ALBUQUERQUE -- In five seconds of playing time, the Cougars went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows Monday night, losing a tight contest at New Mexico, 65-63.
In an incredible finish, BYU guard Kevin Woodberry tipped in a Cougar miss to tie the game with 3.8 seconds left. A technical foul was then called on the Cougars as Mark Bigelow came onto the court from the bench to celebrate the shot, sending the Lobos' Troy DeVries to the line for two free shots (later scrutiny on video tape showed a whistle was blown after the Woodberry bucket, which prompted Bigelow onto the court; however, the officials did not acknowledge the whistle and consequently Bigelow was called for the technical foul). Amazingly, DeVries missed both attempts, leaving the game tied with 3.8 seconds still on the clock. But a well-placed Lobo inbounds pass sailed over the out-stretched hands of Rafael Araujo and into the hands of New Mexico's Danny Granger, who scored the game-winning lay-up. Without any timeouts, BYU launched an unsuccessful desperation shot from the Cougar backcourt as time expired.
"It was a difficult game to lose, one in which I thought we played very well and put ourselves in a position to win," said BYU coach Steve Cleveland. "I'm disappointed in losing, but I'm not disappointed in this basketball team."
Cleveland has every reason to respect his team's effort. The Cougars outrebounded the Lobos 35-28 and outshot them, going 23-52 (.442) from the field. Turnovers, which have plagued the Cougars during the season, were actually even, with each team losing the ball just nine times. Against a New Mexico team that blew out Utah by 16 points just two days before, BYU kept the score tight, with 14 ties and 18 lead changes.
"Almost everything that we wanted to do and that we challenged our team to do happened," said Cleveland.
Rafael Araujo continued his dominance, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to pick up his 11th double-double of the season. Mike Hall also came up big for the Cougars, scoring 21 points, his second-largest scoring output of the season. No other Cougars scored in double figures. Kevin Woodberry came off the bench for eight points, including two big three-point shots in the first half and the game-tying shot with 3.8 seconds left. Mark Bigelow set a new season-high in rebounds as he pulled down nine boards. New Mexico's Granger, a 6-8 forward, led all scorers with 27 points.
Hall and Araujo started BYU off right by scoring 15 of the Cougars' first 18 points. BYU went into the locker room at the half down just one point, 33-32, but missed two scoring opportunities at the line by failing to convert front-ends. Araujo scored 10 in the first half and Hall had nine points.
With the loss, the Cougars fall to 2-3 in the Mountain West Conference and 12-6 overall. The Lobos improve to 2-2 in the MWC and 11-6 overall. The Cougars will next be in action Saturday at 1 p.m. against Utah in Salt Lake City.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
BYU vs New Mexico
01-26-04 10:05 PM MST at The Pit/Bob King Court
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VISITORS: BYU 12-6, 2-3
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 2-9 1-4 2-2 3 6 9 5 7 3 0 0 1 32
41 MEADS, Garner....... f 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 5 4 1 1 0 0 22
55 ARAUJO, Rafael...... c 9-19 0-2 3-4 2 9 11 3 21 0 5 1 1 36
01 HALL, Mike.......... g 7-13 2-3 5-8 1 1 2 2 21 3 0 0 0 38
04 LEMES, Luiz......... g 0-4 0-2 2-2 0 6 6 0 2 4 2 0 1 34
00 WOODBERRY, Kevin.... 3-3 2-2 0-0 1 1 2 1 8 0 1 0 1 24
02 ROSE, Mike.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3
05 SHOFF, Jake......... 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 4
10 NASHIF, Terry....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 23-52 5-13 12-17 9 26 35 19 63 12 9 2 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-31 38.7% 2nd Half: 11-21 52.4% Game: 44.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd Half: 1-3 33.3% Game: 38.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 8-11 72.7% Game: 70.6% 2
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HOME TEAM: New Mexico 11-6, 2-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
13 CHIOTTI, David...... f 3-10 0-0 3-5 0 5 5 4 9 2 0 0 1 37
21 NEALE, Alfred....... f 1-4 0-2 0-0 0 5 5 4 2 1 2 1 1 28
33 GRANGER, Danny...... f 7-12 0-2 13-16 3 5 8 3 27 3 1 6 0 37
00 WALTERS, Mark....... g 2-4 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 3 5 0 1 0 1 22
02 DEVRIES, Troy....... g 5-9 3-6 1-4 0 3 3 0 14 3 3 0 1 34
11 TINDALL, Javin...... 2-6 2-4 2-2 1 1 2 0 8 1 0 0 0 23
12 ASHCRAFT, Ryan...... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 9
22 HART, Jeff.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
23 MILES, Lenny........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6
25 BENSON, Justin...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 4
TEAM................ 1 3 4 1
Totals.............. 20-47 6-19 19-27 5 23 28 17 65 11 9 7 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-26 38.5% 2nd Half: 10-21 47.6% Game: 42.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 31.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 11-11 100 % 2nd Half: 8-16 50.0% Game: 70.4% 4
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Officials: Dick Cartmell, Lonnie Dixon, Bob Staffen
Technical fouls: BYU-BIGELOW, Mark. New Mexico-None.
Attendance: 15540
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
BYU........................... 32 31 - 63
New Mexico.................... 33 32 - 65
Points in the paint-BY 35,NM 24. Points off turnovers-BY 7,NM 10.
2nd chance points-BY 12,NM 5. Fast break points-BY 5,NM 4.
Bench points-BY 8,NM 8. Score tied-15 times. Lead changes-16 times.