Lobo Bubble Pops in Logan: Jake Hall’s Record Night Not Enough to Secure MW Title
Lobo guard Deyton Albury (1) swipes at the ball and Utah State forward Karson Templin (22). Photo: UNM Athletics
Over the last two weeks of Mountain West conference play, the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team found themselves in the thick of the “bubble” conversation - generally considered as one of the First Four teams in-and-out of the at-large picture.
With Saturday afternoon's 94-90 loss at Utah State, the Lobos bubble metaphorically popped.
In a highly-touted MW matchup with regular season title hopes on the line, the Lobos not only had a chance to solidify their tournament resume but also secure a share of the MW championship.
UNM did neither.
New Mexico will now more than likely need to win the MWC conference tourney next week in Las Vegas in order to make back-to-back trips to the Big Dance.
Despite an all-time effort by freshman Jake Hall, 32 points on 50% FG shooting and drilling 7 three’s, the Lobos struggled to keep pace with the senior-loaded Utah State squad at the Spectrum in Logan, UT.
The Aggies bull-rushed the Lobos early on, jumping out to a 10-2 lead and made it tough for UNM to find any rhythm offensively.
The Aggies defense was disruptive and forced UNM to settle for contested shots and only allowed one make in their first five shot attempts.
Offensively for Utah State, they executed in the half court by penetrating UNM’s “unpenetratable” paint-defense and scored 34 points in the paint to the Lobos 28.
Not only did they convert near the rim, but they also drew 24 fouls and knocked down 30-36 free throws for 83% from the charity stripe..
The Aggies lead got as big as 12 in the first half when they went up 22-10 with over 10 minutes left to play.
But New Mexico head coach, Eric Olen, got creative and helped the Lobos chip away. Insert two Lobo bigs; Tomislav Buljan and JT Rock were on the court together for a few minutes when Buljan fed Rock in the post for an easy turnaround bank shot. The next trip down the floor, Rock again was given the ball in the post for a momentous dunk.
The 12-point Utah State lead was trimmed to 31-25 and forced Utah State’s Jared Calhoun to use a timeout with 6:12 left to play.
However, that timeout fueled another Lobo run as Jake Hall made a three pointer and an-and-one jumper at the elbow to cut the lead to 34-37.
After exchanging a few buckets with the Aggies, the Lobos closed the half on a 7-0 run and took a 43-42 lead with a Luke Haupt made free throw.
The second half started eerily similar to the first half with Utah State sprinting out to a 12-2 run sparked by two made three’s by Utah State senior guard MJ Collins. Collins jumpstarted his second half blastoff and finished the contest with 27 points, scoring 21 of them in the second half.
The Lobos, once again, chipped away. Jake Hall’s supercharged 19 first-half production, carried over into the second half where he added 13 more points on three made three-point attempts.
But he didn’t keep them in the game by himself. Reserve guards Tajavis Miller (16 points on 5-6 made three’s) and Uriah Tenette (14 points and 7 assists) backed Hall’s effort.
While the effort was valiant, the Utah State surge was just too much for the Lobos to manage.
Guard Deyton Albury fouled out at the 5:14 mark when the Lobos were just down 72-77 and the lead ballooned to 8 with just over 2 minutes left to play.
The Lobos kept the game within reach but 1-6 free throw shooting from Tomislav Buljan eliminated any real chance of the comeback.
Lobo head coach, Eric Olen, told KKOB Radio Robert Portnoy and Hunter Greene “he [Hall] kept us in it and gave us a chance. Those guys [Miller and Tenette] were good, gave us a good chance, we just couldn’t get it done.”
Hall set the UNM freshman season scoring record, now with 506 points, breaking the previous record of 484 by Kenny Thomas in 1995-96. And finished Mountain West play with 350 points, setting a new conference record for points by a freshman.
Following the game, Olen said ““I thought we did a great job all season of putting us in this position where we could win a title on the final day. I thought we fought and gave a great effort tonight, but we just came up short. We would have liked to make a few more plays and those guys are disappointed, but we now have a few days to get ready for the tournament.”
The Lobos will face the winner of Boise State and San Jose State in the quarterfinal round on Thursday at 9 pm.
