New Mexico
New Mexico wins title, leaves no doubt about NCAA berth — PHOTOS
There will be no more bubble talk about New Mexico’s men’s basketball team.
The Lobos are dancing.
They made sure of it Saturday by beating San Diego State 68-61 in the Mountain West tournament final before a raucous 11,112 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
With the victory, New Mexico clinched the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
It was impressive for many reasons, but none more than this: New Mexico, as the tournament’s sixth seed, became the first Mountain West side to win four games in four days to cut down the nets.
Tired legs? You would have never known it as they climbed a ladder.
The Lobos (26-9) snipped away strands because they made all the key plays over the final five minutes and received superb play from their talented backcourt.
Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Jaelen House combined for 49 points, hurting the Aztecs from the jump. House was especially good, totaling 28 points and five rebounds.
It wasn’t anything special down the stretch. The Lobos time and again ran House off balls screens and watched him drive the lane to create for himself or others. And when an initial shot was missed, the Lobos would gather one of their 15 offensive rebounds in the most timely of manners.
Donovan Dent, one of New Mexico’s best players, was limited to 13 minutes with the flu and didn’t score.
“It’s a testament to our toughness,” Mashburn said. “We never separated (this season). We continued to work through our struggles. We just kept going and staying on the same page all the time.
“It’s not over yet, but it’s great to get a championship. Our goal was to come here and win a championship and cut down nets, and we did that.”
And for No. 5 seed San Diego State (24-10), last year’s national runner-up, it was more of the same at this point in the event.
Consider: In the last 13 Mountain West tournaments, the Aztecs are 24-2 in the quarterfinals and semifinals but just 3-8 in the championship game. They have really struggled finishing things off here.
But metrics suggest San Diego State could be the highest-seeded team from the Mountain West when the NCAA Tournament bracket is announced Sunday.
A record six teams are expected to be chosen from the league, which had its most competitive season in conference history.
Whether or not the Aztecs have another magical run in them won’t be known until the madness commences.
“I don’t think our (players) get discouraged,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. “They’re tough. They don’t make excuses. … You’re gong to have adversity. … I just think we have a toughness about us that you gain through experience, and that will show in March.
“We’re disappointed, and we should be. We wanted to hang a banner for another Mountain West title. But it didn’t happen.”
This part showed Saturday: San Diego State couldn’t convert when it mattered most. New Mexico had much to do with that.
The Aztecs took a 57-53 lead with 7:03 remaining but scored just four points the rest of the way, the Lobos ending things on a 15-4 run.
Jaedon LeDee led the Aztecs with 25 points and six rebounds.
Nothing was easy for either side. New Mexico shot 38 percent from the field and 30 percent on 3s; San Diego State shot just 36 percent and 20 percent on 3s.
It has also been awhile since the Thomas & Mack was this loud.
“And,” remarked one reporter, “had this much red in it.”
Ouch.
And when it was over, a massive roar from Lobo fans went up as their team celebrated on the floor, players spraying coach Richard Pitino with water and holding aloft their well-earned trophy.
“I took a chance when I took this job (three years ago),” Pitino said. “I did it because I wanted to be in a place where basketball is celebrated, where a community really cared about its basketball program. A lot comes with that. It can be hard sometimes.
“San Diego State is a program we have a lot of respect for. We had to raise our level of toughness and did that. … Our guys’ confidence never wavered. They came into this tournament truly believing they could win it, and they did.”
Four wins in four days.
Bubble that.
Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.
Native Vote 2026
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A Laguna Pueblo woman is the front runner to be New Mexico’s next governor.
Shortly after polls closed Tuesday night, Deb Haaland was declared the winner over Bernalillo County district attorney Sam Bregman in the state’s semi-open Democratic Party primary. As of 11:00 p.m., Haaland carried support from 72% of the Democratic primary voters to Bregman’s 28%, according to unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State.
“We’re showing everyone that a better future in New Mexico is possible,” she told supporters gathered in Albuquerque’s historic Old Town Plaza. “New Mexicans want a leader who will stand up for working people, and who is ready to take on Donald Trump. I proudly accept your nomination as a Democratic nominee.”
Haaland spoke for 13 minutes, at times through a scratchy throat that required her to pause for water breaks. “Excuse me, I’ve been talking with voters all day,” she said while grabbing a water bottle before hitting her campaign stump notes on affordability, health care and public safety.
She will face Republican Gregg Hull, a former mayor from suburban Rio Rancho that won his party’s three-way primary with 47% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State.
Haaland will be the Democratic Party nominee in a state dominated at every level by Democrats, and is expected to be heavily favored in the general election. With that insight she said her campaign message does translate to Republicans and Independent voters.
“We want our kids to thrive. We want our kids to have a quality, public education. We want every New Mexican to have health care. Everybody wants to feel safe in their neighborhoods, and everybody wants to be able to afford to put a hot meal on their table every night and have a roof over their children’s heads,” she said. “Those issues transcend whatever political spectrum we’re trying to slice and dice people into.”
Shortly after the race was called, Haaland campaign staff, major donors, surrogates, and their families walked from a building on the west side of Albuquerque’s Old Town Plaza to the historic plaza core, where the Haaland campaign had set up a stage and reserved the entire plaza for its victory celebration.
“We are now witnessing history in the making,” New Mexico state Rep. Derrick Lente (Sandia Pueblo) said to supporters immediately after Haaland was declared the winner.
Denise Wilie (Dine) also joined the celebration of Haaland’s victory. Wilie said she worked on get-out-the-vote efforts with the Native American Voters Alliance in McKinley County.
“It just is so exhilarating to even think about, a woman and a Pueblo woman,” she said. “Indigenous all the way, is how I feel. I’m like, yes, let’s get more of our voices.”
Haaland was introduced by her two sisters and walked to the stage escorted by a mariachi band.
Speaking to reporters after the event Haaland reflected on voting for a Pueblo woman (herself) for governor.
“I got emotional, quite frankly, when I went to vote for myself because you do that when you’re a candidate,” she said. “We’ve never had a Native American governor in New Mexico. We’re a multicultural state. I think representation matters, especially in a political era such as this one. So, I’m really proud and honored to carry on the legacy of my ancestors, who worked so incredibly hard to make sure that I had a place here today.”
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – When a famly unexpectedly loses a loved one, or has someone go missing, the details of what comes next can be overwhelming.
But they don’t have to do it alone thanks to an organization helping New Mexico families with some of those burdens.
Watch the video above for more.
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