Lobos Let Quad 1 Road Opportunity Slip Away Against Nevada
UNM men’s basketball head coach Eric Olen looks from the sideline during UNM’s 67-60 loss to Nevada. Photo: UNM Athletics.
Turnovers and missed free throws will cost you.
UNM men’s basketball literally gave away a chance to secure a Quad 1 win and move into 2nd place in the Mountain West conference standings in its 67-60 loss to Nevada on Tuesday at the Lawlor Events Center.
After an ugly offensive performance where the Lobos shot 8-of-30 (25%) form the field in the first half, the Lobos built a 9-point, 40-31 lead with 13:34 to play.
“I don’t know if it was the physicality that everybody had to get adjusted to,” Eric Olen said during his post-game interview with KKOB radio. “They were letting a lot go around the basket. Everybody sort of settled into the game.”
UNM’s best offensive stretch came between 17:47 and 13:34 in the second half, where freshman Jake Hall got hot and scored 10 points on two made 3-pointers, to go along with a couple baskets for Deyton Albury and Uriah Tenette off of dribble penetration and mid-range jumpers.
Unfortunately, UNM could not maintain its rhythm, and late in the second half, sloppy turnovers and missed free throws defined the Lobos’ offensive struggles.
Albury’s 13 points and 3 assists were minimized by his four second half giveaways, two of which came at critical times and allowed Nevada to erase UNM’s lead. The Lobos finished the game with 13 team turnovers which led to 14 Nevada points.
Nevada had three players finish with 20 or more points and were lead by Elijah Price who knotted a 21 point 12 rebound double-double to go along with four blocks.
Price scored 10 straight points for the Wolfpack to help erase UNM’s 9 point lead and cut it to 42-38 after he knocked down a 3-pointer with 12:20 to play.
“Percentage wise he’s not a great shooter,” Olen said. “He hit two threes. He was able to have a little more space when JT was on the floor and he took advantage of some of those opportunities…”
Vaughn Weems, who scored 16 points against UNM the first game, gave Nevada the lead back 53-52 at the 4:40 mark of the second. Weems scored six straight for the Wolfpack and UNM could not guard him 1-on-1 down the stretch.
“I thought he was the best player on the floor tonight,” Eric Olen said. “He was plus 19 in his minutes. I thought he did a good job guarding Jake. I thought he was the best player on the floor and a big part of making the plays down the stretch to win the game.”
The Lobos shot just 12-of-21 (57%) from the line, their worst free-throw performance of the season. They were 7 of 14 in the second half.
The biggest culprit was Tomislav Buljan, who went 1-of-5 from the line, including two critical misses with UNM trailing 55-54 with 3:27 to play. Buljan finished with 12 rebounds, but scored only 7 points and was bothered by Nevada’s size inside with center Joel Armotrading (6-10), Price (6-9), and reserve big-man Jeriah Coleman (7-1).
The Lobos lost the rebound count 44-32, and gave up 11 offensive rebounds to Nevada.
“We would like to do better,” Olen said. “We missed some big ones when we had a chance to take control of it. They got a big offensive rebound and another guy hit a big three. We did an average job on the glass. That was an area we needed to win.”
Corey Camper Jr. was Nevada’s other 20 point scorer and made some tough baskets throughout the game to keep the Wolf Pack close. Although he shot only 1-of-7 form the 3-point line, Camper scored six of Nevada’s last eight points.
Hall led all scorers for UNM with 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting, and broke the previous Mountain West scoring record for freshmen in conference play previously set by Brandon McCoy of UNLV in 2017-18. Hall did miss his final four shots in this game, including three attempts in the final three minutes when UNM needed a basket.
Tenette finished with 11 points and scored in double figures for the first time since the Boise State game at home, but he was 4-of-12 from the field and 1-of-6 from deep.
The Lobos just did not get enough consistent offensive production to match Nevada’s late-game run. Luke Haupt and Antonio Chol combined for two points on 0-of-9 shooting.
The Lobos will take on San Diego State at home on Saturday for a 12 o’clock noon tipoff on CBS.
