In a performance not characteristic of a Roger Reid-coached team, BYU blew a big lead - and the game - Friday night to New Mexico, 68-59.
The victory gives the Lobos (23-6) a 4-0 record against BYU (24-8) in WAC tournament play, and advances them to the championship game tonight. It also marks the second time they have beaten the Cougs in six days."We just got careless," said Y. forward Jared Miller. "We just got comfortable. We forgot what got us there."
"There" was a 14-point halftime lead, which the Cougs had carved out by playing probably their best defensive half of the season. BYU limited the high-scoring Lobos to 19 first-period points, their lowest total in a half this season.
Mark Durrant did a solid defensive job on UNM's hot-shooting Ike Williams in the half. Williams made all four shots he took, but all four came when Durrant was on the bench. And UNM's other players were completely stifled - Khari Jaxon, Greg Brown and Canonchet Neves combined to miss all 13 shots they attempted.
But the Cougars balanced that effort with perhaps their worst offensive half of the season. Against a New Mexico squad described by its coach as "not a great defensive team," the Cougs made 9 of 30 shots in the second period - 30 percent.
"We were a little hurried, we took some bad shots at times," Reid said.
"We didn't execute our offense like we did in the first half," Miller added. The Lobos, meanwhile, saved their best for last. With 12 minutes left in the game, they were shooting 27.9 percent as a team and still trailing by eight. From that point, they made 10 of 12 field goals, 11 of 13 free throws.
"We were able to get hot at the right time," said New Mexico coach Dave Bliss.
The key stretch started at the 8:48 mark, with BYU up 45-39 but standing around waiting for something to happen. BYU guard Randy Reid, going up for a shot, had the ball stolen by UNM's Greg Brown, who fed Williams for a slam dunk. Seconds later, Khari Jaxon stole the ball from BYU's Kevin Nixon, resulting in another dunk by Williams.
"Those two dunks kind of got them down," said Logan. "I could see it in their faces."
Nixon answered with a layup to put the Cougs back up by four, but the Lobos came back with seven straight points to take their first lead.
"We gave them a few shots, and it gave them confidence," said BYU guard Kurt Christensen. "It seemed like the momentum changed."
New Mexico never trailed again. BYU tied the game at 52-52, but the Lobos then ran off eight points in a row and the Cougars had to try fouling to catch up.
It didn't work.
The Lobos said afterward that an "R-rated" halftime speech by Bliss got them motivated. They also said they weren't surprised that they played so poorly in the first half and so well in the second.
"That's why they made two halves," Jaxon said. "One half to mess up and the other to come back."
The Cougars understand about having a half to mess up - just look at their second period. Guard Nick Sanderson made 4 of 12 shots; Thursday's hero, Kevin Nixon, was 1 for 6; Gary Trost managed four points, Jared Miller two.
Miller wound up as BYU's high scorer, with 15, and 13 rebounds. Sanderson finished with 14 and Trost 13.
For New Mexico, Williams broke loose in the second half and finished with 28 points, making 12 of 14 shots. Six-footer Logan scored 22 and hauled down a career-high nine rebounds.
The defeat probably won't keep BYU out of the NCAA Tournament, pairings for which will be announced Sunday, but it virtually assures them of another tough matchup in the first round.
Reid downplayed the effect this game might have, saying, "We're not going to get a lot of respect in our conference, seeding-wise, anyway."
Especially not after this.
GAME NOTES: Miller broke the BYU season record for fouls late in the game with a hack of Canonchet Neves. He now has 115, one more than the 114 committed by Greg Kite in 1981 and Glen Roberts in '78 . . . The Lobos got a lot more crowd support than they expected; A large contingent of Utah fans cheered for them - or was that against BYU? - lustily.