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INDIANAPOLIS — That the Lobos season even made it to April in Hinkle Fieldhouse will be the long-term memory.

That it ended Thursday night in a poor-shooting, less-than-their best showing in a 74-69 loss to Tulsa in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament is a sting that’ll take some time to get over, first. 

So, just what was it about the Golden Hurricane defense that held Lobo leading scorer Jake Hall — who just strung together one of the best freshman seasons in program history and set a program record for 3-pointers — to just three first half points on 1-of-7 shooting? 

The answer might be why the sting is especially sharp at the moment for Lobo nation.

“Nothing. I mean, I got all the shots I wanted, you know?” said Hall, who scored 17 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, but had to labor to get those and even then, UNM’s first half struggles were never truly overcome. 

“They were playing with fire. I mean, I got wide open looks, just didn't capitalize. And it sucks letting these guys down. Wide open 3s. It sucks, man. Like letting these guys like Luke (Haupt) and DA (Deyton Albury) and Jay (Tajavis Miller, all seniors who played their final college games on Thursday down, you know, sucks.”

Tulsa held the Lobos to 35.1% shooting overall and just 21.2% (7-of-33) on 3-point tries, while knocking down 37.5% (12-of-32) of their own shots from behind the arc.

A thing of beauty, this was not for the Lobos. They end the season 26-11 under first-year coach Eric Olen, who now has questions of his own to answer, as do several of this players, about their futures in college basketball, and if those futures will be at UNM. 

While Hall, Uriah Tenette and Tomislav Buljan all told the Journal that they have not yet made decisions on their futures and will talk with family or agents as the NCAA Transfer Portal opens next week, Olen who has talked with or whose agent has talked intimately with at least one other program already, would not answer that question. 

“Yeah, I'm the coach of New Mexico and I'm not going to comment on anything outside of that,” he said after initially saying he didn’t understand a question about a timeline on knowing if he would stay at UNM or if he would do any interviews with other schools from this point forward.

As for Thursday, after the Lobos had run through the first three rounds of the NIT with 25, 24 and 15 point wins, their struggles on Thursday came early and often. 

Tulsa (30-7) had five players score in double figures and led for more than 35 minutes of the 40-minute game. The Golden Hurricane now moves on to Sunday's NIT championship in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers. Tulsa will play Auburn, which defeated Illinois State 88-66 in the other semifinal.

“Congratulations to Tulsa,” Olen said. “They're a good basketball team. They played better than we did tonight. They deserve to advance.”

Added Albury, who had nine points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in his final college game, “I felt like we were prepared for everything they were throwing at us to begin the game. I don't think we had enough urgency to start a final four game and I think that’s what kicked us in the butt.”

As poorly as the Lobos started — missing their first seven 3-pointers, finishing the nine of their final 11 shots in the final 5:35 of the first half and trailing by seven (36-29) at halftime, UNM slowly but surely clawed back into the game in the second half. 

The seven point halftime hole was just six at the first media timeout, down to four at the under 12 timeout, down to two at the under eight media timeout and a seven-point JT Rock scoring run (he finished with 14 points), capped by a pair of free throws with 5:01 remaining, tied the game at 59-59. 

But Tulsa followed with an 8-0 run and the Lobos defense, while holding the suually high-scoring Tulsa to just 74 points and 41.4% shooting, couldn’t come up with critical stops in critical moments. 

Usual double-double machine Tomislav Buljan finished with nine points on 4-of-13 shooting. 

For the first time publicly, the 23-year-old former pro player from Croatia acknowledged to the Journal that he has been granted another year of eligibility by the NCAA, though UNM had chosen not to confirm it. 

His decision about where he may play next, he said, will include talking to his agents and assuring it’s not all about money, though he could be in line for a million-dollar payday by a power conference program based on his play this season for UNM. 

“Soon,” he said about his hopeful timeline on a decision about where he will play next. “We all know that the transfer portal opens soon. I need to talk with my representatives about the next steps. I'm going to talk with coaches here, and then we're going to see. …  

“It’s not all about the money. It's honestly about fit, more or less. Money, that's just relative because I want to play basketball a high level. I want to improve. I know the things that I need to do to be better each year and hopefully go on a higher level. So, I mean, it's gonna be tough to decide, but I expect that everybody's gonna know soon what I'm gonna do next season.”

Tulsa’s scoring was balanced with David Green's 13 points leading five players in double figures. The Golden Hurricane blocked seven Lobo shots. 

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) .