Don’t judge a book by its cover.
UNM men’s basketball’s next opponent may be another Quad 4, Big Sky Conference bottom-feeder team, but Northern Arizona has plenty of reasons to come into the Pit with confidence.
The Lobos (1-0) will take on the Lumberjacks (0-1) at 4 p.m. MST on Saturday Nov. 7 for the second of a three game homestand to begin UNM’s season. The game will stream on MW+ and also be broadcast on 96.3 KKOB radio.
For starters, NAU beat a shorthanded Grand Canyon team 86-72 in a closed scrimmage on Oct. 16. The Lopes were picked to finish second in the pre-season Mountain West Conference media poll.
And despite being ranked No. 286 in Ken Pom and picked dead last in the pre-season Big Sky poll, NAU is fresh off a 89-77 loss to fellow Mountain West Conference member UNLV on Tuesday Nov. 3. The Lumberjacks built a 12-point lead against the Runnin’ Rebels in the first half off something that has at times been UNM’s achilleas heel—hot 3-point shooting.
Six-foot-three Sophomore guard Chris Komin was the catalyst for NAU’s early success. He finished the game with 24 points on 8 of 12 shooting, but scored most of his points from beyond the arc during a 3-minute stretch in the first half that swung momentum in NAU’s favor.
“He’s a really good player,” head coach Eric Olen said during media availability on Friday. “He had a couple big games as a freshman last year as their season went along, his role kind of increased. I think he had a 35-point game in conference and was scoring really well for them.”
“He’s done that in the preseason. We saw that, making threes in the first half, but he also showed a lot off the dribble, self-creation and hit some mid-range shots that he kind of created for himself in the second half later in the game. I think he scores in a lot of different ways. He’s a good cutter off the ball, certainly a dangerous offensive player.”
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NAU brings back more experience in its backcourt. The Lumberjacks’ leader is 6-foot-4 redshirt senior guard Ryan Abelman who averaged 10 points and a team leading five rebounds in 2025-26. Abelman added 12 points and was 3 of 6 from the 3-point line against UNLV. He returns to the Pit for the second time after scoring 10 points and recording three steals in NAU’s 64-54 exhibition loss to the Lobos last season.
NAU's 6-foot-8 freshman forward Lucas Toukam provides a presence around the rim. He finished with 13 points and five rebounds against UNLV, including an emphatic dunk through traffic that showcased his ability to attack the basket.
Projected Starters for NAU
The Lumberjacks started small against UNLV with four guards and Toukam playing the big-man spot:
#22 Cade Bennett, 6-foot redshirt senior guard
#2 Chris Komin, 6-foot-3 sophomore guard
#7 Max Majerle, 6-foot-4 senior guard
#11 Ryan Abelman, 6-foot-4 senior guard
#1 Lucas Toukam, 6-foot-8 freshman forward
NAU paid the price inside. They were outrebounded 37 to 26, gave up 21 second chance points, and were outscored in the paint 42 to 28. The Lumberjacks played two big-man off the bench on Tuesday. Former Bosie State forward Dylan Anderson stands at 7-feet, but he played only 13 minutes with four points and two rebounds. 6-foo-10 true sophomore center Tamiel Green was the most productive big-man off the bench. He had eight points and six rebounds in 24 minutes of play.
UNM’s Big-Men
The Lobos are rotating three players at the 5 position that all bring a little something different to the table. Federico Grani started against Utah Tech, finishing with six points and seven rebounds despite foul trouble that limited him to 12 minutes..
Fynn Lastring recorded two rebounds and no points in nine minutes and 48 seconds. Six-foot-nine freshman Benjamin Schuch had the highest plus-minus on the team with a +33 to go along with nine rebounds, two assists, two blocks and three points.
“He did a really good job in the last game, he’s had some other games where he’s rebounded well,” Olen said. “That’s been an encouraging thing for us…When we were putting the team together, Benny wasn’t someone who was in our plans of like, he’s going to play that position, but its kind of materialized in a way and he’s really been impactful when he’s had those opportunities…”
Unlike last year where UNM rotated only two big-men in Tomislav Buljan and JT Rock, this year’s rotation with Grani, Schuch and Lastring could look different for UNM every night depending on opponent and matchup.
“We have three good players at that spot that have very different skillsets,” Olen said after UNM’s win over Utah Tech on Monday. “I don’t think our lineup is going to be as ‘set it and forget it’ as sometimes happens. I think it could be about matchups and/or our combinations as well.”
Turnover Margin
The Lobos should win the turnover margin against NAU. The Lumberjacks gave it away 18 times against UNLV. The Runnin’ Rebels had 11 steals which turned into 20 points off turnovers and 31 fastbreak points.
“We’d love to have some disruption defensively,” Olen said. “UNLV pressed them a lot. That’s not necessarily our approach in terms of the full-court and how that game played out. There will certainly be some differences I think in that. But we always want to be disruptive…”
Rytis Petraitis
Cal Berkley transfer Rytis Petratis has not played since the Oklahoma State exhibition game while reportedly having just a sprained ankle. It is encouraging to see he was participating in practice this week, but was officially designated as questionable to doubtful by Olen on Friday.
Photo of Rytis Petraitis during practice on Nov. 6. Photo courtesy of UNM Athletics.
“We’re getting closer and closer,” Olen said. “He’s doing more activity in practice but it has been a little bit longer than we initially expected. Anytime that happens, then it’s not just can we get the injury repaired but also, we’ve been out and we’ve got get back in the flow and some of those things…”
Prediction: KenPom predicts this game as an 87-66 win for New Mexico, while Las Vegas picks the Lobos as 26.5 point favorites. I would expect UNM to get hit 90 points and more than cover what will be a larger than 20-point spread. UNM wins 97 to 69.
No. 22 New Mexico football made history with a 31-3 road blowout over Nevada, locking up their first-ever win in Reno and an 8-1 start to the season. Fueled by Scottre Humphrey’s two touchdowns and a relentless Lobo defense that held the Wolfpack to minus-9 rushing yards, UNM pushed its conference record to 5-0 while staying hot in the Mountain West hunt.