Photo by Joe Grimando
ALBUQUERQUE, NM–The Lobos were left out of the Big Dance as a bubble team. It’s always a tough pill to swallow in a metrics based era of selection. Where high major programs avoid scheduling dangerous mid-majors like New Mexico in fear of upset blotches on their resumes come March.
But when you have a team as young and as exciting as this year’s Lobo squad, the show must go on. As Eric Olen’s squad accepted an invitation to the NIT and were first round hosts to regular season Conference USA runner ups, the Sam Houston Bearkats.
Fans inside the Pit were in for a treat Wednesday night, with high flying guards and ball handling bigs on full display.
First Half
Sam Houston won the tip but failed to capitalize on their first shot attempt. That led to some Lobo offense on the other end. As Deyton Albury found Tomislav Buljan off of the screen and the big Croatian drove the lane like a guard for a two handed slam to kick things off.
Kashie Natt opened up the Bearkats scoring account with a mid-range jumper on the other end.
After a couple of defensive stops, Buljan recovered a tough pass from Luke Haupt to find Albury for a rare but always welcome corner three. On the next Lobo possession, Jake Hall got the favorable screen at the top of the key and drained the three pointer to give the Lobos the early 8-2 lead.
Natt didn’t let that Lobo run extend to far as he attacked the basket from the near corner for an up and under layup to end Sam Houston’s scoring drought.
The Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year forgot to help his teammates get back into position on the other side of the court, as Buljan got in on the three-point barrage with a triple of his own.
Natt may have been the only Bearkat to realize the game had started as he knocked down his squad’s first triple of the game on the very next possession. Scoring all seven of his team’s points to this point of the game.
The next Lobo possession saw some big man battling at the top of the arc instead of in the paint. As Buljan received the rock and attempted to get Sam Houston’s Serbian big Veljko Ilic in the air for a possible three point free throw opportunity. The contact was there, though the call wasn’t made but Buljan knocked down a circus shot nonetheless to give New Mexico the 13-7 lead.
After Albury picked Freshman Jacob Walker’s pockets, the fast break was started and the lob up to a sprinting Buljan hit the air, but some contact from Sam Houston sent him to the line instead. Where he would go one of two.
A missed three pointer by Walker on the other end started a fast break after Uriah Tenette grabbed the defensive board. As Tenette looked to dish the rock he instead found himself with a near wide open lane so he took to the skies for a two handed flush to electrify the crowd of seventy-two hundred fans on a Wednesday night.
Walker took the ball in the paint on the next play, bumping off his defender for a jump shot at the basket to end the Lobo run.
Tenette put Walker on skates on the next possession but air balled the ensuing jumper. JT Rock grabbed the offensive board and went up strong for the and one opportunity. He drained the free one to put the Lobos up by ten (19-9), approaching the fifteen minute mark.
The high flying freshman continued to make his impact, on the next play he stole the ball from fellow freshman Jacobe Coleman and finished through some contact to extend the home squad’s lead.
On the next possession Walker took the ball to the rack and missed his layup, he ended up sitting on the baseline and caught the offensive rebound, resulting in the Sam Houston turnover.
The Bearkats got the ball back to their hot hand Natt, who drove the ball down the lane with authority and made the layup to keep his squad in this one. Bringing the deficit back to ten. On the next play Coleman took the ball inside and was sent to the foul line for two free ones, he would miss them both.
After some tough Bearkat defense, Hall set the new record for three pointers by a Lobo with an deep ball off of the inbound play.
After a Sam Houston turnover, Tajavis Miller was out on the fast break but missed the layup. Buljan scooped up the board and drained his put back layup to extend the Lobo lead to fifteen (28-13).
On the next play, Sam Houston’s leading scorer Po’Boigh King hit the floor hard and was escorted to the bench by his teammates. King had recently missed several games with a lower back injury and was a game-time decision to play tonight. He appeared to have reaggravated that injury but he returned to the free throw line for a pair of made free throws.
On the next Bearkat possession, Damon Nicholas Jr. earned a trip to the free throw line where he knocked both down, to help shrink the deficit.
The first Lobo turnover of the game turned into a Sam Houston fast break which sent C.J. Beaumont to the line for two free ones. After some playground style possessions by both sides, Tenette got right under Ilic and forced a jump ball call that favored New Mexico.
A few possessions later, Walker went in his bag to give Tenette some handles and a step back jumper to bring their deficit to just twelve.
The next time around, Natt was called for a double dribble after essentially being abandoned by his teammates after a high press by the Lobos caused him to pick up his dribble with no one nearby to dish it to.
After the turnover Tenette took to the sky once again for a slam off of the dish from Hall. He was met at the rim by Natt and sent to the line instead, but his energy was spreading throughout the Pit.
Nicholas Jr. hit the mid-range jumper on the other end. But that gained momentum was silenced with a Rock deep ball on the very next possession.
Beaumont was the recipient of an alley oop from big man Ilic in the paint. Who himself showed some fancy footwork on the next possession for the made layup. Sam Houston finally began to show some offensive fight, as Nicholas Jr. knocked down the third Bearkat field goal in about a minute’s time with a nice kiss off of the glass to bring his squad to within ten.
Rock helped end that run with a block on Beaumont on the next Bearkat play. Sparking a fast break which sent Haupt to the free throw line, where he would knock down both shots.
As the game approached the five minute mark, Buljan began to look like a Magic Johnson-esque point guard on the floor. Nearly attracting a double-team in the post, but dishing the ball over his shoulder to an unexpecting Albury under the basket for a layup after the spin move.
Then the stylish shade dawning defensive assassin forced another double dribble call on the freshman Walker near half-court to give his squad back the ball.
Beaumont kept Sam Houston in it with a triple in the top corner. Coleman saw the success and emulated with his own corner three in the same spot to bring the Lobo lead back to single digits, 42-34.
Buljan earned a trip to the line on the next play, knocking down both as fans in the Pit crossed their fingers from past experience. With the Lobo lead back to double-digits, Albury went to the line to extend the lead. He would miss the first of the one and one to give the ball back to Sam Houston.
Beaumont gave Hall the step back dribble for another triple in the corner, right in front of the New Mexico bench.
Tenette continued to do some work amongst the trees. With a drive through traffic for the layup at the basket.
Ilic received the dish on the next play and went up for an uncontested two points to keep the deficit to single digits. Buljan matched that energy in the paint with a kiss off of the glass down low.
In the final minute of play, Hall was left wide open beyond the arc and drained the triple to send both teams to the locker rooms for half-time.
Second Half
Natt went right back to his first half offense, with a drive to the rim that resulted in two free throw opportunities. He would miss them both.
Buljan earned the first Lobo points of the half with a layup at the basket. The Bearkats had a put back field goal of their own on the other end while no Lobo boxed out after the missed field goal.
The freshman big man went to the line for two free throws on the next play and knocked them both down. Sam Houston turned the ball over soon after, with a butchered pass to Ilic in the paint rolled out of his possession.
Tenette gave New Mexico their first three pointer of the half with a corner three to extend their lead to fifteen. Ilic would receive the ball in his chest on the next play and lay it up beautifully for two points.
Buljan took up ball handling duties on the next play, bringing the ball up the court and giving Tenette a no look pass for a wide open layup. The Lobos forced another turnover on the very next play, which led to a Haupt layup on the other end.
Walker would then hit the mid-range pull up jumper to put some Bearkat points on the board. On the next play, Hall hit the mid-range turnaround jumper in the lane. With King likely out for the game on the bench, the freshman guard continued to put Sam Houston’s offense on his back with a rise and fire jumper.
Haupt found Rock in the post for a mismatch opportunity, he would miss the first attempt but sink the second to keep the Lobo lead to seventeen points (69-52). Freshman seven footer Matt Dann went to work on the other end for a nice lay in at the basket.
While Tenette attacked the glass for a missed Rock triple and turned the offensive board into a put back mid-air. Hall continued to take three pointers but was out of rhthm from deep.
It wasn’t a big issue as Buljan continued his best floor general impression with another drive up the floor and dish off to the usual floor general Albury for a layup. The Lobos quickly found the ball back in their hands but Antonio Chol missed the corner jump shot.
Ilic went back to work in the paint next play with a hook shot in traffic. On the next play Albury found himself under the basket but a cutting Buljan looked like a bullseye and was found for a perfect layup, his twentieth point with eleven minutes left to go in the game.
Tenette found Buljan on the next play with a lightening quick screen and sprint to the hoop. The next play sent Nicholas Jr. to the line for two free ones to bring the Bearkat deficit back under twenty.
On the other end, Hall knocked down his fourth triple off of the Buljan screen. A Bearkat turnover sparked another Lobo fast break, this time it was Chol who knocked down the layup to extend the lead to 84-61 with about nine minutes to go in the game.
The junior swing man was quiet in the first half, but knocked down a contested triple soon after. As the Lobos appeared in sync and hot offensively, Coach Mudge called the timeout.
Out of the break, Sam Houston began to run some motion offense. Which found a cutting Dann open for an alley oop at the rim. A Lobo turnover led to Walker finding Beaumont for another Bearkat alley oop for a pair of quick field goals.
As the visitors began to chip away at their mounting deficit, Rock added to it with another triple. Beaumont stayed hot for Sam Houston with a deep triple of his own on the other end.
Tenette found himself in the paint after a dish by Haupt, he would miss the layup but head to the foul line for two free ones. On the next play he brought the ball up the court to find an open Rock at the top of the key for his third triple of the contest.
The three point barrage continued with another Chol deep ball that broke the one hundred point seal. He knew he was hot as he took another three point shot the very next play and knocked down that one as well to put New Mexico up 103-71 with about 3:55 left in the game.
Coach Olen emptied the bench around the three minute mark, but with a short bench nearly all season that saw Graduate forward Milos Vicentic and freshman Timeo Pons hit the floor.
Beaumont continued to look fearless from deep with another corner triple drained. Dann laid in another basket at the hoop while Beaumont cherry picked a one handed slam off of a Lobo turnover.
With most of the Lobos’ scorers on the bench, Chol continued to knock down buckets off of the bench, this time a slam in the lane. Natt drove the lane for a Simon says one handed slam of his own, with a little Vince Carter hang on the rim after just for fun with his team down 107-82 in the closing minutes.
The whopping 24-point first round win solidified New Mexico’s place as a No. 1 seed in this tournament. They looked unstoppable offensively, as points came from a little bit of everyone. With six Lobos reaching double-digit scoring totals on the night. This time around, it wasn’t all on fantastic freshman Jake Hall.
As JT Rock and Uriah Tenette logged career highs in scoring and offense ran through freshman big man Tomislav Buljan. Who displayed an unseen skillset in creating offense for others from different spots on the floor. The Lobos shot a whopping 52.7% from the floor, on seventy-four attempts. Not to mention 38% from deep on thirty-four attempts and an even more impressive 80% from the charity stripe on twenty attempts.
Sam Houston looked battered from the regular season. Struggling with the altitude, playing with a short bench and without their star in Po’Boigh King. Although CJ Beaumont (22 points), Kashie Natt (15 points) and Jacob Walker (15 points) certainly gave it their all.
Players of the Game:
New Mexico-Tomislav Buljan, Freshman Forward, 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists on 72.7% (8-11) shooting from the floor, 50% (1-2) from deep and 83.3% (5-6) from the free throw line in 21 minutes on the floor
Sam Houston-CJ Beaumont, Junior Guard, 22 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 57.4% (8-14) from the field, 66.6% (4-6) from deep and 50% (2-4) from the line in 29 minutes on the floor
Up Next:
Sam Houston’s season ended Wednesday night in the Pit, finishing the season 22-12. The Bearkats made their first trip to a postseason tournament in the Chris Mudge era and faced a brick wall in Albuquerque. But the future seems bright in Huntsville.
While the Lobos advanced in the tournament to face George Washington of the Atlantic 10 on Sunday in the Pit. The Revolutionaries were picked 2nd in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll, but hobbled their way to an 8th place finish in one of the best iterations of the conference in recent years. That game will tip off at 6:00 PM and can be seen on ESPN+.
Larry Muniz is a Mountain West Basketball beat writer for Couch Potato Sports, along with West Coast mid-major coverage at Mid-Major Madness.
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