Lobos outlast rival Aztecs in classic Pit showdown

The fans delivered. The moment delivered. The Pit delivered.

And the UNM Lobos delivered, beating San Diego State 81-76 in front of a sold-out crowd Saturday in the final game in the best rivalry in the 27-year history of the Mountain West.

Tomislav Buljan scored 24 points and grabbed 18 rebounds to help the Lobos (22-7, 13-5 Mountain West) keep alive their hopes of at least a share of a Mountain West regular season championship with just two games left to play in the regular season. 

"I'm really proud of our guys," first-year Lobos coach Eric Olen said. "Terrific response from a disappointing result (Tuesday's loss at Nevada). ... And we could not have got that done without 15,411 of our closest friends.

"I think, think they call those 'Pit games'. That was fun."

San Diego State (19-9, 13-5) led by as much as 11 in the first half, but the Lobos slowly chipped away and it was 37-36 at the half.

Two Luke Haupt free throws with 15:07 to go in the second half gave the Lobos a 49-48 lead they wouldn't relinquish.

San Diego did keep it close throughout, closing to 72-71 on a Sean Newman Jr. three-pointer with 2:34 to go.

 A Jake Hall floater in the lane — seconds after fumbling a pass that would have given him a rare wide-open 3-point look — with 1:28 remaining pushed the Lobos lead to 74-71.

On the ensuing possession, the Aztecs' Myles Byrd hit a 3-pointer to tie the game, 74-74, with 1:00 left in the game.

Luke Haupt buried a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left for a 77-74 Lobos lead but SDSU pulled within one, 77-76, after two Tae Simmons free throws on the other end. 

The Lobos then sealed the win at the line, with Deyton Albury hitting two free throws and Hall and Haupt each going 1-for-2. 

Albury, tied with Buljan at 11.7 points per game for second on the team coming into the game, didn't hit a shot in 10 attempts against San Diego State, scoring only three points.

Buljan, a 24-year-old Croatian playing his first season of college basketball in the United States, may be one of the more unlikely of heroes in the series, as he hadn't even heard of the two schools a year prior. But he dominated down low and rose to the occasion in a rivalry that has come to define the Mountain West.

San Diego State has the most conference championships (nine regular season, five tournament titles) and UNM has the second-most (five regular season, five tournament titles).

The Aztecs are one of five Mountain West teams defecting for the Pac-12 next season and coach Brian Dutcher has said he doesn't want his teams playing nonconference games at elevation moving forward.

The Lobo fans — the majority of the 15,411 in attendance — didn't let the lack of oxygen a mile high affect them Saturday, providing one of the loudest moments in recent Pit history after Haupt's late three-pointer.

Haupt scored 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting and knocked down both 3s he attempted. Hall added 14 points and Uriah Tenette came off the bench for 10 points and five assists.

Byrd scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds, leading the Aztecs in both categories.

Neither team shot well from the free-throw line. The Lobos were 25-of-36 (69%) while the Aztecs were a frigid 13-of-22 (59%).

This story will be updated.

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