When did Isaac Mushila become such an important part of the Lobos' success?

Isaac Mushila wasn’t the best shooter for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi the past two seasons. He wasn’t the best scorer, or best passer, either.

And at 6-foot-5, he wasn’t bigger or stronger than the forwards he was playing against every night, and certainly not so against the centers he eventually had to face much of last year when injuries forced him into playing the “5” spot.

But the soft-spoken Mushila who came to the United States from Lubumbashi, Congo, in 2016 to pursue basketball — going from an Ohio prep school to junior colleges in Gillette, Wyoming, and then Abilene, Texas — never once complained about playing out of position, demanded more minutes or a bigger role.

He just worked.

The result: Mushila was seemingly on the court during every crucial moment over the past two seasons for an Islanders team that qualified for back-to-back NCAA tournaments, averaging 14.5 points and 9.9 rebounds this past season while being selected First Team All-Southland Conference.

“He is a winner on and off the court and will make an impact for us next season,” UNM Lobos coach Richard Pitino said of Mushila when the versatile forward chose to pursue a graduate transfer season at in Albuquerque after earning his psychology degree last spring at TAMCC.

But how? The Lobos roster by that point was already deep and full of bigger, more athletic players who were expected to fill big roles. And when he broke his hand the first week of team practices at the beginning of October and missed six weeks of contact drills, the Lobos season began with no obvious role or rotation minutes for Mushila.

So, he just worked.

“I mean, I just want to go out there and play,” Mushila said last week. “I don’t really care about numbers. I just want to be out there, get steals, play defense. Numbers never get in my head. I just want to come in and contribute to the team.”

Added Pitino: “(He’s) just a winner. Doesn’t care about touches, doesn’t care about playing time, doesn’t care about position. ‘Whatever you need coach.’ And it’s just amazing when you have that mentality, when you don’t keep score and worry about other things and just play hard and compete.”

But the forward who played fewer than 15 minutes just once in 62 Division I games at TAMCC averaged fewer than 8 per game over UNM’s first seven games this season. He didn’t even get in the Nov. 29 game against Louisiana Tech at all.

And that’s when Pitino pulled Mushila, who hadn’t said a word to him about minutes, and apologized.

“I’m proud of him,” Pitino said, “because there was a game early in the year I didn’t play him and I told him after the game I apologize for that. I’m gonna give you a look and he’s taking advantage of it.”

And the Lobos are benefiting greatly.

In Mushila’s three games since that Louisiana Tech game, the 6-5 forward has come off the bench and played 17, 17 and 22 minutes and scored 6, 0 and 11 points.

And yet in his minutes on the floor, the Lobos outscored their opponents by 23 points (in his 17 minutes against New Mexico State), 20 points (in his 17 minutes against UC Santa Barbara) and 20 points (in his 22 minutes against Santa Clara).

He’s averaged 7.3 rebounds in those three games, dove for loose balls, defended well and, in general, filled whatever gap needed filling, freeing up the team’s dynamic scorers to fill the stat sheet.

On the season, he has a team-best plus-0.801 +/- per minute played — a stat that reflects how much a team outscores its opponent in the minutes a player is in the game.

In the past three games, Mushila has had the team’s best +/- per minute played twice and second best once.

And thinking about the time he was on the bench so much earlier in the season isn’t something he dwells on.

“For me, I just want to be positive,” Mushila said. “Whatever happens, the outcome of it, I just want it to be positive and be ready for my name to be called. … (when I practice), in my mind it’s like I’m going play 40 minutes. So, that’s how I approach the game right now.”

UNM Lobos +/- per minute played

The Lobos outscore their opponents at a higher rate when Mushila is on the court than any other player. Here are the +/- numbers for the Lobos averaging more than 10 minutes per game played:

+0.801 Isaac Mushila (+89 in 111 minutes)

+0.651 Jaelen House (+82 in 126 minutes)

+0.592 Quinton Webb (+71 in 120 minutes)

+0.535 Donovan Dent (+162 in 303 minutes)

+0.522 Tru Washington (+121 in 232 minutes)

+0.451 JT Toppin (+102 in 226 minutes)

+0.378 Nelly Junior Joseph (+90 in 238 minutes)

+0.359 Jemarl Baker Jr. (+78 in 217 minutes)

+0.131 Jamal Mashburn Jr. (+20 in 153 minutes)

+0.086 Mustapha Amzil (+14 in 160 minutes)

And for the Lobos averaging fewer than 10 minutes per game:

+0.830 Sebastian Forsling (+44 in 53 minutes)

+0.415 Braden Appelhans (+22 in 53 minutes)