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The line that composer Herman Hupfeld penned back in 1931, then was sung by Sam to a pensive Elsa 11 years later in 鈥淐asablanca鈥� before Rick so rudely cut him off, is as true now as it was then.

The fundamental things still do apply.

The New Mexico Lobos defeated Saint Joseph鈥檚 84-69 Tuesday night at the Pit, sending UNM to the National Invitation Tournament鈥檚 final four (note the lower case; it鈥檚 nice, but it鈥檚 still only the NIT and not the Big Dance).

Big Dance? Back in November, Lobo fans had no reason, maybe even no right, to expect this team to be within sniffing distance of the NCAA Tournament 鈥� or to be 26-10 and one of a handful of Division I teams (out of 365) still playing as of this writing. First-year coach Eric Olen, the new kid in school, had to assemble a completely new roster.

Yet, here they are.

How have they done it?

Clearly, the roster Olen assembled bristles with talent. Just as clearly, Olen and his staff have coached them well.

So, yes, the Lobos are good at basketball. They can shoot, run, jump, bang bodies in the paint. All of that 鈥�  but there鈥檚 more.

What鈥檚 that sound I hear? It鈥檚 there, if you listen carefully.

It鈥檚 the sound of fundamentals.

Let鈥檚 start with Tomislav Buljan, UNM鈥檚 principle low-post threat. Buljan鈥檚 tenacity in the paint, combined with the sophisticated low-post moves he likely developed back home in Croatia, produced the majority of his season-best 27 points against St. Joe鈥檚.

But Buljan, who was 5-of-23 shooting 3-pointers this season before Tuesday 鈥� hoisting them only as a last resort 鈥� was 2-of-2 on 3s vs. the boys from Back East. He also hit a nice little turnaround 鈥渏umper鈥� that gave the Lobos a 13-point lead, 72-59, with 5:43 left in the game.

鈥淛umper鈥� is in quotation marks here advisedly, because Buljan鈥檚 feet barely left the floor when he took those shots.

Essentially, they were one-hand set shots 鈥� the shot that coach Jerry Maier taught us in fifth grade at Sandia Base Elementary in the 鈥�50s; the man was a stickler for fundamentals. It was the shot that ruled college basketball back when Mr. Hupfeld was writing his songs in the 鈥�30s.

Whatever works, fundamentally speaking.

鈥淩ight now I feel very confident,鈥� Buljan said. 鈥淚 have to give a shout-out to our assistant coach, Mikey (Howell). He鈥檚 been working with me (on shooting from outside the paint).鈥�

Correct me if I鈥檓 wrong 鈥� I鈥檓 not 鈥� but European basketball players tend to be more fundamentally sound than their American counterparts. Nikola Jocic is Exhibit A, but Buljan鈥檚 gaining ground.

After the game, I asked Olen where he鈥檚 placed fundamentals in the overall picture of recruiting a roster, whether this season at UNM or in past years at UC San Diego.

鈥淲e鈥檙e always looking for that,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ust knowing how to play. It鈥檚 described a lot of different ways. Feel, basketball IQ. There a lot of adjectives for it.

鈥淲e try to evaluate that. It鈥檚 hard, because it鈥檚 not something that鈥檚 objective 鈥� I think smart wins, and I think we have a smart basketball team.鈥�

Lobos senior Luke Haupt, after all, is a coach鈥檚 son. Freshman Jake Hall plays like one.

Hall, a record-setting 3-point shooter, was 3-of-7 on 3s Tuesday. It was a 3-pointer he didn鈥檛 make, though, that stands out in this discussion.

With the Lobos up by 10 with 1:54 left, almost in the barn but not quite, Hall was being guarded on a defensive switch by 6-foot-10 St. Joe鈥檚 shot-blocking phenom Justice Ajogbor.

Hall, trapped on the baseline, gave Ajogbor one of his patented shot fakes 鈥� can鈥檛 get much more fundamental than that鈥� put up a shot that hadn鈥檛 a prayer of going in but drew a foul and hit three free throws. Game over.

The season isn鈥檛 over, and that鈥檚 a tribute to all concerned 鈥� the players, the coaches, the 24,547 Pit fans who put aside their NCAA Tournament longings and came to watch three NIT games.

As time goes by, this team just gets fundamentally more interesting.