BYU vs. New Mexico
MWC Tournament
March 10, 2005
Postgame Notes
- BYU ended the season 1-13 when trailing at halftime as they were down 28-39 against the Lobos. The Cougars' lone second-half comeback was their 82-72 overtime win at UNLV on Feb. 5th.
- In the five-year history of the Mountain West Conference, BYU has either won the Tournament or been knocked out by the eventual champion (2000 -- lost in finals to UNLV, 2001 -- won, 2002 -- lost in quarterfinals to eventual champion San Diego State, 2003 -- lost in semifinals to eventual champion Colorado State, 2004 -- lost in semifinals to eventual champion Utah)
- Garner Meads saw his first action since Feb. 5th at UNLV against the Lobos, scoring two immediate points and totaling five on the night. Prior to the MWC Tournament game, Meads had missed the last seven games due to injury and 12 overall this season.
- Terry Nashif recorded his first block since the third game of the season and just the fifth block of his career on a three-point attempt by New Mexico's Troy DeVries. The league's leading three-point shooter, DeVries totaled only one long-range bucket in the game.
- Senior Jared Jensen shot 69 percent against New Mexico in two games this season, totaling 39 points. Jensen attempted a career-most 13 shots vs. the Lobos at the Pepsi Center.
- Jensen finished his four-year BYU career tied for second all-time at BYU with a 56.7 career field goal percentage.
- Senior Mike Hall completed his two-year BYU career averaging 13.3 points per game.
- Sophomore Derek Dawes set a new career high in free throws made with eight.
- The Cougars finished the season 9-21, equaling their worst record under current head coach Steve Cleveland. BYU also finished the year on a five-game losing streak, their longest losing streak since the 1997-98 season in which they finished 9-21.
Postgame Quotes
BYU Head Coach Steve Cleveland
"New Mexico is a very good basketball team. They're a completely different team with Granger in the lineup. They're really talented and playing with confidence. They're just a better basketball team than we are right now. They're playing with a purpose, like we were last year. Ritchie McKay has put together a very special team and I wish them the best. I want to see them win this Tournament."
"I'm really proud of our effort. We had a lot of spirit, fight and energy tonight. We competed, but they were just better than us."
"I thought we did a good job defensively in the first half. We got out of our game plan a little with the three-pointers. We also didn't have the quickness to defend in transition. We have a hard time guarding against penetration with the personnel we have right now. That's something we'll improve over the spring and summer."
"I'm especially proud of our three seniors. These guys are outstanding and have been part of some very special teams. There'll be another time to talk about how to fix this thing. Right now, I just want them to know how proud I am of them."
"This was not the season we wanted or expected, but it's over and we can't dwell on it. We'll focus on the future and how to fix this thing. We'll get it done."
New Mexico Head Coach Ritchie McKay
"BYU did a great job from the start. They came out with great energy. Cleveland is a terrific coach, and he had them prepared for us."
"BYU is a team I respect a great deal. Even when they were down, I knew they were capable of catching back up."
"We haven't focused on who's watching us. We're just trying to take it 20 minutes at a time. We played two pretty good halves tonight, but we'll be judged on our season as a whole. We're 24-3 when Granger's in the lineup."