New Mexico
3 thoughts: New Mexico 62, SDSU 48 … elevation, offense, and a rough day in San Diego
Three thoughts on San Diego State’s 62-48 loss at New Mexico on Saturday:
1. Effort or elevation?
One of the advantages of chartering home immediately after a midday game, as the Aztecs did Saturday, is you arrive early enough to go straight to the film room at the JAM Center and re-watch key parts of what transpired with the coaches’ input.
The Aztecs typically do that the following day before practice. This way, they can address the team’s worst performance of the season and then flush it so Sunday and Monday practices can be devoted fully to preparing for Tuesday night’s home game against 4-1 Colorado State.
“I’ve got a coaching staff that won’t let this linger, that won’t overreact to it,” said coach Brian Dutcher, whose teams are 34-4 in their last 38 games following a loss. “Yeah, we want to play better, the kids want to play better, I want to coach better. It didn’t happen. We will put it in the rearview mirror without completely disregarding it. We’ll learn from our mistakes, but we won’t sit here and obsess about it to the point where it will cost us an opportunity at home against Colorado State.”
The tricky part, though, is sifting through the carnage and determining how much is attributable to effort and how much to elevation. The Pit sits at 5,108 feet. And, for most of the young roster, this was their first trip into high altitude.
“When you try to sprint back, you’ve got a piano on your back,” SDSU’s Jared Coleman-Jones said. “Pushing through that is hard. It’s an adjustment.”
So do you beat up your players in film, or give them a pass?
“Maybe we were a step slow; it’s always hard to tell,” Dutcher said. “It’s such a fine line at altitude. Usually, most people think they’re holding their knees, they can’t catch their breath. It’s, you’re a half-step slow to a play because you’re a little winded and you can’t get to the spot you’re supposed to get to.
“There were times where, if we can’t run down a long rebound or we can’t get a loose ball, is that because we’re a step slow or we’re not tough-minded enough? You never know. You can’t confuse a lack of toughness and effort with elevation. You walk that line at elevation.”
How do you know which it is?
“You just do your best guesswork,” Dutcher said.
They’ll get more data points, for better or worse. The Aztecs have five more games in the mountains this season: at Air Force (7,981 feet), at Nevada (4,573), at Colorado State (5,025), at Utah State (4,770), at Wyoming (7,220).
Record over the past two seasons above 4,500 feet: 1-6.
Below 4,500 feet: 35-9.
2. Woes, with an O
Dutcher regularly talks about leaning on the defense on days when shots aren’t falling, and they weren’t Saturday morning at The Pit.
The defense was still good, really good. New Mexico shot 35.8% overall and 6 of 28 behind the arc (21.4%) with .92 points per possession — all ranking as their second-worst figures of the season. The Lobos’ 62 points were their season low and 23 under their per-game average.
But some days, even SDSU’s defense can’t save itself from its offense, and this was one of them.
How bad was it?
The .71 points per possession is by far their worst of the season (the previous low was .94) and the worst in 108 games — and the third-worst total in the past eight seasons.
Another way to look at it: Over the last two seasons, the worst points per possession figure they’ve been able to overcome in a victory was .95.
The elevation and The Pit was certainly part of it, but the offense hasn’t been trending well. While the defense has climbed to No. 5 in the Kenpom metric’s defensive efficiency, the offense has gone in the opposite direction and now ranks 122nd nationally. In conference games, the Aztecs are ninth in the 11-team Mountain West and dead last in effective field-goal percentage (which accounts for baskets behind the arc being worth more than inside it).
The worrying part: Only one team to receive an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament last year had an offensive efficiency ranking outside the top 75 (SDSU was 62nd). That was 10 seed Virginia at No. 200, and the Cavaliers lost 67-42.
3. A rough day
Saturday was not one of San Diego college basketball’s finer moments.
SDSU: The Aztecs scored 20 points in the first half, trailed by 20 and got pummeled in The Pit in front of a CBS national telecast with Bill Raftery. The lopsided loss cost the Aztecs five spots in Kenpom (from 31 to 36) and 10 in the NET (to 41). It also dropped them into a tie for fifth place in the Mountain West at 3-2, 2½ games behind co-leaders New Mexico and Utah State at 6-0.
UCSD: The Tritons appeared on linear TV (ESPNU) for the first time in program history, had students lined up across campus all day, led UC Irvine by six midway through the second half in the Big West showdown for first place and … shot 6 of 36 on 3s, got leading scorer Tyler McGhie only three shots, scored a season-low 52 points, lost by eight and had their 12-game win streak snapped.
USD: The Toreros scored the most points of the city’s three Division I programs with 56 … and lost by 47 at St. Mary’s after surrendering, gulp, 10 3-pointers and 62 points in the second half alone. The Toreros fell to 4-14 overall and 1-10 in their last 11 games.
The glass is half-full version, at least for SDSU and UCSD:
Less than three decades ago, the Aztecs were playing home games in Peterson Gym and had one of the worst programs in Division I. Now they regularly play across the street in front of sellouts at 12,414-seat Viejas Arena and went to the 2023 national championship game. For the last two years, big-boy Fox (two) and CBS (four) have televised six regular-season Mountain West games; SDSU has been selected for all six.
Five years ago, UCSD was in Division II playing in front of a few hundred family and friends at LionTree Arena. Saturday night, they had their second sellout (the other was last season against SDSU) and first game on an ESPN linear network (as opposed to their usual spot streaming on ESPN+).
“Our job as members of the basketball program is to continue to build great teams and play great basketball, and these types of environments are the result of that,” UCSD coach Eric Olen said. “If we put a good product on the floor, people will want to see that. … Disappointing night for us in terms of results and how that we maybe we played, but it is a glimpse of what’s possible and I’m excited that people got to see that.”
Originally Published:
New Mexico
Governor establishes Energy Affordability and Grid Reliability Council – 13-member council designed to protect ratepayers, modernize the grid – Office of the Governor – Michelle Lujan Grisham
SANTA FE — Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham today signed an executive order establishing the New Mexico Energy Affordability and Grid Reliability Council to address the rising cost of electricity in a rapidly changing energy landscape.
The Council will convene state agency leaders, utility executives and experts in rural cooperative utilities, tribal energy, consumer advocacy, and energy policy and infrastructure to develop strategies for keeping energy affordable while ensuring the grid can meet the demands of a growing, modernizing New Mexico economy.
“At a time of dramatically rising energy prices, it’s imperative that we do everything we can to protect New Mexico ratepayers while ensuring abundant clean energy supply,” said Governor Lujan Grisham. “The experts I’ve appointed to the New Mexico Energy Affordability and Grid Reliability Council are well-positioned to make smart, insightful recommendations and I look forward to their findings.”
The Council will evaluate and recommend strategies across four interconnected areas:
- Ratepayer protection: Ensuring that large-load growth — including data centers and onshore manufacturing — does not disproportionately increase costs for residential, rural, tribal and small business customers.
- Grid modernization and reliability: Recommending rate designs and financing strategies that enable prudent infrastructure investment while minimizing long-term rate escalation.
- Clean energy progress: Advancing New Mexico’s net-zero goals under the Energy Transition Act by expanding zero-carbon generation and storage while maintaining affordable access.
- Permitting efficiency: Identifying opportunities to streamline and coordinate state and local permitting for electricity infrastructure — accelerating deployment of clean energy projects without compromising environmental review, tribal consultation, or regulatory safeguards.
The Council will deliver a final report — including legislative, regulatory and administrative recommendations — to the Governor and the Legislature by November 1, 2026.
The Council consists of 13 members representing state government, utilities, rural cooperatives, tribal communities and independent experts:
- Erin Taylor, acting secretary, Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department
- Rob Black, secretary, Economic Development Department
- Cholla Khoury, chief of staff, Public Regulation Commission
- Lynn Mostoller, executive director, Renewable Energy Transmission Authority
- Sunalei Stewart, deputy commissioner for operations, State Land Office
- Don Tarry, president and CEO, TXNM Energy (PNM)
- Kelly A. Tomblin, president and CEO, El Paso Electric
- Zoe Lees, regional vice president, regulatory policy, Xcel Energy
- Vince Martinez, CEO, New Mexico Rural Electric Cooperative Association
- Javier Bucobo, vice president of markets and regulatory affairs, Avangrid (grid infrastructure expert)
- Joseph Yar, attorney, Velarde & Yar (consumer/ratepayer advocate)
- Sandra Begay Keeto, retired, Sandia National Laboratories; member, Navajo Nation (tribal energy expert)
- Rep. Meredith Dixon, New Mexico House of Representatives, District 20 (energy policy expert)
The Council is administratively attached to the Department of Finance and Administration. Members will serve without compensation, other than per diem and mileage as permitted by law.
The executive order can be viewed here.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Republican candidate for governor Duke Rodriguez is suing Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham over her executive order that started universal free child care before a new law takes effect.
The governor enacted the program through executive order in November.
Lawmakers passed a universal child care law during the past session, but that law does not take effect until May 20.
Rodriguez says he objects to some of the rules and to how the governor started the program. The suit asks the Second Judicial District Court to prohibit further enforcement of any regulations tied to the program.
“You could understand an outgoing governor trying to do it for political capital, for expediency just to say, I’m first in the nation.” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez says he is confident he will win and that the rules he is challenging will be struck down.
“We also now have what we call pre emptive eligibility, which means you don’t even have to prove you’re eligible and you’re covered the moment you walk in,” Rodriguez said. “All of those things individually and collectively that have been proposed and changed probably invite fraud, waste and abuse and you know it.”
The governor’s office responds
The governor’s office sent a statement saying the program was properly implemented and that the governor is confident the lawsuit will be rejected.
A spokesperson for the governor sent KOB 4 the following statement:
“This lawsuit makes clear that Mr. Rodriguez has a fundamental misunderstanding how state government works. He states that ECECD did not have the authority to undergo rulemaking regarding universal childcare. They do. He states that ECECD did not have the funding to implement the program when they did their rulemaking. They did. That is why the program was operational in December – before the 2026 Legislative session started. Perhaps more importantly, the lawsuit ignores that the legislature passed SB 241, which codified the program and its future funding into law. The governor is confident that the courts will reject his meritless claims.“
Woody is up for adoption with the City of Albuquerque’s Animal Welfare Department. Meet him here!
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In this Love 4 Pets, we have Woody, Zwei and Kanai, who are all up for adoption at the City of Albuquerque’s shelters.
Woody is looking for a loving home after going through the ringer. He came to Albuquerque Animal Welfare about a month ago after he was hit by a car. He’s healing from some pelvic fractures and is moving slowly so he can hang out in the backyard and go for short walks.
Woody is very smart and can sleep all night. They believe he is about nine years old and is believed to be a Lab mix. He’s very sweet and is house-trained.
Woody is set to be 100% ready soon. You can meet him in the video above or at the Eastside Animal Shelter (details).
We also have Zwei and Kenai.
Zwei:
An Australian Shepherd mix, Zwei is a little tripod who is a great companion, has wonderful manners and loves to lean into you for hugs. She walks beautifully on a leash and doesn’t miss a beat, even with only three legs.
Zwei is currently in foster care. If you are interested in adopting her, contact Albuquerque Animal Welfare to set up a time to visit her.
Kenai:
Kenai is a Labrador retriever mix. He is a friendly, affectionate boy who enjoys being around people and has good manners. He walks well on a leash and is very excited about exploring the world.
Kenai loves attention, toys (especially stuffed animals) and car rides. So, if you’re looking for an adventure buddy, you can meet him at the Westside Animal Shelter (details).
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