Size matters. But when you don’t have it, you’d better have something else.
A size deficit is one of the biggest challenges facing the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team heading into Sunday’s exhibition matchup with Washington State. The Lobos’ 99-89 exhibition victory over Oklahoma State may have exposed some uncomfortable truths about their frontcourt.
UNM gave up 22 offensive rebounds and 40 points in the paint against a Cowboys team that rolled out three players 6-foot-10 and taller against the Lobos. The Lobos now have another big test — literally — waiting at the Pit (Powered by Nusenda).
Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. MST, and the game will be streamed on the Mountain West +.
“I think Washington State, Arizona State, Oklahoma State – all three of these teams are really big and athletic in the frontcourt and are really going to test us … at a lot of positions,” New Mexico coach Eric Olen said during his media availability on Friday.
The Lobos are out to prove that they can protect the paint better and be better in securing defensive rebounds.
The exhibition vs. OSU was the first unofficial college basketball game for 6-10 Lobo big man Federico Grani, who like Tomislav Buljan last year, is 23-years-old but had no experience with the speed of the game compared to how it is played in Europe.
Grani’s stat line was mediocre at best. He started the first half, but finished with three points, two rebounds and four fouls in only 12 minutes played.
“Oklahoma State’s a good basketball team,” Olen said when asked about the performance of his frontcourt players in their first taste of college basketball. “Specifically, their frontcourt is big and athletic and physical. They do some things that we don’t see in practice. They play differently than we do on offense. It’s a completely different thing that’s hard for us to replicate. I think some of it was a sort of like a welcome to college basketball … and there’s some of just kind of like – it’s still basketball and we’ve gotta do a better job and we’ve gotta make a lot of progress.”
Fynn Lastring, a 6-11 true freshman, was a surprise bright spot, scoring 16 points. Nine of those, however, came on three 3-pointers in a 1 ½-minute scoring stretch in the first half. Lastring doubled Grani’s minutes with 23, but he only had three total rebounds.
The Lobos played 11 of 13 players on the roster vs. the Cowboys. Notably, 6-foot-9 forward AJ Pierre Jerome is the other true frontcourt player on the roster who could offer some help on the defensive glass and with rim protection. He was available but did not log a single minute against OSU in a game where Grani was in foul trouble and where UNM even elected at times to go with smaller lineups without either Lastring or Grani on the floor.
Olen was tight-lipped on Friday about whether Pierre-Jerome will see the floor against Wazzu on Sunday.
“AJ’s doing a good job in practice every day trying to get comfortable on the floor,” Olen said. “TBD on kinda how things play out if we’ll have an opportunity for him to get some reps.”
UNM’s two leading rebounders vs. Oklahoma State were 6-5 guard Hudson Mayes who finished with seven boards, and 6-7 forward Rytis Petraitis who finished with six. The Lobos understand that the lack of traditional post size means that they must take a rebound-by-committee approach.
“I think its just getting the whole team to rebound,” Lobo forward Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi said. “We obviously aren’t the biggest team. So, it’s going to be a collective effort to get the rebounds.”
Previewing Washington State
After beating UNM in the first exhibition game last season, the Cougars had a disappointing 12-20 record in 2025-26. Then, WSU was hit hard by the transfer portal and returns only two players from last season.
Third-year head coach David Riley is optimistic about the talent he’s brought in from the transfer portal for this upcoming year.
"We have a lot more talent walking in the door than we did last year,” Riley said, as first reported by CougFan.com
Washington State features five Power 5 transfers that got limited minutes last year but hope to resurrect their careers with the Cougars.
East Texas A&M transfer Ronnie Harrison will make his second trip to the Pit after he dropped 18 points and seven rebounds in last year’s season opener against the Lobos. The 6-8 Harrison averaged 14.3 points per game last season.
Wazzu may not be as big across the board as Oklahoma State, but its roster has plenty of size that could pose the same challenge UNM faced in its opening exhibition game:
· Sophomore Tyler Kropp (6-10, 230 pounds)
· Freshman Dominik Robin (6-10, 235)
· Mohamed Sankhe (6-10, 265, class not listed)
· Junior Fraser Roxburgh (6-7, 225)
The early stage of UNM’s preseason is about development, and Olen wants to see marked improvement from last game.
“… I don’t expect to not allow any offensive rebounds in the next one, but we should be better at it,” he said. “We should have more guards to rebound. We should miss fewer blockouts. …”
After allowing 89 points to Oklahoma State, New Mexico responded with a dominant defensive performance in a 92-64 exhibition win over Washington State. The Lobos held the Cougars to 35% shooting, limited them to 12 points in the paint and forced 17 turnovers that led to 23 points. UNM’s defense fueled its transition offense, while Uriah Tenette, Jake Hall and Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi led a balanced scoring attack as 10 Lobos scored from the field.