New Mexico Sweeps Season Series Against BYU To Keep At-Large Hopes Alive

by Jeremy Mauss on Mar 2, 2011 10:06 PM PST in BYU Basketball

Final - 3.2.2011	1	2	Total
New Mexico Lobos	42	40	82
BYU Cougars	26	38	64

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So, maybe BYU will miss Brandon Davies as much as people are saying. I personally somewhat dismiss this game as it does not fully represent what BYU will be to end the season, but I could be wrong. The reason to be skeptical is because BYU is coming of their biggest win of the season by beating San Diego State over the weekend, then include the Brandon Davies suspension and BYU is not as focused as they should be.

Having said that, the Cougars were going up against a New Mexico team that had beaten BYU earlier in the season, so the Cougars should have been motivated.

Jimmer Fredette had another good game as he scored 33 -- while making only one-of-nine three-point shots-- but it was not enough to overcome the big first half that the Lobos had. Four New Mexico players scored in double figures and were lead by guard Phillip McDonald who had 26 points by going five-of-eight from beyond the arc. The New Mexico defense was stout tonight and took away the three-point shot from BYU as they limited the Cougars to only five three-pointers in 26 attempts.

This win for New Mexico will bring them back to the table to be considered for an at-large tournament berth. They now have swept BYU, but they also have loses against Utah (twice) and Wyoming and will end up with a .500 Mountain West record if they beat Air Force on Saturday.

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Poll

Is New Mexico now a NCAA tournament team?

Yes

47 votes

No

25 votes

They still need to win a game or more in the MWC tournament

83 votes

155 votes | Poll has closed

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Thanks Lobos!

Now we take a share of the regular season title on Saturday. I assume BYU still holds tie breaker for seeding in Vegas.

Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser. -- Vince Lombardi
We know we can't do it without you. Around here, there's no them. There's only us, and we're all in this thing together. -- Rob Neyer

by Sam (sdsuaztec4) on Mar 2, 2011 10:09 PM PST reply actions

Also

We wore them out for you.

by Sam (sdsuaztec4) on Mar 2, 2011 10:09 PM PST up reply actions

Ha!!

Then thank you as well!! Lobos have been an underacheiving team all year long. It’s good to get a win against such a quality team. Too bad Davies wasn’t able to play. I still think we would have won. We were on target and BYU wasn’t. That’s just the way it happens sometimes. I think the Lobos will have to make it to the MWC title game to be considered for an at-large bid. No guarantees even at that. GO LOBOS!!! WOOF!!

by LoboJo on Mar 3, 2011 12:43 AM PST up reply actions

Congratulations to New Mexico, but I still think they have too many bad losses to get an at-large.

Even if they make it to the MWC final, they will have three wins over BYU and two wins over CSU to put on their resume. They have too many bad losses, but if they make it to the MWC final, they should be in discussion. I just think that unless they win the MWC Tournament, they’re going to be on the wrong side of the discussion.

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UNLV is going to have 6 losses this year!
The Suns are going to be 57-25 in the regular season this year!

;)

Twitter: @rebelfan1_

by rebelfan1 on Mar 3, 2011 4:18 AM PST reply actions

So much for that #1 seed...

Even before the Davies suspension, I thought BYU had to win out to secure a 1 seed.

Resign ≠ Re-sign

by Tarkus on Mar 3, 2011 5:28 AM PST reply actions

Even if they get to the MWC championship game

I don’t think they get an at large bid, they’d have to get the auto bid. But good game NM, they couldn’t miss and we couldn’t make it. Hopefully we can regroup and still make a good run in the tourney.

by sabbi on Mar 3, 2011 6:22 AM PST via mobile reply actions

Lobos

need to hope for minimum teams stealing bids during conference tourney play.

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by Jeremy Mauss on Mar 3, 2011 8:06 AM PST via mobile up reply actions

That would definitely help....

I just hope we finish the year out strong to give us momentum going into next year.

by LoboJo on Mar 3, 2011 10:06 AM PST via mobile up reply actions

But if that happens

I think most of those bids would go to fringe major conference teams.

by sabbi on Mar 3, 2011 11:47 AM PST up reply actions

Agreed

There is bias towards those conferences, with the thinking that they’re battle tested. The good news is that the bias isn’t as strong as it is in football and it’s most definitely not expressed as blatantly as Craig James and Co. state their bias.

UNLV is going to have 6 losses this year!
The Suns are going to be 57-25 in the regular season this year!

;)

Twitter: @rebelfan1_

by rebelfan1 on Mar 3, 2011 3:18 PM PST up reply actions

NCAAB is defiantly not as bad as NCAAF.

And the MWC gets pretty good respect from people who know what they’re talking about. But there’s still a bias.

by sabbi on Mar 3, 2011 5:31 PM PST via mobile up reply actions

You know ....

What got lost in all the conversation about BYU’s Honor Code and Brandon Davies is the fact that the Lobos played a GREAT game. I’m not sure BYU would have lost anyway, even if Davies had played. New Mexico’s outside game FINALLY showed up and that’s what doomed BYU. Yes, the game would have been totally different with Davies in the lineup, I’m just saying the Lobos played a great game got very little press and credit due to the Honor Code issue.

We’re peaking at the right time, providing BYU beats Wyoming on Saturday, which they should, and New Mexico beats Air Force at home, which we should, that puts us in the same bracket as BYU in the MWC tourney. Provided we can get by CSU, which is doable, that should put us in another matchup with BYU in the quarterfinals. BYU doesn’t match up well with us. If we can get past BYU, that puts us into the championship game. We played SDSU and Las Vegas close in each game and we didn’t play all that well. It’s a longshot, but I wouldn’t count the Lobos out just yet.

by LoboJo on Mar 4, 2011 8:44 AM PST reply actions