Sunday
WHAT: Exhibition game
WHO: Washington State vs. UNM Lobos
WHERE: The Pit
WHEN: 2 p.m., Sunday
WATCH: MW+ (online, subscription required)
SPECIAL NOTE: For the first time, season ticket holders must purchase tickets for the game — though for season ticket holders they are only $5. For everyone else, they are $15. Parking is free for the preseason games.
In the opening 10 minutes of play last weekend in historic Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma, first-year Lobo forward Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi saw a familiar sight.
In two uniforms.
First, he saw his Lobo teammate, Jake Hall, doing the sort of Jake Hall things he’s gotten used to over the past several months since transferring to UNM and becoming teammates with the 6-foot-4 shooting guard who was named earlier this month the Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year.
“I remember me coming here — I knew Jake Hall was a good player, but I didn’t know how good he was,” said Vahlberg Fasasi. “Just in practice or pickup, whatever, just seeing him play was like, ‘What’s going on?’”
Last Sunday was a chance for the Oklahoma State Cowboys to have the same experience.
Hall scored eight points on UNM’s first three possessions — Jake Hall 8, Oklahoma State 0 — before getting hit in the leg and checking out a little more than 2 minutes into the game.
He returned at the 13:41 mark, only to immediately hit a 3-pointer at the 13:40 mark off an inbounds pass. Another 3 at the 12:47 park.
UNM’s first 14 points were scored by Hall, who had only been on the court 3 minutes, 3 seconds.
And when UNM led 22-17 with 10:29 still to play in the first half, Hall had already scored 20.
All things Vahlberg Fasasi has seen Hall do in a Lobo uniform. And the look on the face of the players across the court was one he had seen before, too.
“I think he hit his fifth 3 in the first half and one of the Oklahoma State guys just looked at the bench (and shrugged), ‘What am I supposed to do?’” Vahlberg Fasasi recalled seeing an Oklahoma State player helplessly asking his coaches for any sort of answer to solving the Hall question.
This Sunday, Hall will be Washington State’s chore as the Cougars visit the Pit for a 2 p.m. exhibition game — the second in a two-season, home-and-home agreement between the schools.
For Eric Olen and the Lobos, the hope is more that Hall gets rolling on offense, which he did in the 99-89 win over OSU.
“I know everybody’s hoping we get a nice turnout for these games — some really good opponents here at home early to kind of get an early season look for our team against quality opponents,” Olen said.
Power Ford Tip-Off Series
Lobo preseason games weren’t exactly the most attended events of years past, including by season ticket holders. Often that had to do with name recognition of the opponent.
This year, with the NCAA’s recent allowance for Division I vs. Division I games, UNM was finally able to get some home-and-home series against some opponents fans have heard of. When a corporate sponsor stepped up to sponsor what the school is now being called the Power Ford Tip-Off series (two quality preseason games each year in the Pit), UNM went forth with a new format for the preseason games all with player retention revenue generation in mind.
Sunday’s Washington State exhibition game and next Sunday’s (Oct. 25) exhibition game against Arizona State in the Pit are part of this year’s series with one half of next year’s series in the Pit already being decided with the second half of a two-year contract with Oklahoma State (the Cowboys play in the Pit next year).
But the new series no longer makes the preseason games part of the season ticket package, though season ticket holders get a significantly discounted $5 ticket option, but they must buy it before arriving at the arena (season ticket holders must go online to GoLobos.com/myaccount to claim the discounted tickets).
As for the series itself, Olen says it gives his team the type of quality testing it needs ahead of a crucial nonconference schedule this year.
“Anytime we get a chance to get really good basketball team in here, we’re trying to do that,” Olen said. “... We know this fan base is going to support us, and so we feel like our job is to put a good product out there in every way that we can, and if we do that part, they’ll keep coming.
”We’re fired up to play in front of the fans. We hope Lobo Nation’s excited to come see us.“
He said it...
Eric Olen on Friday when recapping last week’s Oklahoma State exhibition win — one that saw his team score 99 points (impressive), but allow 89 points (not so impressive):
”We think we have a really high ceiling. Right now, I think we have an uncomfortably low floor to go with it. And we gotta we gotta get our floor up and keep chasing our ceiling."
Stream team
Jeff Siembieda and Hunter Greene will be the on-air talent for Sunday’s game that will be streamed online on MW+, the league’s new subscription-based viewing option for games.
Sunday’s game, same as next week’s exhibition vs. Arizona State, will not be on the radio or televised, only streamed on the MW+
Also, Robert Portnoy is expected to return to his usual courtside duties on next week’s broadcast stream. Siembieda is taking over the role this Sunday as Portnoy was on the weekend trip to Hawaii with Lobo football.
Geoff Grammer is the Sports Editor of the Journal, a podcaster, columnist and covers UNM Lobos basketball, among other things. Reach him at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.