Lobos have no intention of falling into any traps out by the Bay

There has been a lot of patting of Lobo backs in the past few days.

And while there's good reason — let's not just overlook a 28-point road win over UNLV on Tuesday when no Lobo team had ever beat the Runnin' Rebels on the road by more than 12 points — Eric Olen isn't into stopping this 1,000 piece puzzle after 650 pieces just to do a victory lap.

As the Lobos (17-4, 8-2 Mountain West) prep to play the 1-9 San Jose State Spartans (6-15 overall) on Saturday evening in the Bay Area, with a possibility of a win putting them in a first place tie in the Mountain West, Olen isn't about to let his team start to get too full of itself.

"If there's one thing I'm pretty good at, it's not letting them feel too good about themselves," he joked Thursday night on Lobo Talk, UNM's coaches' radio show.

Earlier in the day, in his regular weekly media session — part of the job he loves oh, so much — the questions seemed focused far less on the opponent and more on whether his team can handle its own success heading seemingly into a trap game (one against a lesser team that is sandwiched between a big game like Tuesday's blowout victory and next week's huge home schedule with Utah State and Boise State coming to the Pit).

And let's not forget, last season's MW Champion Lobos team lost at San Jose State by one, when they were big favorites to win; as are this season's Lobos. 

So, is there any concern that his Lobos might overlook a Spartans team that: A, it has already beaten soundly in the Pit this season and without a then-injured Tomislav Buljan, B, is as injured as any in the Mountain West right now, and C, has only managed a league win against an even more struggling Air Force team?

"I think anytime you're playing well, the complacency is a concern," Olen said. "I think our guys have, to this point, done a pretty good job of that. But yeah, I think it's always a concern that we feel like we're better than we are and that results are just going to be a given. And that's certainly not the case."

Olen said the second time through the league schedule (Saturday is the first time the Lobos will face a team for a second time this season) requires a "balance of the allocation of time and energy" to make a scouting report.

On the one hand, UNM knows San Jose State will make adjustments after the Dec. 20 loss in the Pit, but on the other hand, does it do the Lobos much good devoting too much thought and time preparing a game plan that's based on guessing those adjustments? Should they just stick to what worked the first go 'round?

Either way, Olen said both his staff and the players have done an excellent job this season with the day-to-day process of this season.

"We talk a lot about not allowing external factors to influence our performance, whether that's being on the road, big crowd, small, small crowd, no crowd. Sometimes, you've got to create your own energy a little bit," Olen said.

"But I think really good teams, really good teams compete every night. They're consistent in how they play and how they perform, and that's what we're trying to be. That's the challenge for us on Saturday."

Fading fast

The Spartans have had long stretches of competitive basketball this season. They've also been destroyed over the final 10 minutes of games.

The final scores have not always been indicative of games that were actually hard fought for a good portion of the game before the injury-stuck roster simply had nothing left.

Particularly painful are the following games against some of the top teams in the league:

Jan. 3 at Utah State

• Score through 30 minutes: SJSU 68, Utah State 66
• Score in final 10 minutes: Utah State 30, SJSU 10
• Final Score: Utah State 96, SJSU 78

Dec. 30 vs. San Diego State

• Score through 30 minutes: SDSU 55, SJSU 53
• Score in final 10 minutes: SDSU State 26, SJSU 15
• Final Score: SDSU 81, SJSU 68

Tuesday vs. Boise State

• Score through 30 minutes: Boise State 56, SJSU 44
• Score in final 10 minutes: Boise State 33, SJSU 14
• Final Score: Boise State 89, SJSU 58

Dec. 20 at UNM

• Score through 30 minutes: UNM 61, SJSU 50
• Score in final 10 minutes: UNM 27, SJSU 15
• Final Score: UNM 88, SJSU 65

Against Air Force, the Spartans' lone win, it was 23-23 over the final 10 minutes. In last week's four-point loss at Wyoming, 66-62, the Spartans played close throughout, trailing 44-43 with 10 minutes left and being outscored 22-19 over the final 10 minutes for the four-point final margin.

Series notes

The Lobos lead the all-time series 24-6 and are 6-4 in the Provident Credit Union Event Center.

UNM held a 2-1 edge last season, winning in the Pit and in the Mountain West Tournament, but being upset in the final seconds by a Spartans jumper in San Jose, 71-70.

This is the first "second" game of the season for the Lobos, playing nine Mountain West opponents twice — at home and on the road — and UNM played UNLV and Wyoming only once.

For the kids!

SJSU is averaging an announced 1,941 fans per game this season in the Provident Credit Union Event Center.

Saturday, it could be a younger demographic than normal as the school has a "Kids Day" promotion with two kids tickets free with the purchase of two general admission tickets. There will also be $2 hot dogs and sodas, plus $5 beers.

Cheers!

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