Lobos Earn a No. 1 Seed in NIT, Will Host Sam Houston Wednesday at the Pit
Photo: Erik Moulton/The Pit Press
UNM’s postseason isn’t the one it hoped for, but the Lobos still have basketball left to play in the Pit.
UNM was named a No. 1 seed in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and will host Sam Houston in the opening round Wednesday at 7 pm MT. The game will be streamed on ESPN + which is a paid subscription
“I think it has the potential to be really valuable for us,” Eric Olen said during Zoom media availability late on Sunday night. “We have some younger guys on the roster. We have plans to retain guys and build our program through retention. We think its important for our guys to continue to get these reps.”
The Lobos are one of four No. 1 seeds and could host a second-round game Sunday, March 22 if they advance, since the New Mexico High School State Spirit and Dance competition is scheduled for March 20–21.
UNM is coming off a loss in the Mountain West Conference Tournament semifinal and were left out of the big dance; for the first time since 2017, the Mountain West was a one-bid league, with regular season and tournament champion Utah State being the only team to get an invitation as a #9 seed in the San Diego Region.
“I thought the league was good,” Olen said. "I think we had nine teams in the top 105 or something. A lot of depth in the league. Maybe we didn’t have a top end to create a few more quad one opportunities and things like that, but I thought the league was good…Obviously we’re biased. I think there’s multiple teams that feel like they’re tournament caliber teams. We feel like we have a tournament caliber team, but it’s not the way it worked out.”
Four other teams from the Mountain West Conference made the NIT, including Nevada, Colorado State, Wyoming and UNLV. The Wolfpack and the Rams will also host a first round game, while UNLV and Wyoming will have to travel.
Tickets
Ticket prices for NIT first round games are set by the NCAA, with prices for Wednesday’s game starting at $25 for bench seating, $30 for chairbacks, and $35 for Lobo Level and club seats plus fees. Season ticket holders will still have to purchase tickets, but will have priority for the seats they sat in during the season.
Early Scouting on Sam Houston
The Bearkats (22-11, 13-7) finished second in the Conference-USA regular season standings and defeated UNM’s rival New Mexico State in the opening round of the C-USA Tournament 69-61. Sam Houston won 6 of its final 9 games and lost to Kennesaw State in the C-USA Quarterfinal 79-73. Sam Houston also beat Wyoming earlier in the season 78-70.
On paper, Sam Houston is an up-tempo team that shoots a high percentage from the 3-point line and does a good job of getting offensive rebounds. The Bearkats are No. 41 in the country in Ken Pom’s adjusted tempo, meaning they got shots up early in the shot clock and try to push in transition where possible.
Sam Houston was the No. 2 offense in C-USA averaging 82 points per game. They shot nearly 40% from the 3-point line this season and were also good at sharing the basketball, averaging 15.33 assists as a team per game.
Sam Houston is No. 27 in Ken Pom’s offensive rebounding percentage, and averaged 13.65 offensive rebounds per game. They were the No. 1 rebounding team in Conference USA pulling down 40 total rebounds per game. Sam Houston has three players in its rotation between 6-foot-8 and seven feet which could create some size problems for the Lobos.
Top Players for Sam Houston
No. 2 Jacobe Coleman, 6-foot-3 Freshman Guard—Usually the sixth man off the bench but started his first game of the season in the C-USA Quarterfinal loss to Kennesaw State and tied his season high of 18 points. Coleman is aknock down 3-point shooter for Sam Houston, shooting 40% from the 3-point line on about three 3-point field goal attempts per game.
No. 4 Kashie Natt, 6-foot-3 Graduate Transfer Guard—Natt is Sam Houston’s leading rebounder at only 6-foot-3 and averages 7.9 rebounds to go along with 10.6 points per game. He’s an efficient 3-point shooter at 39% but only takes about 2 per game. He has really impressive athleticism that makes him a pest on defense and a good finisher at the rim.
No. 25 Damon Nicholas Jr., 6-foot-4 Graduate Senior Guard—Nicholas is the rare 4-year player in college basketball that has played with the Bearkats his entire college career. He averages 8.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, while playing the second most minutes on the team. He looks to be more of a glue guy that can score and rebound.
No. 35 Po’Boigh King, 6-foot-5 Senior Guard—Pronounced (PO-BOY), he may have one of the coolest names in college basketball. King is the Bearkats leading scorer, averaging 14 points while shooting 37% from the 3-point line on high volume; he hoists over 6 per game. King was named Second Team All Conference USA, but injured his back in the second to last game of the season and did not play in C-USA Quarterfinal loss to Kennesaw State.
No. 55 Jacob Walker, 6-foot-1 Freshman Guard—Sam Houston’s second leading scorer at 11.1. He leads the team in free throw attempts and also shoots an efficient 38% from the 3-point line.
No. 8 Veljko Ilic, 6-foot-10 Graduate Transfer Forward—This is Sam Houston’s big-man from Serbia that will bang inside with Tomislav Buljan and JT Rock. Ilic averages 10.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He looks like he can score at the low block one-on-one, as you see him here finishing on Wyoming’s Gavin Gores earlier in the season.
