Emptying the Notebook: The Pit was rocking, son beats dad, and Lobos are 11-0

Dec. 19—Here are some extra notes, quotes, stats and analysis after Sunday's 82-74 Lobos win over the Iona Gaels:

Pitino couldn't fool Pitino...

We all wondered what it would be like Sunday watching a father coach against his son. Who would know the other better? Who would get into the other's head first?

Well, the gamesmanship was being put into place long before the game started on Sunday by the Hall of Famer, Rick Pitino, sending out a few misdirection plays to see if his son, Richard Pitino, would take the bait.

Maybe fans believed him.

Maybe media believed him.

Maybe some of the Lobo players or coaching staff even believed him.

But Richard Pitino — the son of and former assistant coach under Rick Pitino — certainly didn't believe any of the tricks his dad was trying to pull.

What exactly am I talking about? Here are three examples of how Rick Pitino tried to catch the Lobos off guard a bit with things set up prior to Sunday's game:

MISDIRECTION NO. 1

Rick Pitino on Saturday said his team would not press the Lobos because he believed their guards were simply too good.

He was half right. Iona pressed nearly all game, as they usually do, but the Lobo guards — Jaelen House specifically — were, in fact, just too good for the Gaels to make it much of an issue.

Here's Jaelen House breaking the press in the opening minute of the game...

Jaelen House = press breaker #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/I23aHy7cQm

— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) December 18, 2022

And here's Jaelen House breaking a press later in the game and dumping it off to Morris Udeze for the score...

House finds Udeze for the AND-1. #GoLobos

Watch on @FS1 pic.twitter.com/4J36lioCBW

— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) December 19, 2022

MISDIRECTION NO. 2

Rick Pitino last Tuesday in a postgame television interview in New Jersey after his Gaels beat Princeton said, "we're without our best rebounder and our best shooter, Quinn Slazinski. We're getting Sadiku (Ibine Ayo) back in two weeks. I think we'll get Quinn back in two weeks."

When that video aired, Lobo coach Richard Pitino immediately posted it on Twitter with the message, "Translation: Quinn Slazinski is playing."

Translation : Quinn Slazinski is playing ?? #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/XaXaNKAaYu

— Richard Pitino (@LoboCoachPitino) December 16, 2022

Sure enough, Slazinski and Ibine Ayo both played. Slazinski played 29 minutes with 8 points and 12 rebounds while Ibine Ayo played 13 minutes with six points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.

After the game, Richard Pitino said his dad knew exactly what he was doing in that interview last week.

"When I was watching the Princeton game, and he knew I was watching and he said that, I go, 'alright, they're playing. Those guys are playing,'" Richard Pitino said. "... I don't know if it was gamesmanship as much as he was intentionally messing with me because he knew I would sniff that one out."

MISDIRECTION NO. 3

Rick Pitino's teams rarely play zone. Like, almost never.

That is until Sunday in the Pit.

"Well, we played mostly zone," Rick Pitino said. "I haven't showed zone in three years."

So, surely, that caught the Lobos off guard, right? I mean, they had no game film suggesting the Gaels would ever try a zone defense.

Ahhh. Therein lies the fun of this matchup with the familiarity factor of a son coaching against not only his father, but against a former boss he learned so much from while at Louisville.

"We thought they'd play zone," Richard Pitino said. "... Being his son, I knew he'd play some zone because he hadn't played any (this season). And, you know, working for him, he always has some zone in his back pocket."

The gamer...

Here's the game story I filed from the Pit media room after Sunday's game...

Richard, UNM Lobos beat Rick, Iona in battle of the Pitinos (w/ video)

Jaelen House scored 22 points and the UNM Lobos improved to 11-0 with an intense...

December 18, 2022 2:20PM

11-0 and still going...

As long as they keep winning, I'll keep putting this update up high in the post-game ETN column.

And Sunday, the Lobos won again.

FINAL: New Mexico 82, Iona 74

—UNM 11-0 pic.twitter.com/3DyTNrER2k

— Geoff Grammer (@GeoffGrammer) December 19, 2022

The Lobos improved to 11-0 on Sunday with their 82-74 win over the visiting Iona Gaels. This squad is now one of just five Lobo teams in 119 seasons of Lobo basketball to start a season 11-0.

—2022-23: 11-0*

—2012-13: 12-0

—2009-10: 12-0

—1973-74: 12-0

—1967-68: 17-0

*Undefeated start is still going.

UNM is also one of just five remaining Division I unbeatens. Here's a look at those final five teams, their record as of Sunday night and who/when they play next:

—Connecticut (12-0) — vs. Georgetown, Tuesday

—Purdue (11-0) — vs. New Orleans, Wednesday

—Mississippi State (11-0) — vs. Drake, Tuesday (In Lincoln, Neb.)

—Utah State (9-0) — vs. Weber State, Monday

—New Mexico (11-0), vs. Prairie View A&M, Tuesday

They showed up...

The announced attendance for Sunday's Iona game in the Pit: 14,534

Time for a "Pit" game. ?? pic.twitter.com/bGF43SzBXQ

— Ryan Berryman (@RyanDBerryman) December 18, 2022

That's the largest attendance of the season for any Mountain West game and the largest in the Pit since the final home game of the 2015-16 season when UNM announced a home crowd of 14,540 fans on March 1, 2016, against the San Diego State Aztecs.

He said it, Part 1

"We certainly pressed a little bit. I was hoping to wear Jaelen — We wear out 98% of point guards. That guy's the Energizer Bunny. You can't wear him out. He has incredible stamina." — Iona head coach Rick Pitino on UNM Lobo guard Jaelen House

He said it, Part 2

"He has a fifth year (of eligibility) and I would offer him two of my scholarships." — Iona head coach Rick Pitino joking that he would gladly take UNM Lobo guard Jaelen House in a transfer to Iona this offseason

That's a lot of midrange Mash...

With a layup at the 6:54 mark of the second half, Lobo junior guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. scored his eighth and ninth points of the game and 999th and 1,000th points of his college career.

I'm shocked to report his milestone bucket didn't come one of his patented midrange jumpers that has me scribbling down "midrange Mash" on my game notes every time he's in that zone and hitting from 15-18 feet out with more consistency than just about any player in college basketball from that range.

With nine points today, @its_jaymashjr has reached the 1⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣ career point mark!! #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/WZoB7fpua8

— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) December 19, 2022

"I mean it's awesome. I mean just being able to reach any milestone I can get as a basketball player is awesome," Mashburn said after Sunday's game. "You know, I'm blessed (from) the man above, so I'm just hoping we can keep stacking these wins up and keep going."

Mashburn accomplished the feat in 72 career games. He needs 234 more points to get to 1,000 points as a Lobo and join a list of 35 other Lobos who have reached that milestone number in a Lobo jersey.

Here is the year-by-year breakdown of Mashburn's scoring:

MINNESOTA (237 pts)

—FRESHMAN (2020-21): 237 points/29 games (8.2 ppg)

NEW MEXICO (766 pts)

—SOPHOMORE (2021-22): 582 points/32 games (18.2 ppg)

—JUNIOR (2022-23): 184 points/11 games (16.7 ppg)

House loving the line...

Jaelen House's 22 points on Sunday including drawing 9 fouls and then punishing Iona at the charity stripe, going a perfect 11-of-11 at the free throw line.

It's the second most free throws made without a miss by a Mountain West player this season. The list of three are:

—13-13 — Morris Udeze (UNM) vs. Northern Colorado on Nov. 27, 2022

—11-11 — Jaelen House (UNM) vs. Iona on Sunday

—10-10 — Kenan Blackshear (Nevada) at Oregon on Dec. 10, 2022

Hard-hitting mascot reporting here...

The Lobos are 2-0 vs. Gaels (wins vs. Saint Mary's and Iona).

The Lobos are also 2-0 vs. Mustangs (wins vs. SMU and Western New Mexico).

NOTE: For the first time since World War II, the Lobos won't have the opportunity to even try to get two "Aggies" wins.

The Lobos will only play against an Aggies opponent once this season. Usually, the Lobos would have four such games — two vs. New Mexico State and two vs. Utah State. This season, however, the two NMSU games have been canceled and the Mountain West Conference's unbalanced 18-game schedule has Utah State hosting UNM this season, but not playing in the Pit.

Picture perfect Pitinos...

During Sunday's game, I tweeted four pics from colleague Adolphe Pierre-Louis of images he captured before the game tipped off.

Some of the pregame Pitino/Pitino pics from @ABQJournal photographer Adolphe Pierre-Louis. pic.twitter.com/jbRimjAJiR

— Geoff Grammer (@GeoffGrammer) December 19, 2022

Some coaching record updates...

—Richard Pitino is now 1-2 vs. Rick Pitino in head-to-head coaching matchups:

> L — Louisville 79, Florida International 55 (Dec. 19, 2012)

> L — Louisville 81, Minnesota 6 (Nov. 14, 2014)

> W — New Mexico 82, Iona 74 (Sunday)

—Rick Pitino is now 5-2 coaching in the Pit and 3-2 as a head coach:

Assistant Coach

> W — Syracuse 76, Mississippi State 66 (Dec. 29, 1977)

> W — Syracuse 96, New Mexico 91 (Dec. 30, 1977)

Head Coach

> W — Boston University 91, Xavier 84 (Dec. 29, 1980)

> L — New Mexico 107, Boston University 87 (Dec. 30, 1980)

> W — Louisville 93, Washington 79 (March 24, 2005, NCAA Tournament Sweet 16)

> W — Louisville 93, West Virginia 85, OT (March 26, 2005, NCAA Tournament Elite Eight)

> L — New Mexico 82, Iona 74 (Sunday)

At the end of tonight's postgame presser, a rarity for an opposing coach, @RealPitino again complimented the Pit crowd, though admitted it was not as fun Sunday as when he led Louisville to Sweet 16 and Elite Eight wins in the Pit to advance to the Final Four in 2005. pic.twitter.com/Elz5TBBJOL

— Geoff Grammer (@GeoffGrammer) December 19, 2022

—According to Steve Kirkland, UNM basketball's sports information director, Sunday was the 21st father vs. son coaching matchup in Division I basketball and just the second time the son has won.

"Well, the dads normally have better jobs," Richard Pitino joked.

No block party here...

Iona entered Sunday's game ranked 5th out of 363 Division I teams in block rate, turning back 17.7% of all opponent shot attempts, according to KenPom.com.

Sunday was the first time this season Iona did not block a shot and only the second time the Gaels finished a game without a block in the Rick Pitino era, also having a zero-block game on March 12, 2021, against Niagra, according to Sports-Reference.com.

K.J.'s special night...

Senior guard K.J. Jenkins scored a season high 17 points on Sunday and actually had already passed his previous season high of 11 in the first half when he scored 13.

His statline:

—17 points

—2-2 2-point FGs

—4-7 3-point FGs

—1-2 FTs

—1 rebound

—1 assist

—1 steal

Entering Sunday's game, despite being the best 3-point shooter on the team, Jenkins was hitting only 30.0% of his shots from beyond the arc, so I asked him if his confidence ever wavered as a result of those struggles this season.

The senior co-captain had no problem letting me know that wasn't a good question.

Lobo guard @kjjenkins0 called me out for a bad question when I asked if he had lost any confidence in his shot earlier this season. Tonight he had 13 first half points, 17 in all and was 4-7 from 3 in UNM's win over Iona. pic.twitter.com/VAL1c7sFYS

— Geoff Grammer (@GeoffGrammer) December 19, 2022

Numbers to forget (Iona version)...

Two KenPom era stats the Iona Gaels will prefer to leave buried in the Pit in New Mexico...

OPPONENT 2FG%

—69.7% — That's the 2-point field goal percentage the UNM Lobos shot against Iona on Sunday, hitting 23-of-33 2s. That is the 5th highest 2FG% Iona has allowed in the KenPom era (2001-02 season).

3-point FG%

—12.5% — That's the 3-point field goal percentage the Iona Gaels shot against the Lobos on Sunday, hitting just 3-of-24 3s. That is the 8th worst in the KenPom era (2001-02 season).

It also happens to be tied for the 9th best defensive effort against 3s for the Lobos in the KenPom era.

Numbers to forget (UNM version)...

The Lobos were outscored in second chance points 18-1. Yes, ONE!

The 18 points Iona scored on their 14 offensive rebounds was a season high for a Lobos opponent (17 by UTSA on Dec. 10).

The 1 point UNM scored off its four offensive rebounds was, by far, a season low (they had previously had a season low of 7 second chance points in two games).

Entering the game, UNM was averaging 11.7 second chance points per game compared to 9.4 by their opponents.

VIDEO: Pressers with Pitino(s)...

Here is the video I recorded and put together of the four postgame pressers on Sunday with Iona coach Rick Pitino, New Mexico coach RIchard Pitino and Lobo players KJ Jenkins and Jamal Mashburn Jr.:

Plus/minus...

Here are the Lobos' plus/minus numbers from Sunday's game with minutes played in parenthesis:

+13 Jamal Mashburn Jr. (35:01)

+7 Josiah Allick (32:49)

+7 Javonte Johnson (25:33)

+6 Jaelen House (31:19)

+5 Donovan Dent (19:25)

+5 Sebastian Forsling (5:09)

+3 Morris Udeze (27:00)

-6 K.J. Jenkins (23:44)

Line 'em up...

The Lobos had 17 unique lineup combinations in Sunday's game and played 8 players. Iona had 20 lineup combinations and played 11 players.

The Lobos have used the same starting lineup in all 11 games they have played this season.

Here's a look at a few notable UNM lineups from Sunday's game, starting with the starters:

Same 5⃣ today as we host Iona. #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/C0t8ftDwd8

— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) December 18, 2022

STARTING LINEUP

—Who: Jaelen House/Jamal Mashburn Jr./Javonte Johnson/Josiah Allick/Morris Udeze

—Point differential: +10 (14-4)

—Time on court: 8:53

—NOTE: The offense from the starters wasn't great (0.8 points per possession), but the defense was elite, allowing Iona to score just four points in nearly nine minutes of court time together.

(2nd) BEST LINEUP

—Who: Donovan Dent/Jamal Mashburn Jr./K.J. Jenkins/Josiah Allick/Sebastian Forsling

—Point differential: +6 (12-6)

—Time on court: 3:55

NOTE: The best lineup was the starting 5, but since I already mentioned them above, call this an honorable mention "best lineup" of the game. Unlike the starting five, this group had great offense (1.7 points per possession) while on the court together, but wasn't near as dominant on defense, allowing six points in under four minutes of play (still pretty good, just not like the starting five).

WORST LINEUP

—Who: Donovan Dent/Jamal Mashburn Jr./K.J. Jenkins/Josiah Allick/Morris Udeze

—Point differential: -5 (4-9)

—Time on court: 3:25

NOTE: This lineup up struggled to score, had two turnovers and allowed almost three points per minute

Meanwhile, back in Moraga...

Well, that Dec. 28 Mountain West opener in the Pit between the Colorado State Rams and UNM Lobos just got a lot more interesting.

The Rams, who struggled much of the nonconference after the preseason loss of star point guard Isiah Stevens to a broken foot, have been getting their footing back since Stevens returned a couple weeks ago.

And on Sunday, they, like the Lobos did earlier this season, knocked off Saint Mary's in Moraga, Calif., 62-60, behiind a stellar performance of 23 points and 5 assists from Stevens.

Never a doubt ??#Stalwart x #TeamTogether pic.twitter.com/sVgn0d3crJ

— Colorado State Men's Basketball (@CSUMBasketball) December 19, 2022

Around the Mountain...

There were four games around the Mountain West on Sunday, one on Monday and five more on Tuesday:

SUNDAY

—Air Force 81, Tarleton 67

—Boise State 77, Oakland 57

—New Mexico 82, Iona 74

—Colorado State 62, Saint Mary's 60

MONDAY

—Weber State at Utah State, 7 p.m. MT

TUESDAY

—Air Force at Northern Colorado, 6 p.m. MT

—Prairie View A&M at New Mexico, 7 p.m. MT

—Fresno State at Cal State Bakersfield, 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT

—Cal Poly at San Jose State, 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT

—UC San Diego at San Diego State, 7:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. MT

Stats and stats...

Here is a picture of the final box score from Sunday's game: New Mexico 82, Iona 74

Final stat sheet: New Mexico 82, Iona 74 pic.twitter.com/lTf3w7MYU5

— Geoff Grammer (@GeoffGrammer) December 19, 2022

And if you like the digital version of the stats better, here you go: New Mexico 82, Iona 74

What game?

Somebody should really tell these two there was a game going on right in front of them if they'd just look up...

The Pit the way it should be @GeoffGrammer and @cisabelg together again #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/6NXQR6SnU2

— Ron Mourning (@GoooLobos) December 18, 2022