New Mexico vs BYU Basketball Recap

New Mexico 83, BYU 81

This game should have been played in March. Late March. In the Elite Eight.

Yes, Saturday's epic showdown between New Mexico and Brigham Young was that good. Coach Steve Alford's Lobos and Dave Rose's Cougars crafted a classic that soared above the rest of college basketball on Saturday afternoon.

While the Marriott Center rocked and rolled with off-the-charts energy, the Mountain West's best basketball teams attained a high level of quality near the end of the regular season. After two months of fighting through conference play, the preeminent teams in an underrated league showed just how good the MWC can be.

The biggest revelation from this game for casual college hoops fans - people who don't watch the Mountain West on a regular basis - is that the top teams in this conference can deliver an entertaining style of play but still get after it at the defensive end of the floor. New Mexico and BYU played at a crisp pace but generally avoided the temptation to force the tempo in situations that demanded a more patient approach.

BYU - who lost star guard Jimmer Fredette midway through the game with a stomach ache - was still able to function effectively on offense, largely because of the sensational play of backup guard Michael Loyd Jr., who led all BYU scorers with 19 points. New Mexico, for its part, went into one of college basketball's toughest arenas for visiting teams and hit 50 percent of its shots, with forward Roman Martinez and guard Dairese Gary combining to hit 13 of 24 shots, many of them in the crucible of late-game competition. All in all, this was clearly a game defined by the good plays produced by everyone on the floor, whereas many college basketball battles are sadly yet undeniably decided by a major mistake from a 19- or 20-year-old man-child.

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Of all the marvelous moments witnessed in this passion play in Provo, Utah, none stood out more than a ballsy bit of defense dished out by the leading Lobo on the court.

His teammates are exceptionally good - especially Gary and Martinez - but Darington Hobson is the straw that stirs the drink for New Mexico. The do-everything dynamo, with numbers almost as good as Player of the Year candidate Evan Turner of Ohio State, reminded BYU and its rabid fans why he's such a transcendent talent. Yes, Hobson scored 20 points and pulled down 14 boards in a man-sized showing, but the game-changing guard decided this clamorous competition in a different manner.

With New Mexico leading 83-81, Gary tightened up and badly missed two foul shots with 17 seconds left. BYU drew up a superb set play on its ensuing possession, and when Cougar forward Noah Hartsock broke open near the right low block, it appeared that the home team was going to send this de facto championship game into overtime.

Hobson had other ideas.

In a dramatic display of derring-do, Darington provided help-side defense and skied to forcefully deny Hartsock a foot and a half from the rim. The Lobos corralled the loose ball with one second left, and despite two more missed foul shots from New Mexico's Will Brown, BYU was unable to get a shot in the final second.

New Mexico did more than give BYU its first conference loss at home since UNLV won in Provo on Jan. 21 of last year. The Lobos locked up the top seed for the MWC Tournament and clinched a share of the league title. One more win next week will give UNM an outright title, and it's only appropriate that a big-league ballgame did indeed produce a champion.

After all, the New Mexico Lobos played like one on a very special Saturday in the shadow of the Wasatch Mountains.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer