SPORTS COLUMN
Wright: Lobos lost to Bradley in 1964 NIT finals, and the pain still lives
Against Sam Houston, at least, Lobos looked capable of winning it all
Just win the whole thing, OK?
Just this once?
After the New Mexico Lobos’ 107-83 victory over the Sam Houston Bearkats Wednesday at the Pit in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament, I was asked in the interview room if I’d covered UNM’s 86-54 loss to Bradley in the 1964 NIT championship game.
Not quite. I may look 88, but I’m only 78.
But yes, I saw it and remember it well, no matter how hard I try to forget.
As a lad of 16, a voracious reader of Sports Illustrated and of the Albuquerque Journal sports pages, I watched in disbelief on my family’s black-and-white Packard Bell TV as the Braves dismantled the first UNM men’s basketball team to not just make the finals of the NIT, but advance to any kind of postseason play.
I believe I was alone in our living room that afternoon, yet I had plenty of company: New Mexicans all ages who, thanks to second-year coach Bob King, had been infected with various strains of LoboMania.
The Lobos, led by center Ira Harge, had entered the game at Madison Square Garden with a 23-5 record. They’d tied Arizona State for the Western Athletic Conference title. They’d beaten Drake and NYU in reaching the championship game. And this was your grandfather’s NIT, back when it rivaled the NCAA tournament in prestige.
Against Bradley, it all came undone. And Lobos, given more chances than they probably wanted over the decades, have never made it back to an NIT championship game.
Dare we hope? The Lobos who overwhelmed a good-if-not-great Sam Houston team on Wednesday looked capable of just about anything.
They shot 52.7% from the field and — stop the presses! — 80 percent from the free-throw line. Relentless on defense, the Lobos had 11 steals and 22 points off turnovers. Senior guard Deyton Albury, clearly not ready to end his career, had six of those steals.
“We just wanted to put ball pressure on them,” said freshman guard Uriah Tenette, who was dynamic at both ends of the court (a career-high 20 points, six assists, two steals). “… Just get out and run in transition.”
The Lobos finished with 26 fast-break points.
Power forward Tomislav Buljan did his very best Giannis Antetokounmpo impression, several times bringing the ball upcourt and finishing with six assists to go with team highs in points (22) and rebounds (10).
Center JT Rock had a season-high 14 points, equaling the total of first-team All-Mountain West Conference guard Jake Hall.
“Postseason basketball, any sort of it, is great to play,” Rock said. “It’s great experience and always fun to get another opportunity to get out on the floor.”
As for the defense, well … not great but good enough on this night. Sam Houston shot 48.5 percent from the field and nearly matched the Lobos with 44 points in the paint — this with no contribution from guard Po’Boigh King (no, he’s not from New Orleans), who came into the game with an injury and played just 6 1/2 minutes.
There will be stiffer tests, perhaps starting with George Washington (19-15) on Sunday at the Pit in the second round. This nevertheless was a quick, athletic Bearkats team that won 22 games and averaged 82 points per contest. Against them, the Lobos clearly had no hangover from their loss to San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament last weekend.
“I thought our guys had a really mature approach to this,” coach Eric Olen said. “We came ready to go, and that’s what we need to do if we want to continue to play.”
It needs to be said that what the NIT has lost in prestige since 1964, it’s gained in volume. The 1964 field consisted of 12 teams; the ‘63-64 Lobos, who had a first-round bye, needed just two wins to make the championship game. The 32-team 2026 bracket is studded with teams capable of ending the Lobos’ run — should they falter at any point like the ‘63-64 team did at Madison Square Garden.
So, 2025-26 Lobos, don’t do it for me, or us. Do it for Ira Harge, Skip Kruzich, Mike Lucero, Claude Williams, Dick “Boo” Ellis and coach King, all of whom deserved better than what happened that day in 1964.
And do it for you. Win it all.
One positive development along those lines: Bradley lost to Dayton, 80-66, in a first-round game Wednesday.
