A youth movement is afoot on the New Mexico men’s basketball team.
A trio of true freshmen are powering the Lobos’ offense a year removed from the program claiming the Mountain West’s regular-season championship before its roster was decimated by the transfer portal.
They have helped New Mexico win 10 of its past 12 contests. They’re also a big part of why the Lobos (14-4, 5-2 MWC) are sitting in third place in the Mountain West, despite an 83-79 loss to conference-leading San Diego State on Saturday.
Leading scorer Jake Hall leads the Lobos into a home game against Fresno State on Wednesday. The 6-foot-4 native of Carlsbad, California, has started all 18 games and leads the team with 14.7 points a night. He has scored more than 20 points in six games this season, including in back-to-back wins over Grand Canyon and Air Force.
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Hall was a three-star recruit coming out of Carlsbad High, where he scored 3,106 career points, which ranks No. 2 in San Diego area high school history. He and fellow freshman Uriah Tenette were both committed to UC San Diego but switched to the Lobos after head coach Eric Olen was hired at New Mexico in March 2025.
“New Mexico is a special place and they have a special coaching staff coming in,” Hall said in a statement in April. “I was committed to coach Olen before, and I have a great relationship with him and the staff. Being a Lobo was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up and I am really excited.”
Tenette, a 5-foot-11 guard from Prescott High in Arizona, was also a three-star recruit, according to 247Sports. He scored 2,752 career points in high school, which ranks No. 7 all-time in Arizona. He has been valuable off the bench at New Mexico this season, and he ranks No. 4 on the team with 10.5 points a night.
The third member of the Lobos’ young trio is Tomislav Buljan, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound freshman from Croatia. He has started 16 games this season, leads the Mountain West with 9.8 rebounds a night, and ranks No. 2 at New Mexico with 11.9 points a game. He posted his seventh double-double of the season with 20 points and 14 rebounds against San Diego State.
Fresno State (9-9, 3-4 MWC) struggled through a six-game losing streak that began last November and stretched into the new year, but the Bulldogs have won three of their past four games, including a 63-60 victory over Wyoming on Saturday.
They’re led by 6-foot-5 redshirt senior Jake Heidbreder, who began his career at Air Force and spent the past two seasons at Clemson. He’s averaging 17.6 points a game this season.
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Fresno State at New Mexico Odds
New Mexico is a 14.5-point college basketball betting odds favorite on BetMGM as of this writing, and the Over/Under is at 147.5 points.
The Moneyline is at -1400 for New Mexico and +775 for Fresno State.
Fresno State at New Mexico on TV
The Mountain West game featuring Fresno State and New Mexico will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.
Fresno State at New Mexico Prediction
I predict New Mexico wins, 84-67.
Fresno State has no answer for Hall and Buljan. Hall may be the best freshman in the Mountain West when he has the ball in his hands. He’s shooting better than 46% from the floor and leads New Mexico with 51 3-pointers. Hall has turned the ball over just 13 times, and he’s surprisingly disciplined on defense.
Buljan is going to push Fresno State’s big men around and dominate the paint.
The Bulldogs have been solid on defense this year, surrendering 70.2 points a game, which ranks No. 4 in the conference. But they’ve struggled to put points on the board, averaging 72.5 a game, and they’ve struggled to pull down rebounds, averaging 35.2 a game, which ranks No. 10 in the 12-team Mountain West.
