UNM LOBOS BASKETBALL
Wright: If nothing and no one else, there's Haupt
He's the bright spot in UNM's second straight loss in the Pit
Luke Haupt hails from a basketball family, and there鈥檚 no evidence that he played football at St. Augustine High School in San Diego.
But, oh, my, how Haupt can take a hit.
Haupt and his New Mexico Lobos took a major hit Saturday night, losing 91-90 to Boise State in the Pit. It was UNM鈥檚 second straight loss at home after 23 straight victories here spanning two seasons.
The game was not as close as the final one-point margin suggests, since the Lobos trailed by five points with eight seconds left. But without Haupt鈥檚 contributions against the Broncos 鈥 30 points, six rebounds, four assists, eight fouls drawn, multiple crashes to the Pit floor, powering through the Boise State defense like a running back 鈥 the game wouldn鈥檛 have been close at all. Clearly, after watching his team give up 86 and 91 points in back-to-back games, first-year coach Eric Olen has some defensive rethinking to do.
But, hey, there鈥檚 always Haupt.
After Olen was hired to succeed Richard Pitino last March, he was forced to assemble an entirely new roster. Of the scholarship players he brought in, Haupt might have appeared the least likely to succeed.
After high school, Haupt played four seasons at Point Loma Nazarene. He never averaged more than 13.2 points per game at Point Loma, a Division II school. Even in high school, he never averaged more than 15 points per game.
Yes, he鈥檇 been a good, solid Division II player. But he wasn鈥檛 a proven Division I player like Deyton Albury; hadn鈥檛 scored 3,000 points in high school like Jake Hall; wasn鈥檛 a 7-footer like JT Rock; hadn鈥檛 been a two-sport prep dynamo like Uriah Tenette; hadn鈥檛 played pro basketball in Europe like Tomislav Buljan; hadn鈥檛 played for Olen at UC San Diego like Chris Howell.
It was an injury to Howell, who hasn鈥檛 played since Dec. 14 鈥 Olen said Saturday he鈥檚 not sure if he鈥檒l return this season 鈥 that elevated Haupt to the starting lineup.
He has been 鈥 with apologies to the aforementioned JT 鈥 the team鈥檚 rock.
Until Saturday, Haupt鈥檚 contributions weren鈥檛 so much about scoring; he entered the Boise State game averaging 6.6 points per game. But he鈥檚 No. 2 on the roster in rebounding behind Buljan, No. 2 in assists behind Albury, No. 2 in steals behind Tenette.
The well-rounded nature of his game reminds one of former Lobo Roman Martinez (2006-10). They鈥檙e even the same height, listed at 6-foot-7.
Whatever those early Steve Alford UNM teams needed, from game to game, from possession to possession, Martinez consistently provided.
And that鈥檚 Haupt鈥檚 stated goal.
Of his scoring burst on Saturday, he told the Journal鈥檚 Geoff Grammer, 鈥淚 was just trying to do whatever I can to help the team win tonight. I had a good offensive game. (It) doesn't feel like it matters a whole lot right now, coming up short."
It could matter a whole lot, though, going forward.
Olen said after the game that Haupt鈥檚 scoring binge wasn鈥檛 anything planned or drawn up on the sideline; it was just Haupt seeing what needed to be done and doing it.
Haupt scored 10 points in the first half, which ended with Boise State up 43-42. He scored 10 points in the first seven minutes of the second half, but the Broncos kept raining 3s 鈥 grabbing a 59-52 lead with 15:46 left and then 63-54 on a Drew Fielder 4-point play, as he was fouled by Buljan while hitting yet another 3-pointer.
Haupt played a leading role in bringing the Lobos back. With Boise State up 80-75 with 3 minutes, 30 seconds left, he pulled down a rebound at the defensive end and scored in the paint 17 seconds later. A Hall 3-pointer then tied the game at 80.
The only blemish on Haupt鈥檚 game was a missed free throw with a chance to tie the score again at 82 at the 1:17 mark; he fouled out 14 seconds later.
Haupt may never score 30 points in a game again; he never had before. But whatever his team needs at any particular time 鈥 a rebound, a putback, a steal, a drive-and-dish, yet another crash to the floor 鈥 he鈥檒l be there.
As for the Lobos鈥 mini-crisis, they鈥檙e 18-6 overall, 9-4 in Mountain West Conference play and, thanks to Olen, possessed of a talented, balanced and deep-enough roster.
And hey 鈥 where there鈥檚 Haupt, there鈥檚 hope.
Rick Wright can be reached at rwright@abqjournal.com or on X.