ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- President Clinton vacationing in Baghdad. Kenneth Starr dropping by the White House. BYU playing basketball at The Pit.
Of those three scenarios, only the latter will happen. The Cougars, whether they like it or not, must face New Mexico tonight. Tipoff is at 7:05 and the game will be televised live by Ch. 5.The Pit, which seats 18,000, is already a tough enough venue to play in, what with its raucous, cherry-and-silver-clad fans screaming at decibles that would give Metallica a headache.
On top of that, the No. 18 ranked Lobos (3-2 in the WAC, 16-4 overall) haven't won a game in two weeks. And they also have a score to settle with BYU (3-3, 8-10).
A year ago, the lowly Cougars, just a year removed from that dreadful 1-25 season, shocked the mighty Lobos. Didn't just beat them. Humiliated them, 83-62. And muzzled the crowd in the process.
The Lobos hadn't lost in 41 previous home games and they haven't lost since. New Mexico is 56-1 during that stretch.
Cougar guard Todd Christensen was serving a mission in Chile at the time and when he heard the news a week later via a letter from home, he couldn't believe it. "I was like, 'No way,"' he recalled. "I wondered how they did that."
They did that, in part, by sinking 12 3-pointers and limiting New Mexico to 41 percent shooting.
This year, the Lobos are coming off a two-game losing streak -- it's only the second time in four years they have lost consecutive games. They fell to in-state rival New Mexico State, 76-55, and were crushed by UTEP, 67-49.
Speaking of road debacles, the Cougars are fresh off a 87-72 blowout at the hands of the Miners. And they're not exactly thrilled about their next assignment.
"New Mexico will be ready for us," said BYU coach Steve Cleveland. "They are 15-0 at home this year, including a win over Arizona. We need to execute and hope we shoot the ball as well as we did last year."
Center Bret Jepsen, who hails from Roswell, N.M., sounds like he'd rather be spending the evening in a dentist's chair rather than The Pit.
"I never look forward to (playing here)," he said. "It's so tough at their place. They're going to remember what we did to them last year."
Oh yes, they will.
"I'm glad we only play here once a year," Jepsen added.
New Mexico is led by the one-two scoring punch of guard Lamont Long (18.6 points per game) and center Kenny Thomas (17.7 ppg). To pull another upset, the Cougars will have to fare much better defensively than they did against UTEP, where they allowed the Miners to shoot 56 percent and score 87 points.
"They have a lot of talent, and Kenny Thomas and Lamont Long are veteran players that will be tough to handle," Cleveland said.
While the Cougar guardline steadily improves, BYU coaches are still searching for answers in the post. Jepsen hasn't started in five games and is not much of a factor offensively. Mekeli Wesley and Silester Rivers have shown flashes of offensive firepower but have been inconsistent. Against UTEP, they combined for 15 points before fouling out midway through the second half.
Still, Cleveland was pleased with the production he received from center Mark Michaelis Thursday. The 6-10 sophomore scored eight points against the Miners in only 13 minutes of action.
NOTES: Guard Mark Bigelow was 4 of 8 from the floor against UTEP after going 3-23 in his previous three games . . . Two years ago New Mexico defeated BYU 74-32 at The Pit . . . BYU leads the all-time series with New Mexico, 57-42, dating back to 1951 . . . BYU hasn't swept a season series from the Lobos since 1995.