PROVO -- In the meeting of two teams fighting for the Mountain West Conference regular-season championship, the No. 13/11 BYU Cougars were unable to outlast the No. 10/12 New Mexico Lobos. The Lobos defeated the Cougars 83-81 in a game that was not decided until the final second of the game.
"It was a great college game," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "Two teams competing well, playing hard and it came down to the wire. We had a shot to win it in the end but we were unable to do so."
BYU was led by sophomore Michael Loyd Jr. with a career-high 19 points and freshman Tyler Haws with 18 points. Junior Jackson Emery also contributed 11 points, seven rebounds and five steals in the contest.
After both teams came out hot offensively in the opening minutes it became obvious the game would be a 40-minute battle. Emery got BYU off to a good start making a three-pointer to open the game followed by a short turn-around jumper by Noah Hartsock. Down 9-7, the Lobos took over scoring seven straight points to take a 14-9 lead.
Thanks to the tag team of Haws, who hit three treys within two and a half minutes, and Jonathan Tavernari, the Cougars were able to take a 22-20 lead with 11:55 left in the half. New Mexico would soon go on another 7-0 run to take a 29-24 lead over BYU.
This time around it was the combined efforts of BYU's leading scorer Jimmer Fredette and freshman Brandon Davies that would lead the Cougars on a 6-0 run which would give them a 30-29 lead. Still, New Mexico continued to give BYU their best effort heading to the locker room ahead 43-35.
In their first possession of the second half the Lobos would extend their lead to 10. The Cougars were down but not out. A completed and-one play by Chris Miles ignited the BYU crowd bringing the fans to their feet. However, it was two minutes later that the noise level in the Marriott Center reached its’ climax. Less than four minutes into the second half Loyd, who was in the game for Fredette, who played one minute in the second half, dunked the ball in traffic to bring the Cougars within one point of New Mexico.
"Jimmer's energy level was low and we needed more energy at the point guard position," Rose said. "Mike did a great job and we're glad he was there when we needed him tonight."
BYU would reclaim the lead off a basket by Hartsock but the lead would be shortlived as the Cougars exchanged baskets with the Lobos in the next two possessions. However, with 13:26 remaining it was Loyd who once again brought BYU fans to their feet making a three-pointer to give the Cougars a 55-51 lead. From there it was once again a back-and-forth battle, but Loyd’s work was not done as the sophomore would go on to make two more lay-ups and would lead a squad made up of entirely underclassmen to take a 68-63 lead with 7:51 left to be played in the game.
Loyd and the rising stars of the BYU men’s basketball team continued to show maturity in the face of the New Mexico pressure. With 3:52 remaining Emery hit a trey to give the Cougars a 76-74 lead before the Lobos answered with two threes of their own to take a 80-76 lead with 2:58 left in the contest.
Great defensive pressure by Tavernari forced the New Mexico ball out of bounds and gave BYU a possession where Loyd made a lay-up to bring the Cougars within one. On the following play, Emery would steal the ball and hurl it down court to a wide open Loyd for his second dunk of the afternoon. The slam gave Loyd a career high 19 points and tied the score 80-80.
"I would have preferred to have our team win," Loyd said following the game. "I would rather have our whole team take the glory because in the end that puts us all on a higher pedestal."
New Mexico began to pull away once again making a basket and then getting fouled on the following possession and making one of two free throws, which gave the Lobos an 83-80 lead. Emery was fouled with 17.4 seconds remaining and converted one of two free throws to make the score 83-81. The Lobos would have several opportunities to extend that lead while BYU would have multiple chances to score but both teams were unable to change the final score. BYU got the final possession with 0.6 seconds on the clock and the full court to go weren't able to get off a shot.
The Cougars will face in-state rival University of Utah on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Salt Lake City. The game will be broadcast on CBS College Sports and KSL Newsradio.
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Official Basketball Box Score
New Mexico vs BYU COUGARS
02/27/10 2:05 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: New Mexico 27-3, 13-2 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
00 HARDEMAN, A.J....... * 3-6 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 5 6 0 0 1 1 20
01 HOBSON, Darington... * 8-18 3-7 1-1 2 12 14 1 20 4 7 1 0 38
05 GARY, Dairese....... * 7-12 1-2 8-14 0 2 2 2 23 6 1 0 0 37
23 MCDONALD, Phillip... * 3-7 3-6 0-0 2 2 4 4 9 2 1 0 1 32
30 MARTINEZ, Roman..... * 6-12 3-8 0-1 2 5 7 2 15 1 4 0 3 37
04 ADAMS, Chad......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
11 GARTH, Nate......... 1-3 0-0 0-2 0 1 1 0 2 4 2 0 1 13
13 FENTON, Jamal....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
15 BROWN, Will......... 4-6 0-0 0-2 3 1 4 4 8 0 1 2 0 19
TEAM................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 32-64 10-23 9-20 13 30 43 18 83 17 16 4 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-35 54.3% 2nd Half: 13-29 44.8% Game: 50.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 6-14 42.9% Game: 43.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 8-18 44.4% Game: 45.0% 6
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HOME TEAM: BYU COUGARS 26-4, 11-3 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 EMERY, Jackson...... * 3-9 2-5 3-4 2 5 7 4 11 1 2 0 5 35
23 HAWS, Tyler......... * 5-13 3-8 5-5 1 0 1 0 18 2 1 0 0 36
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... * 3-7 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 0 6 2 2 0 0 16
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... * 4-8 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 2 8 3 0 2 0 31
54 MILES, Chris........ * 1-5 0-0 2-3 1 1 2 1 4 1 0 0 0 12
00 DAVIES, Brandon..... 2-4 0-0 3-6 0 1 1 1 7 0 0 1 0 11
01 ABOUO, Charles...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 8
10 LOYD, JR., Michael.. 8-9 1-2 2-2 0 4 4 3 19 2 1 1 1 24
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. 4-10 0-4 0-1 0 6 6 4 8 2 1 0 1 27
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 30-65 6-21 15-21 8 24 32 18 81 14 7 4 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-32 43.8% 2nd Half: 16-33 48.5% Game: 46.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-11 36.4% 2nd Half: 2-10 20.0% Game: 28.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 12-16 75.0% Game: 71.4% 3
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Officials: Randy McCall, Michael Irving, Frank Harvey, III
Technical fouls: New Mexico-None. BYU COUGARS-None.
Attendance: 22644
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
New Mexico.................... 43 40 - 83
BYU COUGARS................... 35 46 - 81
Marriott Center sellout
Points in the paint-NM 36,BY 40. Points off turnovers-NM 5,BY 16.
2nd chance points-NM 16,BY 17. Fast break points-NM 4,BY 10.
Bench points-NM 10,BY 34. Score tied-9 times. Lead changed-17 times.
Last FG-NM 2nd-00:38, BY 2nd-00:52.
Largest lead-NM by 10 2nd-19:34, BY by 5 1st-18:41.