New Mexico's at-large NCAA Tournament chances are on life-support after losing to Utah at home which was their third straight loss in a row. New Mexico does have a few chances since they play UNLV at home and get a chance to go for the sweep when they travel to take on BYU.
Traditionally, New Mexico is very good at home and prior to this game Utah had not beaten the Lobos at the Pit since 2002. This is the third crippling loss New Mexico has suffered on the year as the Lobos were swept by the Utes with the other loss being on the road against Wyoming which ended in similar fashion where Wyoming hit a buzzer beater to beat New Mexico.
In this game New Mexico could never pull away from the Utes in this game. It was back and forth the entire game, and part of that was due to that the Lobo bench only scored two of the
The game came down to the end and was won by Utah's Chris Hines who banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer for the 62-60 win. The three-pointer was not just a stand up three, but it was an off-balanced shot well behind the college three point line. The shot was set up when New Mexico's Phillip McDonald missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity with 17.3 seconds left, and Utah pushed it up court. The Utes lost control of the ball at the top of the key with the final seconds ticking off before Hines was able to get the ball back and was able to get off the game winner.
Now New Mexico is looking at being the five seed for the Mountain West tournament which means they will most likely be playing the Colorado St. Rams which could determine both teams NCAA Tournament fate.
Follow Mountain West Connection via Twitter and Facebook for News Quick Hits and Random Nonsense.