UNM Men’s Basketball Survives Foul Trouble, VCU Rally to Claim Hard-Fought 81–78 Win
Jake Hall shoots over VCU forward Lazar Djokovic in UNM’s 81-78 win over VCU. Photo courtesy of UNM Athletics.
Jake Hall thinks he should make every shot he shoots.
While he wasn’t perfect Wednesday, his fourth 20-point game in a University of New Mexico basketball uniform—including a 3-pointer that broke a 75-all tie with 2:40 left, was the poised performance the Lobos needed to overcome a nine-point first half deficit and secure a 81-78 road victory over VCU.
Deyton Albury, who finished as UNM’s second leading scorer with 14 points and four rebounds, picked up his 4th foul at the 9:39 mark at the tail end of a 14-0 run that had put UNM (8-2) up 75-65 with 9:03 to play.
After Albury checked out, the Lobos still had some easy scoring opportunities at the rim by Hall and Luke Haupt that just did not go down. VCU (6-4) was able to erase UNM’s 10-point lead and tied the game at 75-75 with 4:45 remaining.
“(Coach) came in the huddle and said ‘Brand new game, four minute game,” Hall told the 96.3 news radio KKOB broadcast. “We do this drill called Wichita all the time (where we practice) late game scenarios. I think they prepare us well for it.”
After Hall made his fifth three-pointer to give UNM a 78-75 lead, late game execution for both teams got pretty sloppy. VCU had the ball down 80-78 and called timeout with 31 seconds. The Rams proceeded to turn the ball over on their next two possessions, including this fortunate break for UNM where VCU freshman Nyk Lewis slipped when trying to catch a pass.
Still ahead 80-78, UNM had the ball with 10 seconds remaining on a baseline inbounds and had to go the length of the floor. The Lobos had one timeout remaining, but Chris Howell tried to force the ball to Albury on the inbounds pass, who had it taken away by VCU’s Barry Evans.
“I think Chris, 99 times out of 100 is going to call a timeout there,” New Mexico coach Eric Olen said. “You have a timeout; you want to save it. In retrospect, maybe I should have used it and bailed him out a little bit with something to help him get open. That could have helped. Nobody’s perfect.”
The Lobos were able to get a stop on VCU’s final possession after VCU’s Lazar Djokovic missed a contested jumper, and Tomislav Buljan secured a huge rebound and hit one of two free throws with one second left.
Buljan finished the game with 11 points but had a season low three rebounds.
The Rams looked to be the more composed team early, outrebounding the Lobos 19-12, shooting 14 of 15 from the free-throw line and collecting 12 second-chance points to take a 46-41 lead at the break.
UNM’s foul trouble started late in the first half. Buljan picked up his third personal with one second remaining.
“Tough call on the foul (on Buljan),” Olen said to the 96.3 news radio KKOB broad cast. “Probably a mistake on my part letting him get his third… I try to be aggressive with foul trouble, like guys with two in the first, we try to keep them in their rotations. I never want to sit guys for so long that we leave minutes on the table for those guys.”
Hall’s scoring rally started late in the first half and carried over into the 15 minute mark in the second. He scored 18 of his 24 points in a 10 minute stretch between the 5:17 mark in the first half, with UNM trailing 30-24 and the 15:13 mark in the second half when he gave UNM a 57-56 lead.
After that, Hall was the next Lobo bitten by the foul bug. He picked up 3 personal fouls in less than minute and was forced to exit the game after picking up his fourth with 13:09 remaining.
“I think those are some cheap foul calls,” Hall said. “Especially the fourth one… At the end of the day, I got to be smarter.”
After Hall exited the game, the teams traded baskets until JT Rock knocked down a 3-pointer at the top of the key with 11:35 left to give UNM a 68-65 lead. They never trailed again, but they did lose the lead late before Hall’s heroics.
JT Rock grabs a rebound against VCU’s Barry Evans. Rock is shooting a perfect 7-7 from the field in wins over Santa Clara and VCU. Photo courtesy of UNM Athletics.
Rock saw 18 minutes against VCU due to Buljan’s foul trouble. He finished the game with seven points, four rebounds, and had the highest +/- on the team with +18.
“He’s really understanding how to impact the game,” Eric Olen said of Rock after the game. “He’s doing a good job of being between the basketball and the basket. That’s step one. He impacts the glass. He protects the rim a little bit with his size. He had a big shot.”
Defensively, UNM held VCU’s sharp-shooter Terrence Hill Jr. in check for most of the game. He finished with 9 points and UNM effectively limited his 3-point shot attempts; he only shot 2-4 for the game.
UNM’s road win in Richmond, Va., was the first time the Lobos secured a true road win in the Eastern Time zone in 13 years.
The Lobos will be at home on Sunday at 2:00 pm against Florida Gulf Coast.
