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Mar. 14—EDITOR'S NOTE — This is a somewhat abbreviated, tournament edition of ETN, which usually runs only after regular season games.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Here are some extra notes, quotes, stats, videos and more items I managed to empty out of the old notebook after Thursday's 63-52 UNM win over San Jose State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament:
Turning the TOs into gold...
The Lobos have been at their best this season when they do two things: turn their defense into offense and then they can get out and run, scoring in transition.
Thursday against San Jose State, they managed to do one of the two.
UNM, which averaged an impressive 17.3 points off turnovers this season, had 24 of them Thursday off 18 San Jose State turnovers, tied for the second most turnovers the Spartans have committed in a game all season.
Points off turnovers: CHECK
One of only two times the Lobos did get a fast break bucket was set up by a steal in second half by Mustapha Amzil, setting up the breakaway dunk by Tru Washington.
But overall, UNM didn't get to run muncheon Thursday, keeping the game far closer than fans would have liked.
The Lobos, who rank No. 2 in the country (out of 364 Division I teams) in fast break points (16.97 entering the MW Tournament), managed just four fast break points on Thursday.
Fast break points: NOPE
"The first thing you have to do, I think, to guard them is get them out of transition," said SJSU coach Tim Miles. "If you just watch their offensive possessions (all season) and just kind of don't just watch a game, just watch the offensive possessions and you see how fast they are consistently, game after game after game down the floor, you're just, like, this is bad — this is tough to deal with."
So, the emphasis for SJSU on Thursday was to do whatever it took to keep the Lobos from getting out and running and concerting those fast breaks into buckets.
Fouling the Lobos to prevent fast break points wasn't part of the plan, but since our photographer Mike Sandoval got this shot, I figure I'll add it here to show how one Donovan Dent fast break was stopped from being converted — a foul by Donovan Yap.
To be at their best, the Lobos really need to figure out how to do both — get out and run (fast break points) and covert their chaotic defense into offense (points off turnovers).
"I think they had 10 turnovers at halftime and we only had one fast-break point," UNM coach Richard Pitino said. "Whether it's off steals, those points off turnovers, or if they miss — because they only shot 36 percent in the first half — we need more fast break points."
UNM fast break points:
—Season: 16.6
—Mountain West wins (17): 16.2/MW win
—Mountain West losses (3): 11.0/MW loss
UNM's points off turnovers:
—Season: 15.5/game
—Mountain West wins (17): 16.1/MW win
—Mountain West losses (3): 12.3/MW loss
The gamer...
Here is the gamer I filed Thursday afternoon from the Thomas & Mack Center media room:
—Raising the woof: Lobos beat San Jose State in front of spirited crowd in Las Vegas
Tru dat. That Tru stat...
First off, happy birthday to Tru Washington, who spent his 21st birthday on Thursday in Las Vegas.
Not a bad way to celebrate.
Ultimately, it's not the offense that is most valuable from Lobo guard Tru Washington, but his defense and ability to create chaos with his on-ball defense.
"Tru did a lot of good things," Pitino said. "It's great to have that guy, put him on the ball, really, really disrupt and create some havoc."
That said, when Washington is on his game, it usually leads to his offense flowing, too. And when that happens, the Lobos are in really good shape.
Washington scored 11 points on Thursday. It was his 19th game this season scoring in double figures.
The Lobos are now 19-0 in games he scores in double figures.
When Tru Washington scores 10 or more
—UNM 19-0
When Tru Washington scores under 10
—UNM 7-6
... and another ...
He said what?!?!?
Here is a random collection of some of the interesting comments made Thursday in the postgame press conferences at the Mountain West Tournament:
Grandpa Dutch
"My thoughts on today are right before tip, I had my third granddaughter born back in San Diego, so I'm happy about that. At least something makes you happy."
— San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher after his team's 62-52 loss to Boise State
----Smoked Rice?
QUESTION:
"What is the one song that best describes Coach (Leon) Rice?"
BOISE STATE FORWARD TYSON DEGENHART:
"'Don't Stop Believing' by Journey. Throughout this whole year, he's always believed in us. He's always had the faith that we're going to turn this thing around, and he did a great job of that this year. We're going to keep it going."
BOISE STATE COACH LEON RICE:
I thought you would say 'Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die."
----It's just basketball...
"I mean, it's basketball. You miss some, you make some."
— UNM senior center Nelly Junior Joseph when asked about the team's struggles with finishing near the rim.
----The A's catching strays...
"We're always raising the money for NIL. We're probably tenth out of 11 in the league. That's hard. You can only be the Oakland A's against the Dodgers so many games before it goes badly for you."
— San Jose State coach Tim Miles
----Competitive edge...
"That kid would give you an elbow to try and win a card game. He would give you and elbow to win a ping-pong game. He wants to win everything he does and he wills us to a lot of wins."
— Utah State coach Jarrod Calhoun on the competitive nature of guard Mason Falslev
----No failure...
"I mean, I wouldn't say it's a failure. You can ask a bunch of teams around the country how hard it is to play postseason basketball. That's not an easy thing."
— San Diego State guard Nick Boyd when asked if the season would be a failure of the Aztecs don't make the NCAA Tournament
----Adapting in the new world
"Five years ago I wasn't on conversations saying: How much you want to be paid? Never thought that would happen in college basketball. And I've always been a big proponent, as the game and money has evolved and changed, I've never been one that said I don't believe student-athletes shouldn't be paid. But the way it is now is ridiculous. It's utterly ridiculous. And it's changed our game. So you've got to adapt. We've got to adapt."
— Nevada coach Steve Alford
----Lies!
"There's lies, there's damned lies and there's the NET."
— Boise State coach Leon Rice on the NCAA's NET evaluation rankings/tool
----Consolation prize...
"So hopefully I get SportsCenter. That would be nice."
— San Jose State guard Josh Uduje when asked about his first half dunk that did, in fact, make SportsCenter's Top 10 plays of the day on Thursday night.
Steve Kirkland Stat of the Game...
Here is an archive dig from UNM hoops sports information director Steve Kirkland.
Nelly Junior Joseph on Thursday had 18 rebounds vs. San Jose State. It was his third consecutive game with 15 rebounds, the first Lobo to have three consecutive games with 15 rebounds since Willie Long did it in the 1969-70 season.
Nelly Junior Joseph's 15-rebound streak
—18 vs. San Jose State (Thursday)
—16 vs. UNLV (March 7)
—15 at Nevada (March 4
Willie Long's 15-rebound streak (1970)
—16 at BYU (Jan. 19, 1970)
—15 vs. Arizona (Jan. 17, 1970)
—16 vs. Arizona State (Jan. 15, 1970)
More Nelly rebounding records...
Nelly Junior Joseph was a monster on the board on Thursday against the Spartans, grabbing 18 of them to go along with his 14 points and two blocked shots.
Eight of Nelly's rebounds were offensive boards, matching the eight the entire San Jose State roster had.
Of course, when you (the Lobos, not just Nelly) miss 14 layups in a game, you do have a good opportunity to pad those offensive rebounding stats.
Case in point...
Nevertheless, he's been a beast all season on the boards and he keeps solidifying his case as one of the best rebounders in UNM and Mountain West history, at least relative to a two-season sting with both.
Most rebounds in MW Tournament game by a Lobo:
—18 — Nelly Junior Joseph vs. San Jose State (Thursday)
—17 — J.R. Giddens vs. Utah (March 13, 2008)
Most rebounds in any conference tournament game by a Lobo:
—18 — Nelly Junior Joseph vs. San Jose State/MW Tournament (Thursday)
—18 — Lewis LaMar vs. San Diego State/WAC Tournament (March 10, 1994)
Most rebounds in a MW Tournament game (all teams):
—21 — Kawhi Leonard, SDSU vs. UNLV (March 13, 2010)
—19 — Marcus Slaughter, SDSU vs. Colorado State (March 9, 2006)
—18 — Nelly Junior Joseph, UNM vs. San Jose State (Thursday)
—18 — A.J. West, Nevada vs. UNLV (March 11, 2015)
Most 15 rebound games at UNM
—9 — Nelly Junior Joseph (2024-25)
—8 — Bill Hagins (1974-74)
—7 — Lewis LaMar (1993-94)
—5 — Drew Gordon (2010-11)
—5 Larry Gray (1975-76)
UNM single season rebounds:
1. Drew Gordon, 2012 — 388 (15 games/11.1 avg.)
2. Tom King, 1961 — 375 (23 games/16.3 avg.)
3. Tom King, 1960 — 374 (25 games/14.9 avg.)
4. Nelly Junior Joseph, 2025 — 363 (32 games/11.3 avg.)
5. Willie Long, 1970 — 335 (26 games/12.9 avg.)
6. Ira Harge, 1963 — 331 (25 games/13.2 avg.)
7. Luc Longley, 1990 — 330 (34 games/9.7 avg.)
t8. J.T. Toppin, 2024 — 326 (36 games/9.1 avg.)
t8. Morris Udeze, 2023 — 326 (34 games/9.6 avg.)
I Hurd that...
The picture of the night is a handful of Utah State students who are part of The Hurd student section running into everyone's favorite referee Verne Harris and getting a picture with him.
First off, good on Verne for doing the pic.
Second, who knew Verne had that much swag outside of the black and white stripes we usually see him in?
Half the story...
The Lobos have won five consecutive Mountain West games and have actually "won" all 10 halves in that streak.
Thursday — UNM 63, San Jose State 52
—1ST HALF: UNM 32, SJSU 23
—2ND HALF: UNM 31, SJSU 29
3/16/24 — UNM 68, San Diego State 61
—1ST HALF: UNM 36, SDSU 30
—2ND HALF: UNM 32, SDSU 31
3/15/24 — UNM 74, Colorado State 61
—1ST HALF: UNM 33, CSU 25
—2ND HALF: UNM 41, CSU 36
3/14/24 — UNM 76, Boise State 66
—1ST HALF: UNM 35, BSU 26
—2ND HALF: UNM 41, BSU 40
3/13/24 — UNM 82, Air Force 56
—1ST HALF: UNM 49, AFA 30
—2ND HALF: UNM 33, AFA 26
They didn't actually need Donovan Dent's 3-pointer at the buzzer to win the first half, but where else am I going to drop in the video of his banked in deep 3 at the end of the half?
I can't not mention Dent...
Donovan Dent. Yeah, he's pretty good, still.
Named the Mountain West Player of the Week on Tuesday, he broke new ground again for the league on Thursday.
His stat line:
—POINTS: 25 points
—SHOOTING: 8-14 (6-12 2FG, 2-2 3FG)
—ASSISTS: 5
—STEALS: 1
—BLOCKS: 2
—FOULS DRAWN: 8
Here's the new ground Dent broke with Thursday's game:
—Dent is the first player in Mountain West history to have five consecutive games of 20 points/5 assists
—Dent had his 32nd consecutive game of at least 10 points and two assists, the longest such streak in Mountain West history and the longest active streak in Division I
—Dent is the first player in Mountain West Tournament history to have a game of 25 points, five assists, two blocks and a steel
Extended runs...
They did it again.
While it's hard to say the Lobos ever really shook San Jose State until the final moments of Thursday's game, they had another one of those extended runs that has changed the complexion of so many of their wins this season — one entirely predicated on stifling, unforgiving defense that leads to offense and leaves their opponents often looking some combination of frustrated, deflated or just at a loss for what to do to make it end.
SJSU rattled off a nice 11-0 run of their own in the first half on Thursday to take a 21-16 lead in the first half.
Then, the Lobos did their thing, going on a 13-0 run, closing the half on a 16-2 run and if you extend it into the second half the run ended up being 24-4 — changing a 21-16 deficit into a 40-25 lead.
Here's the list of those runs they've had against Mountain West teams this season:
vs. San Jose State, Thursday
—24-4 — lasted 9:53 (from 6:29 first half to 16:36 second half) — flipped a 21-16 deficit into a 40-25 lead
vs. Air Force, March 1
—17-2 run — 6:06 — pushed 6-5 lead to 23-7
—19-3 run — 4:24 — pushed 36-30 lead to 55-33
at Air Force, Feb. 8
—20-3 run — 5:20 — pushed 36-31 lead to 56-34
vs. Colorado State, Feb. 5
—38-15 run — final 12:51 of game — turned a 50-49 Colorado State lead into an 87-65 UNM win
at Utah State, Feb. 1
—43-15 run — final 15:24 of game — turned a 48-39 Utah State lead into an 82-63 UNM win
vs. Fresno State, Jan. 20
—25-4 run — first 8:10 of game — UNM jumped out to a 25-4 lead, won game by 28
vs. Boise State, Jan. 17
—23-2 run — final 7:17 fist half — turned 25-19 lead into 48-21 halftime lead
at Wyoming, Jan. 7
—17-1 run — first 6:16 to start 2nd half — turned 31-18 halftime deficit into 35-33 lead
at Colorado State, Dec. 28
—21-0 run — 6:15 — turned 16-16 tie game into a 37-16 Lobos lead
vs. San Jose State, Dec. 4
—22-8 run — final 8:47 of game — turned 69-61 deficit into 83-77 win
On Staph...
Mustapha Amzil had another rough shooting game — 3-of-12 overall and 0-for-6 from 3-point range.
As the senior forward has been hampered for the past six weeks or so with a foot injury (plantar fasciitis), I asked Richard Pitino if Amzil is still being bothered by the foot.
PITINO: "No, he seems like he's fine. He just wasn't making shots today. He was getting good looks. I'm sure he's a little hobbled like everybody is this time of year. He'll knock them down. Went 0-for-6 for 3, and I think they were all really good looks."
Amzil did get the Lobos on the board with their first points of the game on Thursday.
Checking in with the fans...
Colleague Ken Sickenger talked with some Lobo fans after Thursday's game to see who they wanted to see UNM play in later rounds of the tournament.
—Take your pick: Which MW teams do Lobo fans hope UNM gets a chance play?
Attendance...
Announced attendance for Session 1 today of the Mountain West Tournament: 8,031
—Noon game: New Mexico/San Jose State
—Second game: Boise State/San Diego State
Plus/minus...
Here are the plus/minus numbers for Thursday's quarterfinal game with minutes in parenthesis:
NEW MEXICO
+20 Mustapha Amzil (31:18)
+16 Donovan Dent (39:17)
+13 Filip Borovicanin (16:40)
+11 Nelly Junior Joseph (39:28)
+11 Tru Washington (37:19)
+1 C.J. Noland (25:49)
0 Atiki Ally Atiki (00:32)
-7 Kayde Dotson (2:11)
-10 Jovan Milicevic (7:26)
SAN JOSE STATE
-1 Chol Marial (4:02)
-1 Josh Uduje (35:33)
-2 Sandraque NgaNga (10:48)
-7 Donovan Yap Jr. (36:30)
-7 Latrell Davis (29:43)
-10 Robert Vaihola (35:58)
-12 Jermaine Washington (16:43)
-15 Sadaidriene Hall (30:43)
Line 'em up...
The UNM Lobos played nine players and used nine unique lineup combinations. The San Jose State Spartans played eight players and used 12 unique lineup combinations.
Here's a look at some of the Lobos lineup combinations, starting with the starters.
STARTING LINEUP
—WHO: Donovan Dent, Tru Washington, Filip Borovicanin, Mustapha Amzil, Nelly Junior Joseph
—POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +12 (22-10
—TIME ON COURT: 12:43
—NOTE: The starting five was pretty good on Thursday, especially defensively, holding the Spartans to well under one point per minute played.
BEST LINEUP
—WHO: Donovan Dent, Tru Washington, C.J. Noland, Mustapha Amzil, Nelly Junior Joseph
—POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +15 (32-17)
—TIME ON COURT: 15:14
—NOTE: The lineup Richard Pitino went with the most on Thursday was with his "sixth starter" C.J. Noland playing in place of Filip Borovicanin. Of course, the starting five was at +12 and the second best lineup with about two and a half minutes less of use, so this isn't necessarily indicative of anything ... other than UNM going beyond six players on Thursday wasn't very successful.
WORST LINEUP
—WHO: Donovan Dent, Tru Washington, C.J. Noland, Jovan Milicivec, Nelly Junior Joseph
—POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -10 (5-15)
—TIME ON COURT: 5:55
—NOTE: Not a good day for the freshman, Jovan Milicevic. He's had a lot of good games lately, so nothing to be too alarmed about, but his team-worst -10 lines up with what this lineup was with him on the floor
Around the Mountain...
Here's the Mountain West Tournament schedule and results:
WEDNESDAY (First Round)
—No. 8 San Jose State 66, No. 9 Wyoming 61
—No. 7 Nevada 86, No. 10 Fresno State 71
—No. 6 UNLV 68, No. 11 Air Force 59
THURSDAY (Quarterfinals)
—No. 1 New Mexico 63, No. 8 San Jose State 52
—No. 5 Boise State 62, No. 4 San Diego State 52
—No. 2 Colorado State 67, No. 7 Nevada 59
—No. 3 Utah State 70, No. 6 UNLV 58
FRIDAY (Semifinals)
—No. 1 New Mexico vs. No. 5 Boise State, 6:30 PT/7:30 MT (CBS Sports Network)
—No. 2 Colorado State vs. No. 3 Utah State, 9 p.m. PT/10 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)
SATURDAY (Championship)
—Championship game, 3 p.m. PT/4 p.m. MT (CBS)
Stats and stats...
Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted Thursday: New Mexico 63, San Jose State 52
And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: New Mexico 63, San Jose State 52
Up next...
For New Mexico: The Lobos play No. 5 seed Boise State in Friday's Mountain West Tournament semifinals at 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. PT in Las Vegas).
For San Jose State: The Spartans end their season at 15-19 and will not be playing in any postseason events.
Lobo schedule/results...
Continue reading...
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Here are some extra notes, quotes, stats, videos and more items I managed to empty out of the old notebook after Thursday's 63-52 UNM win over San Jose State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament:
Turning the TOs into gold...
The Lobos have been at their best this season when they do two things: turn their defense into offense and then they can get out and run, scoring in transition.
Thursday against San Jose State, they managed to do one of the two.
UNM, which averaged an impressive 17.3 points off turnovers this season, had 24 of them Thursday off 18 San Jose State turnovers, tied for the second most turnovers the Spartans have committed in a game all season.
Points off turnovers: CHECK
One of only two times the Lobos did get a fast break bucket was set up by a steal in second half by Mustapha Amzil, setting up the breakaway dunk by Tru Washington.
But overall, UNM didn't get to run muncheon Thursday, keeping the game far closer than fans would have liked.
The Lobos, who rank No. 2 in the country (out of 364 Division I teams) in fast break points (16.97 entering the MW Tournament), managed just four fast break points on Thursday.
Fast break points: NOPE
"The first thing you have to do, I think, to guard them is get them out of transition," said SJSU coach Tim Miles. "If you just watch their offensive possessions (all season) and just kind of don't just watch a game, just watch the offensive possessions and you see how fast they are consistently, game after game after game down the floor, you're just, like, this is bad — this is tough to deal with."
So, the emphasis for SJSU on Thursday was to do whatever it took to keep the Lobos from getting out and running and concerting those fast breaks into buckets.
Fouling the Lobos to prevent fast break points wasn't part of the plan, but since our photographer Mike Sandoval got this shot, I figure I'll add it here to show how one Donovan Dent fast break was stopped from being converted — a foul by Donovan Yap.
To be at their best, the Lobos really need to figure out how to do both — get out and run (fast break points) and covert their chaotic defense into offense (points off turnovers).
"I think they had 10 turnovers at halftime and we only had one fast-break point," UNM coach Richard Pitino said. "Whether it's off steals, those points off turnovers, or if they miss — because they only shot 36 percent in the first half — we need more fast break points."
UNM fast break points:
—Season: 16.6
—Mountain West wins (17): 16.2/MW win
—Mountain West losses (3): 11.0/MW loss
UNM's points off turnovers:
—Season: 15.5/game
—Mountain West wins (17): 16.1/MW win
—Mountain West losses (3): 12.3/MW loss
The gamer...
Here is the gamer I filed Thursday afternoon from the Thomas & Mack Center media room:
—Raising the woof: Lobos beat San Jose State in front of spirited crowd in Las Vegas
Tru dat. That Tru stat...
First off, happy birthday to Tru Washington, who spent his 21st birthday on Thursday in Las Vegas.
Not a bad way to celebrate.
Ultimately, it's not the offense that is most valuable from Lobo guard Tru Washington, but his defense and ability to create chaos with his on-ball defense.
"Tru did a lot of good things," Pitino said. "It's great to have that guy, put him on the ball, really, really disrupt and create some havoc."
That said, when Washington is on his game, it usually leads to his offense flowing, too. And when that happens, the Lobos are in really good shape.
Washington scored 11 points on Thursday. It was his 19th game this season scoring in double figures.
The Lobos are now 19-0 in games he scores in double figures.
When Tru Washington scores 10 or more
—UNM 19-0
When Tru Washington scores under 10
—UNM 7-6
... and another ...
He said what?!?!?
Here is a random collection of some of the interesting comments made Thursday in the postgame press conferences at the Mountain West Tournament:
Grandpa Dutch
"My thoughts on today are right before tip, I had my third granddaughter born back in San Diego, so I'm happy about that. At least something makes you happy."
— San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher after his team's 62-52 loss to Boise State
----Smoked Rice?
QUESTION:
"What is the one song that best describes Coach (Leon) Rice?"
BOISE STATE FORWARD TYSON DEGENHART:
"'Don't Stop Believing' by Journey. Throughout this whole year, he's always believed in us. He's always had the faith that we're going to turn this thing around, and he did a great job of that this year. We're going to keep it going."
BOISE STATE COACH LEON RICE:
I thought you would say 'Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die."
----It's just basketball...
"I mean, it's basketball. You miss some, you make some."
— UNM senior center Nelly Junior Joseph when asked about the team's struggles with finishing near the rim.
----The A's catching strays...
"We're always raising the money for NIL. We're probably tenth out of 11 in the league. That's hard. You can only be the Oakland A's against the Dodgers so many games before it goes badly for you."
— San Jose State coach Tim Miles
----Competitive edge...
"That kid would give you an elbow to try and win a card game. He would give you and elbow to win a ping-pong game. He wants to win everything he does and he wills us to a lot of wins."
— Utah State coach Jarrod Calhoun on the competitive nature of guard Mason Falslev
----No failure...
"I mean, I wouldn't say it's a failure. You can ask a bunch of teams around the country how hard it is to play postseason basketball. That's not an easy thing."
— San Diego State guard Nick Boyd when asked if the season would be a failure of the Aztecs don't make the NCAA Tournament
----Adapting in the new world
"Five years ago I wasn't on conversations saying: How much you want to be paid? Never thought that would happen in college basketball. And I've always been a big proponent, as the game and money has evolved and changed, I've never been one that said I don't believe student-athletes shouldn't be paid. But the way it is now is ridiculous. It's utterly ridiculous. And it's changed our game. So you've got to adapt. We've got to adapt."
— Nevada coach Steve Alford
----Lies!
"There's lies, there's damned lies and there's the NET."
— Boise State coach Leon Rice on the NCAA's NET evaluation rankings/tool
----Consolation prize...
"So hopefully I get SportsCenter. That would be nice."
— San Jose State guard Josh Uduje when asked about his first half dunk that did, in fact, make SportsCenter's Top 10 plays of the day on Thursday night.
Steve Kirkland Stat of the Game...
Here is an archive dig from UNM hoops sports information director Steve Kirkland.
Nelly Junior Joseph on Thursday had 18 rebounds vs. San Jose State. It was his third consecutive game with 15 rebounds, the first Lobo to have three consecutive games with 15 rebounds since Willie Long did it in the 1969-70 season.
Nelly Junior Joseph's 15-rebound streak
—18 vs. San Jose State (Thursday)
—16 vs. UNLV (March 7)
—15 at Nevada (March 4
Willie Long's 15-rebound streak (1970)
—16 at BYU (Jan. 19, 1970)
—15 vs. Arizona (Jan. 17, 1970)
—16 vs. Arizona State (Jan. 15, 1970)
More Nelly rebounding records...
Nelly Junior Joseph was a monster on the board on Thursday against the Spartans, grabbing 18 of them to go along with his 14 points and two blocked shots.
Eight of Nelly's rebounds were offensive boards, matching the eight the entire San Jose State roster had.
Of course, when you (the Lobos, not just Nelly) miss 14 layups in a game, you do have a good opportunity to pad those offensive rebounding stats.
Case in point...
Nevertheless, he's been a beast all season on the boards and he keeps solidifying his case as one of the best rebounders in UNM and Mountain West history, at least relative to a two-season sting with both.
Most rebounds in MW Tournament game by a Lobo:
—18 — Nelly Junior Joseph vs. San Jose State (Thursday)
—17 — J.R. Giddens vs. Utah (March 13, 2008)
Most rebounds in any conference tournament game by a Lobo:
—18 — Nelly Junior Joseph vs. San Jose State/MW Tournament (Thursday)
—18 — Lewis LaMar vs. San Diego State/WAC Tournament (March 10, 1994)
Most rebounds in a MW Tournament game (all teams):
—21 — Kawhi Leonard, SDSU vs. UNLV (March 13, 2010)
—19 — Marcus Slaughter, SDSU vs. Colorado State (March 9, 2006)
—18 — Nelly Junior Joseph, UNM vs. San Jose State (Thursday)
—18 — A.J. West, Nevada vs. UNLV (March 11, 2015)
Most 15 rebound games at UNM
—9 — Nelly Junior Joseph (2024-25)
—8 — Bill Hagins (1974-74)
—7 — Lewis LaMar (1993-94)
—5 — Drew Gordon (2010-11)
—5 Larry Gray (1975-76)
UNM single season rebounds:
1. Drew Gordon, 2012 — 388 (15 games/11.1 avg.)
2. Tom King, 1961 — 375 (23 games/16.3 avg.)
3. Tom King, 1960 — 374 (25 games/14.9 avg.)
4. Nelly Junior Joseph, 2025 — 363 (32 games/11.3 avg.)
5. Willie Long, 1970 — 335 (26 games/12.9 avg.)
6. Ira Harge, 1963 — 331 (25 games/13.2 avg.)
7. Luc Longley, 1990 — 330 (34 games/9.7 avg.)
t8. J.T. Toppin, 2024 — 326 (36 games/9.1 avg.)
t8. Morris Udeze, 2023 — 326 (34 games/9.6 avg.)
I Hurd that...
The picture of the night is a handful of Utah State students who are part of The Hurd student section running into everyone's favorite referee Verne Harris and getting a picture with him.
First off, good on Verne for doing the pic.
Second, who knew Verne had that much swag outside of the black and white stripes we usually see him in?
Half the story...
The Lobos have won five consecutive Mountain West games and have actually "won" all 10 halves in that streak.
Thursday — UNM 63, San Jose State 52
—1ST HALF: UNM 32, SJSU 23
—2ND HALF: UNM 31, SJSU 29
3/16/24 — UNM 68, San Diego State 61
—1ST HALF: UNM 36, SDSU 30
—2ND HALF: UNM 32, SDSU 31
3/15/24 — UNM 74, Colorado State 61
—1ST HALF: UNM 33, CSU 25
—2ND HALF: UNM 41, CSU 36
3/14/24 — UNM 76, Boise State 66
—1ST HALF: UNM 35, BSU 26
—2ND HALF: UNM 41, BSU 40
3/13/24 — UNM 82, Air Force 56
—1ST HALF: UNM 49, AFA 30
—2ND HALF: UNM 33, AFA 26
They didn't actually need Donovan Dent's 3-pointer at the buzzer to win the first half, but where else am I going to drop in the video of his banked in deep 3 at the end of the half?
I can't not mention Dent...
Donovan Dent. Yeah, he's pretty good, still.
Named the Mountain West Player of the Week on Tuesday, he broke new ground again for the league on Thursday.
His stat line:
—POINTS: 25 points
—SHOOTING: 8-14 (6-12 2FG, 2-2 3FG)
—ASSISTS: 5
—STEALS: 1
—BLOCKS: 2
—FOULS DRAWN: 8
Here's the new ground Dent broke with Thursday's game:
—Dent is the first player in Mountain West history to have five consecutive games of 20 points/5 assists
—Dent had his 32nd consecutive game of at least 10 points and two assists, the longest such streak in Mountain West history and the longest active streak in Division I
—Dent is the first player in Mountain West Tournament history to have a game of 25 points, five assists, two blocks and a steel
Extended runs...
They did it again.
While it's hard to say the Lobos ever really shook San Jose State until the final moments of Thursday's game, they had another one of those extended runs that has changed the complexion of so many of their wins this season — one entirely predicated on stifling, unforgiving defense that leads to offense and leaves their opponents often looking some combination of frustrated, deflated or just at a loss for what to do to make it end.
SJSU rattled off a nice 11-0 run of their own in the first half on Thursday to take a 21-16 lead in the first half.
Then, the Lobos did their thing, going on a 13-0 run, closing the half on a 16-2 run and if you extend it into the second half the run ended up being 24-4 — changing a 21-16 deficit into a 40-25 lead.
Here's the list of those runs they've had against Mountain West teams this season:
vs. San Jose State, Thursday
—24-4 — lasted 9:53 (from 6:29 first half to 16:36 second half) — flipped a 21-16 deficit into a 40-25 lead
vs. Air Force, March 1
—17-2 run — 6:06 — pushed 6-5 lead to 23-7
—19-3 run — 4:24 — pushed 36-30 lead to 55-33
at Air Force, Feb. 8
—20-3 run — 5:20 — pushed 36-31 lead to 56-34
vs. Colorado State, Feb. 5
—38-15 run — final 12:51 of game — turned a 50-49 Colorado State lead into an 87-65 UNM win
at Utah State, Feb. 1
—43-15 run — final 15:24 of game — turned a 48-39 Utah State lead into an 82-63 UNM win
vs. Fresno State, Jan. 20
—25-4 run — first 8:10 of game — UNM jumped out to a 25-4 lead, won game by 28
vs. Boise State, Jan. 17
—23-2 run — final 7:17 fist half — turned 25-19 lead into 48-21 halftime lead
at Wyoming, Jan. 7
—17-1 run — first 6:16 to start 2nd half — turned 31-18 halftime deficit into 35-33 lead
at Colorado State, Dec. 28
—21-0 run — 6:15 — turned 16-16 tie game into a 37-16 Lobos lead
vs. San Jose State, Dec. 4
—22-8 run — final 8:47 of game — turned 69-61 deficit into 83-77 win
On Staph...
Mustapha Amzil had another rough shooting game — 3-of-12 overall and 0-for-6 from 3-point range.
As the senior forward has been hampered for the past six weeks or so with a foot injury (plantar fasciitis), I asked Richard Pitino if Amzil is still being bothered by the foot.
PITINO: "No, he seems like he's fine. He just wasn't making shots today. He was getting good looks. I'm sure he's a little hobbled like everybody is this time of year. He'll knock them down. Went 0-for-6 for 3, and I think they were all really good looks."
Amzil did get the Lobos on the board with their first points of the game on Thursday.
Checking in with the fans...
Colleague Ken Sickenger talked with some Lobo fans after Thursday's game to see who they wanted to see UNM play in later rounds of the tournament.
—Take your pick: Which MW teams do Lobo fans hope UNM gets a chance play?
Attendance...
Announced attendance for Session 1 today of the Mountain West Tournament: 8,031
—Noon game: New Mexico/San Jose State
—Second game: Boise State/San Diego State
Plus/minus...
Here are the plus/minus numbers for Thursday's quarterfinal game with minutes in parenthesis:
NEW MEXICO
+20 Mustapha Amzil (31:18)
+16 Donovan Dent (39:17)
+13 Filip Borovicanin (16:40)
+11 Nelly Junior Joseph (39:28)
+11 Tru Washington (37:19)
+1 C.J. Noland (25:49)
0 Atiki Ally Atiki (00:32)
-7 Kayde Dotson (2:11)
-10 Jovan Milicevic (7:26)
SAN JOSE STATE
-1 Chol Marial (4:02)
-1 Josh Uduje (35:33)
-2 Sandraque NgaNga (10:48)
-7 Donovan Yap Jr. (36:30)
-7 Latrell Davis (29:43)
-10 Robert Vaihola (35:58)
-12 Jermaine Washington (16:43)
-15 Sadaidriene Hall (30:43)
Line 'em up...
The UNM Lobos played nine players and used nine unique lineup combinations. The San Jose State Spartans played eight players and used 12 unique lineup combinations.
Here's a look at some of the Lobos lineup combinations, starting with the starters.
STARTING LINEUP
—WHO: Donovan Dent, Tru Washington, Filip Borovicanin, Mustapha Amzil, Nelly Junior Joseph
—POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +12 (22-10
—TIME ON COURT: 12:43
—NOTE: The starting five was pretty good on Thursday, especially defensively, holding the Spartans to well under one point per minute played.
BEST LINEUP
—WHO: Donovan Dent, Tru Washington, C.J. Noland, Mustapha Amzil, Nelly Junior Joseph
—POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +15 (32-17)
—TIME ON COURT: 15:14
—NOTE: The lineup Richard Pitino went with the most on Thursday was with his "sixth starter" C.J. Noland playing in place of Filip Borovicanin. Of course, the starting five was at +12 and the second best lineup with about two and a half minutes less of use, so this isn't necessarily indicative of anything ... other than UNM going beyond six players on Thursday wasn't very successful.
WORST LINEUP
—WHO: Donovan Dent, Tru Washington, C.J. Noland, Jovan Milicivec, Nelly Junior Joseph
—POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -10 (5-15)
—TIME ON COURT: 5:55
—NOTE: Not a good day for the freshman, Jovan Milicevic. He's had a lot of good games lately, so nothing to be too alarmed about, but his team-worst -10 lines up with what this lineup was with him on the floor
Around the Mountain...
Here's the Mountain West Tournament schedule and results:
WEDNESDAY (First Round)
—No. 8 San Jose State 66, No. 9 Wyoming 61
—No. 7 Nevada 86, No. 10 Fresno State 71
—No. 6 UNLV 68, No. 11 Air Force 59
THURSDAY (Quarterfinals)
—No. 1 New Mexico 63, No. 8 San Jose State 52
—No. 5 Boise State 62, No. 4 San Diego State 52
—No. 2 Colorado State 67, No. 7 Nevada 59
—No. 3 Utah State 70, No. 6 UNLV 58
FRIDAY (Semifinals)
—No. 1 New Mexico vs. No. 5 Boise State, 6:30 PT/7:30 MT (CBS Sports Network)
—No. 2 Colorado State vs. No. 3 Utah State, 9 p.m. PT/10 p.m. MT (CBS Sports Network)
SATURDAY (Championship)
—Championship game, 3 p.m. PT/4 p.m. MT (CBS)
Stats and stats...
Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted Thursday: New Mexico 63, San Jose State 52
And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: New Mexico 63, San Jose State 52
Up next...
For New Mexico: The Lobos play No. 5 seed Boise State in Friday's Mountain West Tournament semifinals at 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. PT in Las Vegas).
For San Jose State: The Spartans end their season at 15-19 and will not be playing in any postseason events.
Lobo schedule/results...
Continue reading...
