UNM rolls past Sam Houston in NIT opener

The UNM Lobos sure played like they were happy to be invited to this tournament.

Six Lobos scored in double figures and UNM hit 13 3-pointers and scored 26 fast-break points in a 107-83 blowout of the Sam Houston Bearkats in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament Wednesday night in the Pit.

The Lobos, one of four No. 1 seeds in the 32-team event, move to 24-10 on the season and will host George Washington at 6 p.m. Sunday in the NIT’s round of 16.

If there was any concern about a hangover from last week's disappointing semifinal loss in the Mountain West Tournament, the Lobos erased those concerns almost immediately.

The often slow-starting Lobos led 16-7 at the 16:00 mark — the most points UNM has scored in the opening four minutes all season. Their previous high was 12 in a Jan. 27 win at UNLV.

They never trailed in the game.

For the announced 7,286 in attendance, including Lobos head coach Eric Olen, it was a refreshing burst of energy early for a team that said it was ready to play, but also had been reeling from an emotionally draining past couple weeks of basketball that saw them lose out on a Mountain West regular season title in Logan, Utah, a MW Tournament title in Las Vegas, and an invite to the NCAA Tournament. 

“You never know until you get on the floor, but I got a lot of confidence in these guys and their competitiveness, and they've responded all year,” Olen said when asked about that start sort of ensuring his team was, in fact, all-in on playing in the NIT. 

“We're no exception, but we've had some adversity through the year. And you know, whether that's in a game or responding from a game, I feel like we've had a pretty resilient group that's always been up for the next thing,” he said.

Tomislav Buljan ended the night with 22 points, 10 rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal for the Lobos and Uriah Tenette, getting his third consecutive start, had 20 points, six assists and zero turnovers.

The Lobos scored 22 points off 14 Sam Houston turnovers, had 11 steals and only five turnovers and outrebounded the usually dominant-on-the-boards Bearkats 39-38.

“I can count on one hand the amount of times that we have been out-toughed this year,” said Sam Houston coach Chris Mudge. “That's part of what made this team great, is our physicality, our intensity, our toughness. And we did not do that tonight. And you can't come in to (play) basically an NCAA Tournament team in their place, in the great historic environment like this, and let the other team out-tough you.”

Sam Houston (22-12), which finished second in Conference USA, was the highest-ranked offensive rebounding team the Lobos faced this season. With the Bearkats hanging around to grab those boards, it gave the Lobos an opportunity to get out and run, outscoring the visitors 26-14 on fast-break points.

“We're a good transition team, so we do try to attack that if teams are going to be ultra aggressive on the offensive glass,” Olen said. “The balance, and I thought we did a pretty good job of, is not going early — understanding that you got to get the ball first, that's the priority, and then their aggression gives you a chance to still run once you have it.”

Deyton Albury added 15 points for UNM, Jake Hall and JT Rock 14 apiece and Antonio Chol 13 (all in the second half) for the Lobos. Hall’s four 3-pointers put him at 109 for the season, breaking UNM’s single-season 3-pointers-made record (106 by Anthony Mathis in the 2018-19 season).

Sam Houston got a team-high 22 from reserve forward CJ Beaumont.

While Hall was an efficient 5-of-10 shooting (4-of-8 from 3-point range), it seemed as though the Bearkats were successful in slowing down UNM’s top scorer. 

Not so much if you ask Mudge, who may have felt they did fine most of the night, but the Lobo freshman sure made them pay for every inch of daylight given. 

“Terrible,” Mudge told a reporter who asked if he was pleased with the defense on Hall. “Terrible. Mostly because the things we did give him were undisciplined things that went against the scout, going under screens that we have worked on and talked about. He's obviously a great player. You're not going to stop him. You're not going to get him to score five or six points. It's just too difficult. But when you give him anything easy, he makes you pay, like great players do.”

Attendance

Wednesday's announced attendance in the Pit was 7,286.

That was the lowest of the season in the Pit, but also the highest of any of the 16 first-round games of the NIT. The tournament's four No. 1 seeds, all of whom won their opening round games at home, had the following announced attendance:

• 7,286 — Sam Houston at No. 1 New Mexico

• 2,169 — South Alabama at No. 1 Auburn

• 1,823 — Navy at No. 1 Wake Forest

• 1,679 — Stephen F. Austin at No. 1 Tulsa

On Sunday

George Washington upset Utah Valley 79-78 in dramatic fashion (a blocked layup at the buzzer) on Wednesday night in Orem, Utah.

GW's Rafael Castro had a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double and was 10-of-12 at the free throw line.

The Colonials’ win disrupts what would have been an NIT rematch between Utah Valley and UNM.

In 2023, the Wolverines upset the Lobos 83-69 in the Pit in the first round of the NIT.

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