ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team rallied from down 11 in the first half to secure an 81-76 victory over San Diego State on Saturday night in front of a sold out crowd at The Pit – Powered by Nusenda. The Lobos (22-7, 13-5 MW) took the lead for good in the final minute and split the season series with the Aztecs (19-9, 13-5 MW).
Tomislav Buljan dominated inside to lead the Lobos, posting a 24-point, 18-rebound performance. Luke Haupt added 17 points for the Lobos, while Jake Hall scored 14 points. Uriah Tenette added 10 points and five assists off the bench.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Aztecs took a 4-0 lead after two-and-a-half minutes before the Lobos trimmed the margin to 8-7 with 15:00 left. After UNM took its first lead at 9-8, a 10-0 Aztec run gave them a 18-9 lead with 12:20 to play. San Diego State led 22-13 at the midway point of the half before the lead grew to 30-19 with 6:00 to go. The Lobos used a 9-1 run to cut the margin to 31-28 with 3:15 left and closed the half on a 6-0 run cut the SDSU lead to 37-36 at the half. Buljan led UNM in the first half with 10 points and eight rebounds.
In the second half, the teams traded baskets over the opening four minutes with the game tied at 46-46 with 15:30 left. UNM took its first lead of the second half, 48-47, with 15:00 left and held a 52-49 lead with 13:00 to play. New Mexico led 56-55 at the midway point of the half and held a 60-55 advantage with 8:30 left. UNM led 69-63 with 4:30 left before SDSU trimmed the lead to 69-68 with 3:30 to go. Tenette’s corner triple gave UNM a 72-68 lead with 3:00 to play and a Hall jumped put UNM up 74-71 with 1:25 left. After SDSU tied the game with a three with 1:00 left, Haupt’s triple with 43 seconds left gave UNM a 77-74 lead. The Aztecs cut the margin to 77-76 with a pair of free throws with 35 seconds before Albury made 2-of-2 from the line with 28.6 left to give UNM a 79-76 lead. The Lobos would close out the game with two more stops and two more free throws for to secure the five-point win.
LOBO NOTES
• Third time this season UNM has rallied from down double digits to win (Alabama State, at Fresno State, San Diego State)
• It was the seventh time this season all three UNM freshmen (Buljan, Hall, Tenette) scored in double figures in the same game (sixth time in MW play)
• Buljan had his 12th double-double of the season, tying the UNM freshman record (JT Toppin had 12 double-doubles in 2023-24)
• Buljan is the first player to have 24 points and 18 rebounds in a Mountain West game since 2022 (Graham Ike of Wyoming [25p/18r] at San Jose State) and the first Lobo to accomplish the feat in a Mountain West game since Drew Gordon [27p/20r] vs. UNLV in 2012
• Hall scored in double figures for the 15th straight game, tying the freshman school record set by Kenny Thomas
QUOTABLE
“I am really proud of our guys. It was a terrific response from a disappointing result on Tuesday against a really good team. San Diego State makes everything hard. It was not perfect, especially in the first half, but we found our rhythm. We took care of the ball and did a great job on the glass and that helped us overcome a little inefficiency on offense. It was a great result and we could not have gotten that done without 15,411 of our closest friends. I think they call those “Pit Games’ and that was fun.” – Eric Olen
UP NEXT
The Lobos will conclude their home schedule on Mar. 4 when they host Colorado State. Tickets for that game are on sale now at GoLobos.com/tickets.