Hats off to the Lobos

Well, finding a way to win at the Marriott Center is difficult, and New Mexico found a way.  They were aided by several key plays down the stretch.  An offensive rebound that led to an easy putback, a block on BYU's game-tying layup with 2 seconds left, and a tip on the final desperation attempt by BYU with .6 seconds left.

Despite the season sweep, I am still not convinced this Lobo team is better than BYU.  I am not just being a homer.  Here is my reasoning.  BYU played like crap at the Pit.  Jimmer was the only one capable of doing anything remotely positive that game, and he only shot 40%.  Still, New Mexico needed a few lucky breaks and some solid free throw shooting at the end to come out with a 4-point win.  Then, at the Marriott Center, BYU had 3 wide open looks from 3 in the last minute.  If they make any one of the 3, they might just have won.  They were that close to winning despite playing the entire second half without the services of future second team All-American Jimmer Fredette.  If they meet in the conference finals, I do anticipate BYU finding a way to win.

With the win, the Lobos clinch at least a share of the conference championship, and do clinch the number 1 seed in the MWC tournament.  I also believe that with the win, Darington Hopson will be the conference player of the year.  Why?  When BYU wins the conference, they do not get the player of the year, even when they clearly have the player of the year on their team.  When they don't win the conference, they certainly won't get it.

I think the loss, while it obviously hurts BYU, has three positive aspects to it.  You gotta see the bright side, right?  One, they will play UNLV in the second round of the tournament instead of the finals.  Nobody can beat UNLV in the Finals.  The only chance to knock them off is in the opening round or in the semis.  I'm not saying they will beat them in the semis, but the odds are greater there.  Two, this puts a 3-seed in the NCAAs as an impossibility.  Why is that good, you might ask?  Well, if they were a 3-seed in the tourney, they would, in all likelihood, be shipped off to the East Regional played in Syracuse where they have zero chance of any home court advantage.  There are some too-long-to-discuss-here bracketing rules that would likely send any 3-seed from the West (BYU, New Mexico, or Gonzaga) to the East (or South in the case of New Mexico) Regional and whatever Big East team ends up with a 3-seed would come to the West Regional.  However, as a 4-seed, they will most likely get placed in the West Regional (played in Salt Lake City) and get a San Jose pod in the opening rounds.  That gives them a homecourt advantage for as long as they stay in the tournament.  Three, talk about a confidence builder for some of the role players.  Tyler Haws, Noah Hartsock, and Michael Loyd all had great games, which will help them out in the MWC and NCAA tournaments.  They all needed a chance to realize they can play with the best teams in the nation.

Obvious the loss hurts, and you can point to a number of things that caused it.  Jimmer not playing, 5 straight empty possessions to end the game, the inability to get defensive rebounds, and 3 of the 4 questionable calls down the stretch went the way of the Lobos (very similar to the game at the Pit).  Most BYU fans will blame the calls, or Jimmer not playing.  When it comes down to it though, New Mexico made shots and BYU did not.  End of story.