LAS VEGAS -- BYU turned it on in the second half to win its first-round game at the Mountain West Conference Tournament, beating New Mexico for the third time this season 71-56. The Cougars advance to the semifinals and will play either Wyoming or Colorado St. on Friday night at 7 p.m. MST.
The Cougars (23-7) trailed much of the first half but took the lead at 21-20 with 1:07 to go before the half on a three-point play by Rafael Araujo. The next trip down, Ricky Bower extended the lead to 25-20 on a three-pointer. BYU enjoyed the five-point lead at the break by not allowing UNM to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.
The Lobos regained the lead in the second half at 30-25 with 16:56 to play in the game but that would be the last lead UNM would enjoy.
"Defensively we played solid the entire game but struggled a little in the first half," said BYU head coach Steve Cleveland. "In the second half we did a much better job getting the ball inside."
BYU went on a 14-0 run by holding the Lobos scoreless for over the next seven minutes. BYU was able to run and get some easy buckets by beating New Mexico up the court.
"When we can get out and run in our transition game we can be pretty good, we made an effort to run," Mark Bigelow said. He finished the game with 14 points but was held without a trey for the first time since the game against UNLV earlier in the season on the same court.
BYU looked to its big man throughout the game as Araujo grabbed the first lead of the game for the Cougars and helped the team hold it. He led BYU with 19 points and 13 rebounds including six at the offensive end.
Senior Travis Hansen struggled from the floor, shooting just 4-for-13 and totaling 11 points. Hansen fulfilled his leadership role despite the scoring below his average. He kept the team focused in timeouts and made key shots when a bucket was needed.
BYU shot 47 percent for the game compared to 40 percent for the Lobos. The Cougars struggled from behind the arc shooting just 25 percent, but did make 83 percent of their free throws on 19-for-23.
Guard Kevin Woodberry turned in another great effort with 10 points, four assists, three steals, two blocks, and no turnovers.
Several Cougars traded the responsibility of guarding MWC MVP Ruben Douglas. Bigelow, Hansen, Luiz Lemes and Woodberry all pitched in to control Douglas, holding him to just 18 points.
For UNM Mark Walters scored 11 points and David Chiotti chipped in 10.
BYU now focuses on its third trip to the Tourney semifinals in four seasons.
"We have something to prove every time we play and we need to keep that in mind no matter where we play," Cleveland said.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
New Mexico vs BYU
03/13/03 12:00 N at Las Vegas, Nevada
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VISITORS: New Mexico 10-17, 4-10
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 BELL, Chad.......... f 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 1 0 20
13 CHIOTTI, David...... f 5-8 0-0 0-2 2 1 3 3 10 1 1 0 0 35
00 WALTERS, Mark....... g 5-10 0-1 1-1 0 4 4 4 11 1 2 0 0 32
05 DOUGLAS, Ruben...... g 5-19 3-9 5-8 4 7 11 1 18 5 7 0 0 39
11 TINDALL, Javin...... g 4-7 2-4 0-0 0 1 1 1 10 3 1 0 0 30
12 ASHCRAFT, Ryan...... 2-2 1-1 0-0 1 2 3 4 5 2 1 0 0 24
22 HART, Jeff.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7
24 WILLIAMS, Jamaal.... 0-4 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 12
34 MONETTE, Mikal...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM................ 1 2 3 2
Totals.............. 21-52 6-15 8-13 9 20 29 20 56 13 14 1 0 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-27 33.3% 2nd Half: 12-25 48.0% Game: 40.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 40.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-2 0.0% 2nd Half: 8-11 72.7% Game: 61.5% 2
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HOME TEAM: BYU 22-7, 11-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 BIGELOW, Mark....... f 5-12 0-3 4-4 0 3 3 3 14 0 2 0 0 31
52 JENSEN, Jared....... f 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 12
55 ARAUJO, Rafael...... c 6-10 0-1 7-8 6 7 13 3 19 3 2 1 1 32
02 HANSEN, Travis...... g 4-13 3-6 0-1 1 4 5 3 11 2 2 0 1 31
24 WOODBERRY, Kevin.... g 3-9 0-4 4-4 0 1 1 2 10 4 0 2 3 34
04 LEMES, Luiz......... 2-3 0-1 1-2 0 2 2 3 5 1 1 0 2 13
05 SHOFF, Jake......... 0-0 0-0 2-2 1 5 6 0 2 0 0 0 1 13
10 NASHIF, Terry....... 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 4 2 0 0 0 23
12 ROBERTS, Marc....... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2
14 BOWER, Ricky........ 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 4
15 ALLEN, John......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
32 JEPSEN, Bart........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
40 HOWARD, Dan......... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 24-51 4-16 19-23 8 25 33 17 71 12 7 3 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-22 40.9% 2nd Half: 15-29 51.7% Game: 47.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 22.2% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 14-17 82.4% Game: 82.6% 3
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Officials: Randy McCall, Greg Burks, Tim Gabutero
Technical fouls: New Mexico-None. BYU-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
New Mexico.................... 20 36 - 56
BYU........................... 25 46 - 71
Quartfinals Game #1
Statistics provided by Jim Shaffer & crew (702) 896-5677 statman@winning.com
Points in the paint-NM 24,BY 30. Points off turnovers-NM 3,BY 15.
2nd chance points-NM 14,BY 9. Fast break points-NM 2,BY 2.
Bench points-NM 7,BY 17. Score tied-4 times. Lead changes-5 times.