OOC Game 10: @ New Mexico

Game Preview/Recap
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Santa Clara vs New Mexico — Game Preview

When & Where: Saturday, Dec. 6 — tip-off 6:00 p.m. Pacific inside The Pit (Albuquerque)

TV / Stream: Mountain West Network (per team release)

Line / Expectation: New Mexico remains undefeated at home this season.

Recent Form & Context

Santa Clara (8–1): The Broncos head into Albuquerque after an 8-1 start — their best since 2019–20.

  • Their recent home win over Utah Tech (90–80) featured six players scoring in double figures and 11 made 3-pointers, continuing their high-volume perimeter offense.
  • Santa Clara leads the WCC (and ranks nationally) in rim protection with about 6+ blocks per game.

New Mexico (6–2): The Lobos come in riding a three-game win streak, most recently a blowout 97–47 over New Mexico Highlands where freshman guard Jake Hall dropped 21 points.

  • UNM is perfect at home this season (5–0).
  • The Lobos are shooting plenty of threes — leading the Mountain West in 3-point attempts per game (and making a healthy volume too).

Series History & Venue Matters:

This is the first meeting of the 2025–26 home-and-home series announced by the programs. Historically, New Mexico leads the series 5–3.

Crucially: Santa Clara rarely wins in The Pit — they are 1–4 in Albuquerque all-time, with their only road win against UNM dating back decades (1968 in the NCAA Tournament).

Matchup — Strengths & X-Factors

What works for New Mexico:

  • Perimeter barrage: New Mexico is living on the 3-point line. Hall (and likely others) shooting from deep could stress Santa Clara’s perimeter defense — especially if SCU can’t close out well.
  • Home-court + altitude + rhythm: The Lobos are 5–0 at The Pit this year; their home crowd and familiarity help them.
  • Balanced scoring: Hall leads the way, but New Mexico has multiple players in double figures — a balanced attack could neutralize Santa Clara’s defensive scheme.

What works for Santa Clara:

  • Shot blocking & rim protection: SCU is among the nation’s better shot-blocking teams so far — could make Lobos pay if they drive or attack off miscues.
  • 3-point shooting and offensive flow: The Broncos already showed last game they can shoot it well and trust the process — if their threes are falling, they’re dangerous anywhere.
  • Depth & balance: Against Utah Tech, six different players scored double digits; recent games suggest SCU doesn’t lean on just one or two scorers.

Key Match-ups & Questions:

  • Can Santa Clara contain Jake Hall and New Mexico’s perimeter shooting — i.e. defend without over-helping and exposing the paint?
  • Will UNM’s shooters be disciplined, or will SCU’s length and shot-blocking force them into mid-range or contested shots?
  • On the other hand, can SCU sustain their perimeter rhythm and avoid getting bogged down by New Mexico’s home-court energy and fast pace?

Prediction & Feel

This is a classic road test for the Broncos. If they come in confident, hit threes, and protect the rim, they absolutely have a shot. But: between altitude, a hostile crowd, and UNM’s strength on the perimeter, it may be too much for a still-in-formation Santa Clara.

Lean: New Mexico 78, Santa Clara 81

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New Mexico press conference about the game.

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Just a reminder this game is on the Mountain West Network not ESPN+

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Time for the Broncos to tighten up this series!!! Let’s go boys! I say a Bronco 81-80 win.

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TV note:

For those that have Xfinity, SCU @ NM will be carried on Ch 4088, on a network called ryz. I didn’t even realize that I had it.

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Jon Rothstein is reporting that Christian Hammond will be available tonight

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Outstanding news on Hammond.

Next two games are critical, this one has the smallest spread for the Broncos according to Torvik….a byproduct of playing The Pit vs. neutral site game vs. ASU.

Prediction: Broncos whin a close one 78-76.

But it will take….

  • better defensive rebounding than we’ve seen of late
  • Better transition D (we didn’t get back well vs. Utah Tech and allowed some fast break points and breakout layups we shouldn’t have.)
  • Reduce the huge FT disparity we’ve seen most of the season.
  • At least decent 3pt shooting without relying upon it too much.
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The Mountain West Network app is free to download and watch (iOS and Android). I just downloaded it to my iPad and will be casting the game to my big screen TV.

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From the Sportsline computer, apparently simulates a game 10,000 times to come up with its prediction:

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I find the “Saint Luis” typo pretty funny. Perhaps that is just what happens when the Billikens come to Southern CA.

Give me 82-75 Santa Clara. This team does seem to be recognizing the deficits and making needed adjustments in fits and starts, so I’m going to believe in progress coming. The Pit is a tough place to play, but I can’t imagine that the Broncos haven’t spent the whole week mentally preparing for exactly that.

The battle between Graves and Buljan for boards will be a great subplot of this game. Both are phenomenal frosh forwards with a nose for rebounds. Buljan has better per-possession rebound stats than Graves on both ends, but Buljan also isn’t sharing rebounding duties with a guy like Ensminger on most nights.

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Here’s the link for The Mountain West Network which seems to have free viewing, including for archived games, much like the erstwhile WCC Network.

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Sportsline spying my prediction???

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Here’s the game analysis from Jordan Majewski, now part of the Three Man Weave extended universe (written before Hammond was confirmed to be playing):

#51 Santa Clara (-2) at #109 New Mexico, 9 PM ET, Mountain West Network.

Major injury concerns for Santa Clara as they head into the Pit, with volume scorer Christian Hammond described as “close to returning” and hub big Jake Ensminger is “progressing” per Herb Sendek. Hammond’s scoring is important, but more or less capable of being replaced. Ensminger however has the highest rated DBPR on the team with Santa Clara a net 19 points better when he’s on the floor, per EvanMiya data. Without him in the frontcourt, Utah Tech shot 62% on 2PT attempts and the Broncs allowed a season high 40 rim points. New Mexico doesn’t generate a ton of offense at the rim, but Ensminger would certainly be helpful against Tomi “The Bull” Buljan, who is expected to return to the Lobos frontcourt, especially given the obscene foul rates of Oboye and Graves. UNM’s offense typically runs through multiple PNR sets, but Santa Clara’s big, versatile lineup has graded out as a 90th percentile overall PNR defense to date. UNM meanwhile typically has two on the ball screen and post, and their heavy help could kill them against a Santa Clara lineup where virtually everyone is a passer and a shooter. - Jordan Majewski

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Well folks - cherish the moment we are in… 8-1, one point from being undefeated with wins over some good teams.

And tonight, we get a chance to go on the road against a really solid program in a famous gym and play a meaningful basketball game.

The altitude and the Pit are serious. Obviously, their market and their university are quite different than ours, but UNM is a program to emulate for any mid-major.

We can absolutely beat this team, and to go where we want this year, I think we need to beat them OR ASU. Winning both would be truly great, and if you had to pick one, I think winning on the road and going to 9-1 would be my choice.

Glad to see Hammond is likely back.

Go Broncos.

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Knapper was instrumental last year. His ability to control/manage the game, score in his 1v1 matchups, hit clutch 3’s, and create scoring opportunities for the offense are skills that have been slightly hampered by his shoulder injury. He has moments but when healthy he is a force that we miss. I am hoping each day is an opportunity to restore that impact and pair with Christian.

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Game is on Amazon Prime tonight!

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Terrific. I hope Christian can play. Good thing they got used to huge crouds at Nevada.

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Is Normand gonna be ready by ASU? Would love to see him tonight too.

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Nevada came to the Leavey Center… similarly colored Xavier was on the road, in front of 9k.

The Pit can hold more like 15,500 people, though it doesn’t appear to be sold out. It’s similar to Coors Event Center at Colorado - it’s subterranean in feel, as you enter and then go pretty far down to the floor.

It’s an intimidating place to play, to be sure. But I think a little energy is better than the totally dead atmosphere at, for example, the Acrisure event, where there are comically few people there.

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