Nov. 27—Here are some notes, quotes, stats, trends and other odds & ends I emptied out of the old notebook after Wednesday's 93-87 UNM Lobos win over Alabama State in the Pit:
Three kill shots
I wrote in Monday night's "Around the Mountain" column about the Mountain West lacking a killer instinct this season — a play on one of my favorite stats in college basketball, the "kill shot." That's a stat tracked by analytics guru Evan Miyakawa at EvanMiya.com.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA kill shot is simple enough: Any scoring run of 10-0 or better in a game — a statistic that, as its name implies, often leads to the type of momentum shifting swing that can determine a game or certainly make it hard for the other team to recover from.
All seem to be the thing Pit moments are made of — surging scoring by the offense and mistake-inducing defense that gets the crowd going crazy.
And I wouldn't be writing about the stat again so quickly if not for the fact that UNM — a team that had just one kill shot in six games all season, rattled off three of them on Wednesday night. Surprisingly, they needed all three of them to get past the 19.5-point underdog Alabama State Hornets.
UNM's two big runs in the second half, in particular, were classic Pit type moments where the opponent seemed overwhelmed by the moment.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"I think the crowd and the building deserve a lot of credit tonight," Olen said after the game. "I don't know that we get to (this) result without them. Felt them for sure in the second half. The guys felt it. You could see their reaction when the ball's going through and people are getting excited and we're getting steals. Yeah, I thought they had a huge impact, and we needed every bit."
Olen's UC San Diego team last season ranked No. 3 in all of college basketball in the statistic and the UNM Lobos led the Mountain West in kill shots.
Wednesday, the Lobos had three "kill shots" — all three included a Jake Hall 3-pointer.
Kill shot 1 (10-0, first half):
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement12:06 1H — Alabama State 20, New Mexico 11
—+3 — Jake Hall 3-pointer (11:43)
—defensive rebound, Kevin Patton Jr. (11:26)
—+2 — Kevin Patton Jr. bucket (11:08)
—defensive rebound, UNM/team rebound (10:45)
—+3 — Kevin Patton Jr. layup, plus free throw; assist Chris Howell (10:30)
—steal, Tomislav Buljan (10:20)
—+2 — Uriah Tenette dunk in transition; assist Tomislav Buljan (10:15)
10:15 1H — New Mexico 21, Alabama State 20
Kill shot 2 (14-0, second half):
10:30 2H — Alabama State 75, New Mexico 64
—+3 — Jake Hall 3-pointer; assist Chris Howell (10:22)
—turnover, Alabama State (10:01)
—defensive rebound, Kevin Patton Jr. (9:31)
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement—+2 — two made free throws by Deyton Albury (9:11)
—turnover, Alabama State (9:00)
—+3 — Jake Hall 3-pointer; assist Tomislav Buljan (8:45)
—timeout, Alabama State
—defensive rebound, Deyton Albury (8:20)
—+3 — three made free throws by Jake Hall (8:14)
—blocked shot, Tomislav Buljan (7:54)
—+3 — Antonio Chol 3-pointer; assist Deyton Albury (7:33)
7:33 1H — New Mexico 78, Alabama State 75
Kill shot 3 (11-0, second half):
4:47 2H — Alabama State 83, New Mexico 78
—+2 — Kevin Patton Jr. dunk; assist Tomislav Buljan (4:31)
—steal by Uriah Tenette (4:13)
—+2 — Uriah Tenette dunk (4:08)
—turnover, Alabama State (3:41)
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement—turnover, New Mexico (3:16)
—defensive rebound, Deyton Albury (3:02)
—+2 — two made free throws by Deyton Albury (3:02)
—steal by Deyton Albury (2:44)
—+2 — fastbreak layup by Deyton Albury (2:40)
—timeout, Alabama State (2:29)
—shotclock turnover, Alabama State (2:03)
—+3 — Jake Hall 3-pointer; assist Tomislav Buljan (1:49)
1:49 1H — New Mexico 78, Alabama State 75
On the other side of the kill shot coin UNM is still yet to have surrendered a kill shot this season.
What's somewhat remarkable is that since Monday night when I wrote that seven of the 12 teams in the Mountain West had yet to record a single kill shot and the league overall had just 14 total, we're now at just one team (UNLV) without a single kill shot this season and the MW's total is up to 36.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementYes, there's been a ton of basketball this week for Feast Week, and that includes a ton of Mountain West games played, but that's a huge jump for just the first three days of the week.
And, for those scoring at home, here's the Mountain West update for kill shots...
Mountain West kill shots
Kill shots surrendered in parenthesis
6 — Grand Canyon (3)
5 — Utah State (2)
5 — San Diego State (4)
4 — New Mexico (0)
3 — Air Force (2)
3 — Colorado State (0)
3 — Fresno State (1)
3 — Wyoming (4)
2 — Boise State (2)
1 — Nevada (0)
1 — San Jose State (4)
0 — UNLV (6)
The gamer
Here's the gamer I filed from the Pit media room Wednesday night:
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement—Lobo men's basketball: Pit erupts as UNM mounts comeback vs. Alabama State
Better call Hall
First, credit where credit is due. How did I not see a picture of Jake Hall on the Better Call Saul show poster coming? These guys did...
Second, how about Jake Hall?!
I didn't expect it to be so needed against an Alabama State team, but I knew the team's best shooter would go on a heater one of these games — the type of flurry of 3-point shooting that showed frustrated fans exactly why head coach Eric Olen repeatedly talks about wanting a high volume of shots from the true freshman from California.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHall, the 6-foot-4 guard, scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half on Wednesday night and here is a list of some of the milestones he hit, some understandable since it's so early in the season, others even more impressive since it's so early in the season and his career:
Most of these notes dug up by UNM Sports Information Director Steve Kirkland
—Career high 24 points
—Career high seven made 3-pointers
—Tied UNM freshman record of seven 3-pointers in a game (tied with Kevin Henry, who hit seven 3s on Dec. 29, 1997, against Holy Cross, though did it on just 10 attempts)
—Tied for 10th most 3s made in a game by any Lobo
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement—Sixth 24-point game by a Lobo freshman in past 20 years (two times by JT Toppin and once each by Makuach Maluach, Cullen Neal and Alex Kirk)
—His 21 second-half points were most in a half by a Lobo in a half since Donovan Dent scored 25 in the second half just last season against VCU (Dec. 18)
Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that UNM Lobo players appearing on the Talking Grammer podcast 24 hours before a game are now averaging 24 points and seven made 3-pointers in the game immediately following the podcast.
So.... who wants to be on the show next?
If you haven't already, please check out Episode 122 of the Talking Grammer podcast (after you first read every word of the rest of this ETN column, of course). In the pod, we discuss plenty, from his belief that a game like Wednesday night was coming, how this team's roster make up has helped him as a freshman getting such a quick start to the season and the best part — we dive into his being a bleach blonde competitive surfer when he was younger (thanks, Dax!).
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWatch the podcast here via the Journal's YouTube page or listen wherever you get your podcasts:
—YouTube (watch)
—Spotify (listen)
—Apple Podcasts/iTunes (listen)
—Soundcloud (listen)
A number to know: 12
The Lobos hit 12 3-pointers on Wednesday on just 26 attempts (46.2%).
It is the second time this season the Lobos have hit 12 or more 3-pointers in a game, already doubling the number they had last season vs. Division I teams.
Olen's teams in seven games already have more 12 3-pointer games than the Lobos had in the entirety of the Frans Fraschilla and Craig Neal coaching eras.
D-I games with 12 ore more 3s (MW era)
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement— divided by coaching eras
—ERIC OLEN
2025-26: 2 (in seven games)
—
—RICHARD PITINO
2024-25: 1
2023-24: 2
2022-23: 1
2021-22: 3
—
—PAUL WEIR
2020-21: 1
2019-20: 3
2018-19: 5
2017-18: 10
—
—CRAIG NEAL
2016-17: 0
2015-16: 0
2014-15: 0
2013-14: 0
—
—STEVE ALFORD
2012-13: 2
2011-12: 3
2010-11: 0
2009-10: 4
2008-09: 1
2007-08: 6
—
—RITCHIE McKAY
2006-07: 5
2005-06: 0
2004-05: 5
2003-04: 5
2002-03: 2
—
—FRAN FRASCHILLA
2001-02: 1
2000-01: 0
1999-00: 0
Eck of a comeback
Lobo football coach Jason Eck, a man who could show up and read the back of a cereal box and get a standing ovation right now, was a fan favorite when he made a second half media timeout appearance during the game to remind fans of a certain football game he has on Friday afternoon.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWait. Did he just...
"I'm thankful for Coach Olen and this hoops squad that's going to have one of the great comebacks in the Pit tonight!"
The Lobos were trailing 70-62 at the under 12 media timeout when Eck took the mic and called for one of the best comebacks in the Pit.
Over the next 4 minutes, 22 seconds the Lobos went on a 16-5 scoring run and took a 78-75 lead with 7:33 left in the game.
Patton continues to emerge
The minutes have been few and far between in the early going this season for USC transfer Kevin Patton Jr.
But the ultra-athletic 6-foot-8 wing has now put together back-to-back games, including last Friday in Kansas City, Missouri, against Mississippi State, in which he's not only made a memorable play or two, but noticeably impacted the game in a way that makes it clear he's ready to take on an increased workload. As noted above in the "kill shot" section, he scored in two of the three scoring runs the Lobos had of 10-0 or better.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"I'm glad you asked about Kevin," Olen said after the game when Zach Lane, known by many Lobo fans by his social media handle "Lobo Lane."
"I thought he played great — some of his some of his best basketball to date so far for us. We felt like he played well in the last one against Mississippi State, and he did nothing but build on that today. So that's an encouraging sign for us, if Kevin can give us those kind of minutes. He absolutely impacted the game. Helped bring us back in the first half, then we lost that lead, and then he was part of the comeback in the second half as well."
In his 14 minutes on the court, the Lobos outscored Alabama State by nine points, giving the junior UNM's third best +/- total of the game (both Uriah Tenette and Tomislav Buljan finished at plus-14).
Patton's game:
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement—Minutes: 13:57
—Points: 8
—FG: 3-5 (60%)
—FT: 2-3 (67%)
—Fouls drawn: 3
—Rebounds: 3
—Assists: 1
Genuinely, Patton may have been the deciding factor in the game and looked in synch with everyone of his teammates on both ends of the floor for maybe the first time this season.
In other games, his athleticism would lead to an impressive offensive rebound or a defensive play that make people wonder why he's not on the floor more for a team that could use his athleticism. But he also had more moments where you could see he wasn't yet on the same page within the offensive or defensive schemes as the rest of his teammates, often leading to short minutes.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWednesday, you could see his progress — his minutes looking in synch and in the flow of everything his teammates were doing in addition to his athleticism being noticeably effective for a team that needs that.
Bigger role to come for him, I'm sure.
Steve Kirkland Stat of the Night
Here's the stat(s) of the night from UNM men's basketball Sports Information Director Steve Kirkland:
—The 15-point comeback was UNM's largest since rallying from 16 down against Wyoming in the 2019 Mountain West Tournament
—UNM trailed by 15 with 16:25 to play, marking the second-latest 15-point comeback in program history (trailed Boise State 76-61 with 6:00 to play before winning 80-78 on Feb. 17, 2016)
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement—The 13-point halftime deficit is tied for the 7th largest overcome by UNM in program history and largest since rallying from down 14 at the half last season at Wyoming
Half the story
The 51 points UNM allowed in the first half on Wednesday were the most in a first half since Boise State scored 52 on Dec. 23, 2020, against the depleted Paul Weir COVID team that had to play the entire season outside the state of New Mexico.
Less than a week after their 43-25 first half against Nebraska in Kansas city was what I thought was one of the worst first half performances I've seen out of the program since that final Paul Weir season, the Lobos one-upped it on Wednesday.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAlabama State in the first half
—FG — 61.3% (19-31)
—2FG — 58.8% (10-17)
—3FG — 64.3% (9-14)
UNM opponents first half before Wednesday
—FG — 35.4% (62-175)
—2FG — 45.5% (35-77)
—3FG — 27.6% (27-98)
The Lobos, defensively, have had just two horrible halves this season. One in a road loss to a 6-0 NMSU team and one was Wednesday to a 3-5 team from the SWAC. Even the Nebraska game in Kansas City wasn't really a horrible defensive effort as much as it was offense.
Most points per possession allowed in a half
—1.581 — 2nd half at NM State (Nov. 15)
—1.500 — 1st half vs. Alabama State (Wednesday)
—1.147 — 1st half vs Mississippi State (Nov. 21)
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement—1.147 — 2nd half vs Mississippi State (Nov. 21)
—1.132 — 1st half vs. Nebraska (Nov. 20)
Random tip of the cap: These people
I wrote a Thanksgiving Day column with a list of people UNM Athletics should be thankful for. Not a long, this is everyone sort of list, just a few people who I've thought about recently they better be thankful for in what continues to be a real good run for Lobo Athletics overall.
—Grammer: Red chile on mashed potatoes, a time for UNM Athletics to be thankful
Attendance...
The announced attendance for Alabama State at New Mexico in the Pit: 12,027
That was the largest announced home crowd of the season for the Lobos.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement—12,037 — Wednesday vs. Alabama State
—11,689 — Nov. 11 vs. UC Riverside
—11,513 — Nov. 8 vs. UT Arlington
—10,726 — Nov. 5 vs. East Texas A&M
Series notes
The Lobos improve to 31-1 against teams from the SWAC and 3-0 against Alabama State.
A reminder of the last time(s)...
Only loss vs. SWAC team
Nov. 28, 1994 — Texas Southern 73, New Mexico 67: Marlow White fouled out and fellow Lobo starters Charles Smith, Clayton Shields and David Gibson each had four fouls in a game that saw Texas Southern go to the line 31 times and dominate the Dave Bliss-coached Lobos on the boards in a 73-67 win in championship game of the Lobo Classic.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPrevious game vs. Alabama State
Dec. 29, 1999 — New Mexico 68, Alabama State 47: Kevin Henry had 20 points and four of the Lobos' 11 steals in a 68-47 win in the Pit during the first season under head coach Fran Fraschilla.
Plus/minus...
Here are the plus/minus numbers for Wednesday's game with minutes in parenthesis:
NEW MEXICO
+14 Tomislav Buljan (29:02)
+14 Uriah Tenette (28:39)
+9 Kevin Patton Jr. (13:57)
+8 Jake Hall (31:03)
+1 Milos Vicentic (4:18)
+1 Chris Howell (26:07)
-1 Luke Haupt (15:55)
-2 JT Rock (5:08)
-3 Deyton Albury (24:20)
-14 Antonio Chol (21:31)
ALABAMA STATE
+12 Jerquarius Standback (29:40)
+11 R'Chaun King (28:56)
+3 Micah Simpson (36:31)
-5 Tyler Byrd (16:36)
-8 Mario Andrews (2:27)
-9 Tyler Mason (8:37)
-10 Asjon Anderson (35:28)
-11 Cam Palesse (35:10)
-13 Damarien Yates (6:35)
Line 'em up...
The UNM Lobos played 10 players and used 22 unique lineup combinations on Wednesday. The Hornets played nine players and used 14 unique lineup combinations.
Here's a look at some of the Lobos lineup combinations, starting with the starters.
STARTING LINEUP
—WHO: Deyton Albury, Jake Hall, Chris Howell, Antonio Chol, Tomislav Buljan
—POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +1 (18-17)
—TIME ON COURT: 8:19
—NOTE: The starters won their time on the floor by one point, so I guess that's good. But truth is, this unit wasn't great. Chol had zero rebounds in the game and that was reflected in the starting five having only three total in a span of more than eight minutes on the court together.
BEST LINEUP (Part 1)
—WHO: Deyton Albury, Uriah Tenette, Jake Hall, Chris Howell, Milos Vicentic
—POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +8 (9-1)
—TIME ON COURT: 3:20
—NOTE: Swapping the shortest guy on the roster (5-11 Tenette) for the 6-9 Chol, and playing the two short point guards together in Albury and Tenette (I wrote last week about that duo playing together being a strength for the Lobos) worked well. This unit had four rebounds in less than half the time the starters had three, plus this group scored 1.82 points per possession. But the sample size was small, so I'll go with two "best" lineups for this game.
BEST LINEUP (Part 2)
—WHO: Uriah Tenette, Jake Hall, Luke Haupt, Kevin Patton Jr., Tomislav Buljan
—POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +7 (19-12)
—TIME ON COURT: 6:00
—NOTE: Points up. Rebounding up. Energy up. This lineup, with Kevin Patton Jr. getting his best minutes of the season, was a force and probably the difference in the game. Patton looked in synch with everyone else for maybe the first time this season. In other games, his athleticism would give him a highlight type offensive board or a play we remember, but it wasn't as in the flow of everything else the team was trying to do like Wednesday night. In this game, Patton looked like a guy ready to see the minutes workload increase.
WORST LINEUP
—WHO: Deyton Albury, Jake Hall, Luke Haupt, Chris Howell, Antonio Chol
—POINT DIFFERENTIAL: -5 (1-6)
—TIME ON COURT: 1:18
—NOTE: Yeah, this just didn't work. No assists. No steals. No rebounds. Two turnovers. One point. Good thing this was a quickly corrected group to have on the floor together.
VIDEO: Eric Olen, Jake Hall and Uriah Tenette
Here's my postgame video with UNM coach Eric Olen and guards Jake Hall and Uriah Tenette after Wednesday's game:
Meanwhile, in Laradise...
Remember that Denver team that beat Colorado State in a sold out Moby Arena just this past Friday night?
Well, those Pioneers have since played two games and lost by a combined 72 points — 103-73 at Arizona on Monday and 101-59 on Wednesday night in Laramie to a now 6-1 Wyoming team that is starting to look pretty damn improved, albeit with their six wins all coming in Arena-Auditorium.
Around the Mountain...
There were nine Mountain West teams in action on Wednesday in what has been a busy Feast Week of games. Here is a look at the results since Monday and the games coming up...
MONDAY
—No. 7 Michigan 94, San Diego State 54
—USC 70, Boise State 67
—Maryland 74, UNLV 67
TUESDAY
—No. 8 Alabama 115, UNLV 76
—No. 23 NC State 81, Boise State 70
—Tulsa 81, San Jose State 51
—San Diego State 97, Oregon 80
WEDNESDAY
—New Mexico 93, Alabama State 87
—Boise State 102, D-II Chaminade 76
—San Jose State 63, Loyola Chicago 51
—Virginia Tech 66, Colorado State 64
—Northern Colorado 71, Air Force 53
—Fresno State 76, Pepperdine 53
—Wyoming 101, Denver 59
—Iowa 59, Grand Canyon 46
—Baylor 91, San Diego State 81
THURSDAY
—UNLV vs. Rutgers, 2:20 p.m. MT (truTV)
—Washington vs. Nevada, 2:30 p.m. MT (CBSSN)
—Colorado State vs. Wichita State, 6 p.m. MT (ESPNU)
FRIDAY (no games)
SATURDAY
—Montana State vs. Utah State, 2 p.m. MT (TheMW)
—South Dakota State vs. Air Force in Arkansas
SUNDAY
—Wyoming at Texas Tech, 1 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
—UC Irvine at San Jose State, 3 p.m. MT (TheMW)
—Cal State Bakersfield at Fresno State, 4 p.m. MT (TheMW)
Stats and stats...
Here is the postgame stat sheet I posted after Wednesday's game: New Mexico 93, Alabama State 87
And if you prefer the digital version, here you go: New Mexico 93, Alabama State 87
Up next...
For New Mexico: The Lobos host Division II New Mexico Highlands at 7 p.m. Monday in the Pit in a game that will be broadcast on Altitude 2 (tv), streams on TheMW.com (online) and aired on 770 AM/96.3 FM (radio).
For Alabama State: The Hornets get a long break now, next playing at Tennessee Martin on Sunday, Dec. 7.
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