PULLMAN, Wash. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team opened the 2025-26 season Saturday night with a 74-66 exhibition loss at Washington State. It was a one-point game in the final two minutes before the Cougars sealed with win from the free throw line down the stretch.
Antonio Chol and Uriah Tenette each scored 11 points to lead New Mexico. Jake Hall added 10 points, while Tomislav Buljan grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and Chris Howell had four assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game got off to a slow offensive start, as the Cougars led 5-2 after four minutes of action. Washington State led 15-12 at the midway point of the half before the Lobos took an 18-17 lead with 8:00 left to play. WSU used a 6-0 run to lead 27-21 with 4:45 left in the half and pushed the margin to 32-24 with 3:30 left. New Mexico answered with a 14-3 run to retake the lead, 38-35, in the final minute of the half before taking a 38-37 lead into the break. Tenette had eight first half points to lead UNM.
In the second half, the Lobos continued to hold the lead, keeping that one-point margin, 42-41, after the first five minutes. UNM pushed the lead to 49-42 with 12:20 to go before WSU used a 10-0 run to retake the lead, 52-49, at the midway point. Washington State led by four before four straight free throws from Albbury tied the game, 56-56, with 6:30 to go. After the Lobos took a one-point lead, a 7-0 Cougar run gave them a 65-59 lead with 4:40 to go. Five straight points from the Lobos cut the margin to 67-66 with 1:45 to go. That was as close as UNM would get down the stretch as the Cougars closed out the 74-66 win at the line.
LOBO NOTES
• It was the Lobos first ever road exhibition and just their third ever against a Division I opponent
• New Mexico attempted 44 3-pointers, which would have been a school record if it were a regular season game
• Eleven Lobos played in the game, but no one played 24 or more minutes (Jake Hall led UNM with 23 minutes)
QUOTABLE
“I left tonight more encouraged than discouraged. There are some things we have to do better with and clean up, but there were some good defensive possessions. We got a lot of the looks we wanted, the shots just didn’t fall. With so many new guys, and only so much you can learn in practice, we had to get a lot of guys reps and have to try some different lineups and rotations. Tonight was an opportunity to do that against competition and will give us a chance to evaluate as we continue to prepare for the start of the season.” – Eric Olen
UP NEXT
The Lobos conclude the preseason schedule on Thursday by hosting Northern Arizona for their second exhibition. Game time at The Pit is 7:00 p.m. Season tickets and single-game tickets for UNM basketball are on sale now at GoLobos.com/tickets.