KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team concluded play at the Hall of Fame Classic Friday night with an 80-78 victory over Mississippi State in the consolation game at T-Mobile Center. The Lobos (4-2) took the lead in the final minute, the final of 14 lead changes, to down the Bulldogs (2-3).
Tomislav Buljan led the way with career highs of 19 points and 21 rebounds, setting a school record for rebounds by a freshman. Fellow freshman Uriah Tenette, making his first career start, scored 13 points, as did Deyton Albury, who capped his 13-point night with the go-ahead layup with 29.7 to play. Antonio Chol added 12 points as four Lobos scored in double figures.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lobos used an early 12-2 run to take a 14-8 lead with 14:45 left in the half. UNM pushed the advantage to 21-14 at the midway point of the half. Six straight from the Bulldogs cut the margin to one, before the Lobos took a 28-23 lead with 7:00 left. UNM led 38-32 with 1:30 left before MSU scored the final five points of the half to cut the margin at half to 40-39. Chol had 12 points and Buljan had 12 rebounds to lead UNM in the first half.
In the second half, the teams traded the lead early with UNM holding a 46-44 advantage after four minutes of action. The Bulldogs used a 6-0 run to retake the lead, 52-50, with 12:30 left to go before UNM led 60-57 at the midway point of the half. The lead continued to be traded for several minutes as MSU used a 6-0 run to lead 68-65 with 6:50 to play. The game was tied, 71-71, with 4:00 to go and 73-73 with 2:45 to go. UNM took a 76-75 lead on Buljan’s triple with 2:00 to play but MSU answered with a basket seconds later to retake the lead. MSU led 77-76 with 1:00 to play when Chris Howell intercepted a pass and found Albury on the break for the go-ahead layup. After UNM got a stop, Tenette sealed the win with a pair of free throws in the final seconds.
LOBO NOTES
• The win was the Lobos’ first against an SEC team outside of The Pit (now 6-0 at The Pit, 1-10 anywhere else)
• Buljan’s 21 rebounds broke the UNM freshman record of Kenny Thomas (17 vs. Utah in the 1996 WAC Tournament final) and is T-2nd most by a Lobo in the MW era (Drew Gordon with 23 vs. Utah in 2011; tied with Nelly Junior Joseph’s 21 at Air Force last season)
• Buljan became just the third Mountain West freshman to have 21 rebounds in a game (Cameron Oliver-Nevada; Kahwi Leonard-San Diego State)
• Buljan’s 16 defensive rebounds ties the UNM single-game record (since 1986-87 when the NCAA started tracking offensive/defensive rebounds)
• Buljan’s 12 first-half rebounds were the most by a Lobo in a first half since Nelly Junior Joseph had 14 first-half rebounds at Air Force on Feb. 8, 2025
• New Mexico started three freshmen (Buljan, Hall, Tenette) for the first time since 2018-19 at Bradley (Jordan Arroyo, Drue Drinnon, Tavian Percy)
QUOTABLE
“It was a great response by our team today. I am proud of that. On a quick turnaround, that can be difficult. We feel like we are making progress each time out, and tonight was probably our best game to date. We did a great job on the glass, which was a big emphasis. I am happy for our guys to get a result tonight as a reward for all their hard work.” – Eric Olen
UP NEXT
The Lobos return home to host Alabama State on Wednesday night at The Pit. Game time is 7 p.m. and tickets are available at GoLobos.com/tickets.