in the Pit

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.

Meanwhile, in Viejas Arena

It was the latest game of the century on Saturday night in San Diego.

After SDSU blew out the Boise State by 21 points in the first half (50-29), the Broncos returned the favor by blowing out the Aztecs by 21 points in the second half (50-29). Overtime one... then two... then the Aztecs managed to hold on in TRIPLE OVERTIME!!! A 110-107 win for two programs who hang their hats on defense. Yes, it took three OTs, but trust me, this wasn't a defensive gem for either team.

But it was an amazing game to watch!

There are 714 (at least) highlights to show you from this game, but I'm leaving it with just one from SDSU's B.J. Davis, who miraculously forced the second overtime when all Boise State had to do was either inbound the ball (failed) or foul Davis before he shot the 3 so he could only shoot two FTs when the Aztecs were down three (failed).

Around the Mountain

There was a full slate of six games around the Mountain West on Saturday, five more coming on Tuesday and one on Wednesday night. Here's a look at recent scores and upcoming games around the league:

TUESDAY (Dec. 30)

• Wyoming 68, Air Force 56
• Nevada 75, Colorado State 62
• Utah State 72, Fresno State 63
• San Diego State 81, San Jose State 68
• Boise State 62, New Mexico 53

SATURDAY

• Utah State 96, San Jose State 78
• Air Force at UNLV, 3 p.m. MT
• Nevada 66, Fresno State 65
• Colorado State 70, Grand Canyon 60
• New Mexico 78, Wyoming 58
• San Diego State 110, Boise State 107 (3OT)

TUESDAY

• Utah State at Air Force, 7 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• New Mexico at Colorado State, 7 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• UNLV at Wyoming, 8 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)
• Fresno State at San Jose State, 8 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• San Diego State at Nevada, 9 p.m. MT (FS1)

WEDNESDAY

• Grand Canyon at Boise State, 9 p.m. MT (FS1)

FRIDAY

• UNLV at Colorado State, 8 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)

SATURDAY

• New Mexico at Air Force, 1 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• San Jose State at Grand Canyon, 7 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• Utah State at Boise State, 7 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)
• Wyoming at Nevada, 8 p.m. MT (TheMW)
• Fresno State at San Diego, 9 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)

Mountain West standings

Here are the conference standings through Saturday's games:

(listed alphabetically where records are same)

• 3-0 Nevada
• 3-0 San Diego State
• 3-0 Utah State
• 2-0 UNLV
• 2-1 New Mexico
• 1-1 Grand Canyon
• 1-2 Boise State
• 1-2 Colorado State
• 1-2 Wyoming
• 0-3 Air Force
• 0-3 Fresno State
• 0-3 San Jose State

Stats and stats

Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted after Saturday's game: New Mexico 78, Wyoming 58

And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: New Mexico 78, Wyoming 58

Up next

For New Mexico: The Lobos play at Colorado State at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Moby Arena in Fort Collins.  The game will be streamed on TheMW.com.

For Wyoming: The Cowboys host UNLV at 8 p.m. on Tuesday in Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

Grammer's Guesses

I know you're all happy.

The Guesses go 3-3 on Saturday and I'm 9-8 on the season. My daughter's coin flip picks went 4-2 and she now has a 10-7 record.

Season standings:

• My daughter's coin flips: 10-7
• Grammer's Guesses: 9-8

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