{"id":144998,"date":"2026-01-22T18:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/144998\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T18:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:17:09","slug":"lobos-defend-the-pit-over-fresno-state-in-albuquerque","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/144998\/","title":{"rendered":"Lobos Defend the PIT over Fresno State in Albuquerque"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Courtesy of UNM Athletics<\/p>\n

Lobos Defend the Pit, Stay in the MWC Chase with Win Over Fresno State<\/p>\n

New Mexico continued to make The Pit a nightmare for visiting teams, pulling away late to secure an 83\u201374 Mountain West victory over Fresno State on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

The win marked UNM\u2019s 22nd straight at home, a streak that now stands among the longest in program history and one of the top active runs nationally.<\/p>\n

The Lobos improved to 15\u20134 overall and 6\u20132 in conference play, keeping pace with Utah State and Nevada just behind league-leading San Diego State as the Mountain West race tightens.<\/p>\n

Balanced Attack, Defensive Pressure<\/p>\n

New Mexico set the tone early, turning a competitive opening stretch into a commanding first-half advantage with a decisive run that created separation midway through the period.<\/p>\n

The Lobos carried that momentum into the locker room and repeatedly answered Fresno State\u2019s pushes after halftime, using defensive energy and timely scoring to maintain control.<\/p>\n

Jake Hall paced UNM with 16 points, continuing a stretch of consistent scoring, while Uriah Tenette matched a career high with 15 points and wreaked havoc defensively with four steals.<\/p>\n

Tomislav Buljan delivered another strong interior performance, posting 12 points and 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season, and Deyton Albury added 11 points to round out a balanced effort.<\/p>\n

Defense fueled much of the Lobos\u2019 success. UNM forced turnovers throughout the night, converting steals into transition opportunities and finishing with a significant edge in points off turnovers.<\/p>\n

The activity level on the perimeter stood out, with multiple Lobos creating disruption and speeding up Fresno State\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n

Lobo Notes (Notes Courtesy of Steve Kirkland, UNM Athletics)<\/p>\n

UNM\u2019s home win streak now sits tied for the third-longest in program history.Antonio Chol remains the only Mountain West player to hit a three-pointer in every game this season.Freshmen Hall, Buljan, and Tenette all reached double figures, just the second time this season the trio has done so in the same game.Luke Haupt and Tenette combined for nine steals, marking a rare defensive milestone for the program.Hall is now one three-pointer shy of the UNM freshman single-season record.<\/p>\n

Where UNM Stands in the Mountain West<\/p>\n

With the victory, New Mexico remains firmly entrenched in the league\u2019s top tier. San Diego State continues to set the pace, but the Lobos are part of a tightly packed group battling for positioning behind the Aztecs.<\/p>\n

Consistent home play has kept UNM squarely in the conversation for a top finish and strong conference tournament seeding.<\/p>\n

In a Mountain West season defined by depth and parity, protecting home court against middle-tier opponents is essential\u2014and New Mexico did exactly that.<\/p>\n

The Lobos will close out their homestand with a high-stakes matchup against Nevada, another contender sitting near the top of the standings.<\/p>\n

With conference separation still minimal, Saturday\u2019s game represents another opportunity for UNM to make a statement as February approaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Courtesy of UNM Athletics Lobos Defend the Pit, Stay in the MWC Chase with Win Over Fresno State…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113,44135,72463],"class_list":{"0":"post-144998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news","11":"tag-mountain-west-basketball","12":"tag-new-mexico-basketball"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}