Emptying the Notebook: Was that a Boise Blueprint we just saw to beat the Lobos?

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' 86-78 loss to the Boise State Broncos on Wednesday night in the Pit:

Avoiding the pressure ...

First, a disclaimer.

One game does not a trend make. And Wednesday's loss to Boise State doesn't hurt the Lobos much in the computer metrics (they dropped from 16 to 19 in the NET rankings and 19 to 20 in the KenPom rankings). That's because Boise State is a very good team.

But it was a home loss and the Lobos‘ second half of the season has five tough road games.

So, it was an opportunity lost.

And, what might be more worthy of examination, is whether other teams will mimic what the Broncos did to negate what had been the chaotic, intense, high-pressure defense of the Lobos. In particular, the defense with Jaelen House disrupting everything an opposing offense tried to do with his pestering on-ball defense (vs. Nevada on Sunday, actually, he was a great off-ball defender, but on-the-ball he's been tremendous this season).

Instead of having their guards bring the ball up court, Boise State chose to have junior 6-foot-8 forward Tyson Degenhart be the ballhandler much of the game.

"They had Degenhart bring the ball up so we couldn't really pressure their guards as much as we want to," UNM sophomore guard Donovan Dent said. "But we just got to be better in the halfcourt defense when we're not getting turnovers, steals. We've got to guard better in the halfcourt."

The intense, disruptive ball swatting from House or Dent or Tru Washington off the bench wasn't much of a factor on Wednesday.

"We didn’t want to mess with House," Boise State senior guard and certified Lobo killer Max Rice said, matter-of-factly, after his career-high 35-point game.

Added his dad, and Boise State head coach, Leon Rice: "Tyson did a great job handling the ball for us to take the pressure off the guards, because, you don’t wanna be one-on-one dribbling against the best, quickest, best steal guys in the country. And that’s House."

Boise State did have 11 turnovers, but UNM managed just six points off of those and was actually edged in the points-off-turnovers statistic 8-6.

In contrast, in the Lobos' previous five games (they won all five by an average of more than 20 points per game), the team had a plus-63 edge in points off turnovers and had no fewer than 16 in any game in that stretch.

Points off turnovers in UNM's last 6 games:

• -2 — Wednesday vs. Boise State (BSU 8, UNM 6)

• +14 — Sunday vs. Nevada (UNM 25, Nevada 11)

• +21 — Jan. 24 at San Jose State (UNM 25, SJSU 4)

• +11 — Jan. 20 at Air Force (UNM 26, Air Force 15)

• +12 — Jan. 16 vs. Utah State (UNM 20, Utah State 8)

• +5 — Jan. 13 vs. San Diego State (UNM 16, SDSU 11)

"Well, I think that's what that's the next step for us defensively is more discipline when we can't turn you over," UNM coach Richard Pitino said. "That's part of defense. You're not always going to be able to do that and we were struggling to do that."

Asked why he didn't opt to put a guard on Degenhart, Pitino said he didn't feel it was an option.

"That's really hard to do, especially with our size," Pitino said.

Now, there's a reason guards and not big men usually handle the ball and bring it up court and that's because big men often turn it over if asked to dribble too much. Not every team has a Degenhart who can handle the duties like he did on Wednesday.

It will be interesting to see if opposing teams try to avoid facing the Lobos' intense pressure by having bigger players handle the ball more — a high-risk move in itself, but one that worked on Wednesday for Boise State. UNM next plays Tuesday at Wyoming, and the Cowboys have a forward in Mason Walters who can bring the ball up court.

The gamer ...

Here is the game story I filed after Wednesday's late-starting (again) game in the Pit:

Upset in the Pit: Boise State slows down No. 19 UNM

• By Geoff Grammer/Journal Staff Writer

Return of the Mash/House cold night curse ...

Coincidentally, the last time I wrote about this very issue was on Feb. 23, 2023, in my Emptying the Notebook column after the Lobos lost, 82-77, at Boise State in a game that, like Wednesday, Boise State's Max Rice scored a career high (it was 30 points that time).

The question: Can the Lobos overcome a game in which BOTH Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Jaelen House have off shooting nights?

Over the first two seasons of the Richard Pitino era, there was a live-by-the-Mashburn/House Show, die-by-the-Mashburn/House Show reality. Some games the duo would fire away like crazy, the shots would fall and Lobos would win. And sometimes they'd fire away like crazy, the shots wouldn't fall and the Lobos would lose.

But for the most part, that was UNM's only option for offense (season 1 for sure, less so in season 2).

With this season's roster, though, that isn't needed. Yet, for the first time this season, both House and Mashburn had one of those games where they just kept shooting even when the shots wouldn't fall, combining to hit 8-of-30 shots (26.7%).

The combined 22 misses means I updated this list ...

Most combined missed House/Mashburn shots:

• 25 (14-39) — March 3, 2023, loss (91-76) vs. Utah State (MW Tournament)

• 24 (13-37) — Dec. 19, 2021, loss (90-72) vs. SMU

• 23 (7-30) — March 15, 2023, loss (83-69) vs. Utah Valley (NIT)

• 23 (6-29) — Feb. 22, 2023, loss (82-77) at Boise State

• 23 (16-39) — Feb. 28, 2022, loss (81-78) vs. Fresno State

• 23 (10-33) — Jan. 1, 2022, loss (79-70) at Nevada

• 22 (8-30) — Wednesday, loss (86-78) vs. Boise State

Donnie does it again ...

The back-and-forth between Donovan Dent and Max Rice for a good stretch of that second half Wednesday night was something special to watch.

Neither team had an answer for the other.

Dent's six career games with 20 or more points:

1. 31 points — Wednesday in a loss vs. Boise State

2. 25 points — Nov. 16 in a win vs. UT Arlington

3. 24 points — Nov. 24 in a win vs. Pepperdine

4. 23 points — Dec. 6 in a win vs. UC Santa Barbara

5. 22 points — Dec. 9 in a win vs. Santa Clara

6. 21 points — Jan. 6 in a win vs. Wyoming

Steve Kirkland's stat of the night!

When UNM men's hoops Sports Information Director Steve Kirkland digs up a gem, I make sure to share it here in ETN.

We already know Dent is an elite-level passer, and we knew that before his career-high 14 assists on Jan. 16 vs. Utah State.

In fact, Dent is the only player in the nation to have both a 30-point game this season AND a 14-point game this season.

That's a stat noteworthy enough, but Kirkland took it a step further with this nugget.

In the past eight seasons, Dent is one of only eight players (and look at some of those NBA names on the list) to have a 30-point game and 14-assist game in the same month of the season:

2023-24 — Donovan Dent (New Mexico)

2022-23 — Markquis Nowell (Kansas State)

2022-23 — Jr. Clay (Tennessee State)

2022-23 — Jalen Cook (Tulane)

2020-21 — Jalen Moore (Oakland)

2020-21 — Wendall Green, Jr. (Eastern Kentucky)

2019-20 — Jermaine Morrow (Hampton)

2018-19 — Ja Morant (Murray State)

2018-19 — Nick Norton (Drake)

2018-19 — Shamorie Ponds (St. John's)

2017-18 — Trae Young (Oklahoma)

2016-17 — Dennis Smith Jr. (NC State)

Halfway there ...

The first few sections dove into the micro. Let's take a step back and look at the macro.

The Lobos are the first team in the Mountain West to hit the halfway mark of nine games in the 18-game schedule.

Considering they started league play Jan. 2 at Colorado State with what was really their first game with all three guards healthy (they all three did play vs. Texas Southern on Nov. 6, but that was when UNM realized Jaelen House was not healthy yet and he missed the next five games), the Lobos sitting at 6-3 in Mountain West play at the turn isn't bad.

Yes, the tougher portion of their schedule is ahead of them with road games at Wyoming, Nevada, San Diego State, Boise State and Utah State, but considering very few teams in the Mountain West will win at those places, the fact that UNM is still sitting in the top 20 in NET and KenPom rankings before that stretch is a good sign.

"I think pretty good," UNM coach Richard Pitino said when asked how he feels about his team at the halfway point. "I don't know what place we're in now — third in a pretty good league. I think that's pretty good.

"... Yeah, I think we're in a good spot. I don't feel great right now by any means, but to be top 20-whatever in the NET and top 20 in KenPom after 22 games, I think it's pretty good."

Since the Mountain West moved to an 18-game league schedule in the 2013-14 season, here's how the Lobos fared at the midway point and how they finished each season with record and place in standings (not tournament seed, just their place in the final conference regular season standings):

• 2024: 6-3 (TBD)

• 2023: 6-3 (8-10, 6th place)

• 2022: 1-8 (5-12, 9th place)

• 2021: *1-8 (2-15, 11th place)

• 2020: 5-4 (7-11, t-7th place)

• 2019: 3-6 (7-11, t-7th place)

• 2018: 6-3 (12-6, 3rd place)

• 2017: 6-3 (10-8, 5th place)

• 2016: 7-2 (10-8, t-4th place)

• 2015: 6-3 (7-11, 8th place)

• 2014: 8-1 (15-3, 2nd place)

* 2021 COVID season teams played between 16 and 20 games depending on different COVID pauses.

Letting the paint dry ...

Boise State outscored New Mexico 46-38 in points in the paint (-8 margin for the Lobos).

That is the worst margin for points in the paint this season for the Lobos, and just the fourth time this season a team has edged them in that statistic.

Lobos lose points in the paint battle:

• -8 (46-38): Wednesday in 86-78 loss vs. Boise State

• -6 (32-26): Jan. 2 in 76-68 loss at Colorado State

• -4 (48-44): Nov. 16 in 82-80 win vs. UT Arlington

• -4 (38-34): Nov. 9 in 72-58 loss vs. Saint Mary's

Points in the paint come in a variety of ways. UNM, as noted, didn't have nearly the amount of fast break layups and dunks in transition as they have had in a lot of games this season. Those are all points in the paint.

House and Mashburn weren't scoring much, which often is points in the paint when they are attacking the rim.

But it's also a problem when your starting frontcourt — JT Toppin and Nelly Junior Joseph — shot only 2-of-7 in the paint (28.6%). Toppin had eight points, but six came off two 3-pointers (nobody is saying the Lobos won't take those). When he has only one made filed goal in the paint and Junior Joseph has only one made filed goal in the paint, it's almost a surprise Wednesday's game wasn't worse for UNM.

Not Min Rice, Max Rice ...

Welp, he's done it to the Lobos twice now.

Max Rice vs. UNM — Wednesday in the Pit:

• Points: 35 (new career high)

• 2FG: 5-6

• 3FG: 7-14

• FT: 4-4

Max Rice vs. UNM — Feb. 22 in Boise:

• Points: 30 (old career high)

• 2FG: 4-10

• 3FG: 5-10

• FT: 7-8

So, what was it — the defense?

As mentioned above, the Lobos weren't happy with their defense and the Broncos took them out of everything they want to do on that side of the ball — a high-pressure, in-your-face defense that had been turning teams over like crazy of late.

Instead, the Lobos' defense, rated No. 20 in the country in KenPom entering the game, surrendered a tie for the most points its given up all season (86) to a Broncos team that was, to put it bluntly, shooting it pretty poorly entering the game.

Most points scored vs. UNM this season:

t1. 86 — L, 86-78 vs. Boise State (Wednesday)

t1. 86 — W, 99-86 vs. Utah State (Jan. 16)

3. 84 — W, 92-84 vs. Toledo (Nov. 21)

4. 83 — L, 83-73 at UNLV (Jan. 9)

5. 80 — W, 82-80 vs. UT Arlington (Nov. 16)

It didn't help matters that even when the Lobos did force the Broncos into bad shots as the shot clock was about to expire that Max Rice would just time and again casually do things like this ...

"I thought Max Rice certainly deflated us with some shots," UNM coach Richard Pitino said. "(Chibuzo) Agbo deflated us as well in the corner. And O'Mar Stanley's ability to rebound the ball certainly did that as well."

The Broncos posted an offensive efficiency of 120.2 vs. the Lobos, according to KenPom.com. That's not only the highest any opponent's offensive efficiency has been against the Lobos this season, it's not even close.

Five highest offensive efficiencies vs. UNM:

1. 120.2 — L, 86-78 vs. Boise State (Wednesday)

2. 116.5 — L, 83-73 at UNLV (Jan. 9)

3. 109.3 — W, 99-86 vs. Utah State (Jan. 16)

4. 109.2 — L, 76-68 at Colorado State (Jan. 2)

5. 107.5 — L, 72-58 at Saint Mary's (Nov. 9)

Or was it the offense?

The Lobos of old (or at least of the previous two seasons) seemed content to take their chances getting into shootouts. Considering the 78 points UNM scored was the third most against Boise State this season, you might think the Lobos offense was just fine on Wednesday.

Donovan Dent, he of a career-high 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting, even said as much after the game.

"I mean, I don't think our offense was a problem," Dent said. "We were pushing the ball fine, even on makes. We just got to guard. That's all it came down to was guarding the ball."

But things weren't exactly smooth for the Lobos’ offense outside of Dent.

First, his 12-of-18 night (66.7%) was great. But the rest of the Lobos roster shot 15-of-48 (31.3%).

Jaelen House missed 13 shots.

Jamal Mashburn Jr. missed nine shots.

Tru Washington missed all four of his shots.

The Lobos’ starting frontcourt of JT Toppin and Nelly Junior Joseph, as mentioned above, ONLY shot 2-of-7 in the paint (28.6%). That's an awful number for the starting frontcourt of a nationally ranked team that hadn't seen its two starting forwards get shut down near the basket like that all season (Toppin was 2-of-2 from 3-point range).

The Broncos held the Lobos to their eighth worst offensive efficiency in a game this season, and fourth worst at home in the Pit.

Lobos 10 worst offensive efficiency games:

1. 86.6 — L, 72-58 at Saint Mary's (Nov. 9)

2. 97.7 — L, 76-68 at Colorado State (Jan. 2)

3. 99.7 — W, 73-72 at New Mexico State (Dec. 15)

4. 102.4 — L, 83-73 at UNLV (Jan. 9)

5. 104.9 — W, 78-65 vs. UC Irvine (Dec. 20)

6. 105.4 — W, 74-65 vs. Louisiana Tech (Nov. 29)

7. 107.3 — W, 77-60 vs. Wyoming (Jan. 6)

8. 109.0 — L, 86-78 vs. Boise State (Wednesday)

9. 110.2 — W, 82-80 vs. UT Arlington (Nov. 16)

10. 110.7 — W, 84-61 vs. UC Santa Barbara (Dec. 6)

At one point, the Lobos missed nine-consecutive shots.

"Sometimes it comes down to shot-making," Pitino said. "And they made some shots, we did not."

A number to know: 9

UNM's nine assists were the second lowest total of the season.

UNM's lowest assist totals of season:

• 8 — Nov. 16 win vs. UT Arlington

• 9 — Wednesday loss vs. Boise State

• 10 — Nov. 9 loss at Saint Mary's

• 10 — Dec. 20 win vs. UC Irvine

• 11 — Jan. 20 win at Air Force

Attendance ...

The announced attendance for Wednesday night's late Boise State at New Mexico game in the Pit: 13,239

Maybe it's the ranking?

Like last season, the Lobos went 2-0 in their first week of entering the AP Top 25 and will now be winless in their second week:

Here is how the Lobos have fared in their past five weeks as an AP Top 25 team:

• Dec. 26, 2022, AP poll: No. 22 (2-0) — W vs. Colorado State; W at Wyoming

• Jan. 2, 2023, AP poll: No. 21 (0-2) — L at Fresno State; L vs. UNLV

• Jan. 23, 2023, AP poll: No. 25 (1-1) — L (2OT) at Nevada; W vs. Air Force

—

• Jan. 22, 2024, AP poll: No. 25 (2-0) — W at San Jose State; W vs. Nevada Nevada

• Jan. 29, 2024, AP poll: No. 19 (0-1) — L vs. Boise State

UNM losing at the Pit with an AP Top 25 number next to their name is rare. The Lobos are now 128-10 all-time as a a ranked team in the Pit.

Plus/minus ...

Here are the plus/minus numbers for Wednesday's Boise State/New Mexico game with minutes in parenthesis:

NEW MEXICO

-1 Donovan Dent (35:37)

-1 Tru Washington (9:30)

-2 JT Toppin (32:24)

-2 Nelly Junior Joseph (26:34)

-6 Jemarl Baker Jr. (13:03)

-7 Jaelen House (27:44)

-9 Jamal Mashburn Jr. (34:06)

-12 Mustapha Amzil (21:02)

BOISE STATE

+12 Jace Whiting (19:22)

+9 Max Rice (37:30)

+8 Cam Martin (14:02)

+5 O'Mar Stanley (34:48)

+4 Andrew Meadow (7:04)

+3 Tyson Degenhart (31:10)

+3 Chibuzo Agbo (35:26)

-4 Roddie Anderson III (20:38)

Line 'em up ...

The UNM Lobos played eight players and used 15 unique lineup combinations. The Boise State Broncos played eight players and used just seven unique lineup combinations, which I believe is the fewest I have seen since looking at these lineups a couple years ago.

STARTING LINEUP

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

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: 0 (22-22)

• TIME ON COURT: 12:43

• NOTE: Dent, as noted, was tremendous, but the Lobos got very little production from the other two, cold-shooting guards and very little production offensively near the rim from its big men, JT Toppin and Nelly Junior Jospeh.

Boise State's starting five, meanwhile, was -4 with UNM outscoring Boise State 46-42 in the 20:38 the Broncos' starting five was on the court.

BEST LINEUP

• WHO: Donovan Dent, Jamal Mashburn Jr., Tru Washington, JT Toppin, Nelly Junior Joseph

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +4 (8-4)

• TIME ON COURT: 2:58

• NOTE: When you shoot 2-for-15 as Jaelen House did on Wednesday, pulling him for backup guard Tru Washington will probably pay off, at least in short stretches. That's the case here. Only difference from the starting five is Washington on the court in place of House.

WORST LINEUP

• WHO: Jaelen House, Jamal Mashburn Jr., Jemarl Baker Jr., JT Toppin, Nelly Junior Joseph

• POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -3 (3-6)

• TIME ON COURT: 1:57

• NOTE: See the note above that references pulling the Lobo with the off night resulting in the "BEST" lineup of the game? Well, change that to the Lobos pulling the player having one of the best nights of his career (Donovan Dent) and you go from "BEST" to "WORST" pretty quickly. In this stretch, it was Jemarl Baker Jr. in the lineup and Tru Washington

Meanwhile, in San Jose ...

The Lobo women's basketball team was able to keep things rolling on Wednesday, winning at San Jose State 65-54.

Here is colleague Ken Sickenger's writeup of that game:

Hot streak intact: Lobo women top San Jose State for fifth straight win

• By Ken Sickenger/Journal Staff Writer

VIDEO: Pitino and Dent after Boise State game ...

Here is video from after Wednesday's game of Richard Pitino and guard Donovan Dent ...

Meanwhile, from Tuesday night at the U.S. Air Force Academy ...

Don't look now, but it's the Wyoming Cowboys who are sitting at 5-3 and in a tie for fourth place in the Mountain West standings after their 83-72 win over the Falcons on Tuesday.

Around the Mountain ...

There were five midweek games around the Mountain West and five more coming up this weekend with the UNM Lobos getting their first "bye" slot in the schedule (UNM is the first team to reach the league schedule's halfway point of nine games):

TUESDAY

• No. 17 Utah State 82, San Jose State 61

• Colorado State 79, San Diego State 71

• Wyoming 83, Air Force 72

• UNLV 78, Fresno State 69

WEDNESDAY

• Boise State 86, New Mexico 78

FRIDAY

• San Jose State at Nevada, 8 p.m. PT/9 p.m. MT (FS1)

SATURDAY

• No. 17 Utah State at San Diego State, 12:30 p.m. PT/1:30 p.m. MT (FOX)

• Air Force at Boise State, 2 p.m. MT (TheMW)

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

• Colorado State at Fresno State, 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)

Mountain West standings ...

Through Wednesday's game:

7-1 Utah State

6-2 Boise State

6-3 New Mexico

5-3 San Diego State

5-3 Wyoming

4-4 Colorado State

4-4 UNLV

3-4 Nevada

2-6 Fresno State

1-7 Air Force

1-7 San Jose State

Mountain West NET ...

Through Wednesday's games:

19 New Mexico

20 Utah State

22 San Diego State

32 Colorado State

44 Boise State

64 Nevada

97 UNLV

155 Wyoming

193 San Jose State

224 Fresno State

230 Air Force

Home/road, +/- standings ...

Mountain West home/road, +/- standings (+1 road win, -1 home loss):

+3 Utah State

+2 Boise State

+1 New Mexico

+1 San Diego State

+1 Wyoming

0 Colorado State

0 Nevada

0 UNLV

-2 Fresno State

-3 Air Force

-3 San Jose State

Stats and stats ...

Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted late Wednesday night: Boise State 86, New Mexico 78

And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: Boise State 86, New Mexico 78

Grammer's Guesses ...

Ten and a half points was too much in my mind. I didn't think the Broncos would win, but I did take them getting that many points and it got me a win here. I'm now 15-29 on the season.

My daughter's coin flip pick also went with the right side on this one and is she is now 21-23 on the season.

Up next ...

For New Mexico: The Lobos are off until next Tuesday up the road in Laramie, Wyoming, when they tip off at 6:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on TheMW.com.

For Boise State: The Broncos host Air Force at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Lobo schedule/results ...

Photos: UNM men take on Boise State at the Pit