Buljan Bullies the Paint in UNM Men’s Basketball’s 78–58 Win Over Wyoming
UNM forward Tomislav Buljan (10) dunks against three Wyoming defenders on Saturday in the Pit. Photo: Chris Rodarte/Game Pass Media
Against the best rebounding team in the Mountain West Conference, Tomislav Buljan played bully ball in the truest sense, overpowering Wyoming inside and feasting on the glass to lead UNM to a 78–58 win Saturday in The Pit.
The freshman’s relentless rebounding and finishing fueled the Lobos on both ends of the floor. Buljan poured in 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his his sixth double-double of the season.
“I knew I needed to do my job like usual in crashing the boards and being aggressive,” Buljan said. “Coach was telling me that I needed to be physical against their bigs and I think we executed it pretty well.”
UNM dominated the offensive glass, pulling down 18 offensive rebounds and scoring 16 second-chance points.
After Wyoming was up 29-22 with 5:45 to play in the first half, UNM’s defense suffocated the Cowboys and went on a 10-0 run.
Leading 34–31 at halftime, the Lobos carried their defensive intensity into the second half, forcing nine Wyoming turnovers while holding the Cowboys to 32 percent shooting.
“I thought we were really good defensively tonight,” UNM coach Eric Olen said. “We did talk at halftime about, trying to create, as we were getting more comfortable down the stretch into the second half we needed to create more turnovers. They only had four at halftime, I thought that was the difference in separating from them was creating a few turnovers."
Wyoming’s dynamic duo of Naz Meyer and Leland Walker were pretty much held in check. Meyer scored below his season average of 13.4 ppg and finished with 9 points. While Walker who averages 13.5 ppg scored 14 points, he also had 6 turnovers in the game and was hounded by UNM’s defense all night.
Freshman Jake Hall and Uriah Tenette saw the ball go through the net from the 3-point line more times tonight than they have combined in the last three games. Tenette finished with 14 points on 3 of 5 shooting from beyond the arc, while Hall got all of his 9 points during a 2 and ½ minute stretch early in the second half by making 3 of 8 shots from the three point line.
“They’re going to make shots,” Olen said. “We believe in them. We watch them work. We know the time they put in. We know their ability to do it, and so we always want them shooting the basketball. I know Jake was (0 fo 5 to start), and Uriah didn’t have the best night, but our approach is not going to change with those guys shooting the basketball. We want them to keep shooting it.”
As a team, UNM shot 44% (9 of 22) from the 3-point line which was their best shooting performance from beyond the arc since the VCU game where they knocked off the Rams 81-78 on the road.
Luke Haupt was UNM’s other double figure scorer with 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 personal fouls.
UNM’s win on Saturday was the 20th consecutive home win for the Lobos in the Pit dating back to last season.
UNM will take on Colorado State on Tuesday on the road and then Air Force in Colorado Springs on Saturday. Olen said the team plans to stay in Colorado during the 2-game road trip.
