Blog

So, I type this still flossing the crow from my teeth (since you probably missed it, I was one of several picking UNM to lose to BYU on Saturday). ...

How big was this win?

It's difficult to know where to begin.

We could start with the milestones. The Lobos 83-81 win over BYU in Provo clinches the Mountain West Conference title for UNM, marking the first time since 1945 that it has won consecutive league crowns (trivia answer: the Border Conference).

The victory was also the Lobos 13th straight, all in conference play, setting a MWC record. The record had belonged to the 2005 Utah team, the same one that later advanced to the Sweet 16 as a No. 6 seed.

There are more numbers of note, but enough about what this game did and on to what it could do ...

* The Lobos cleared another big hurdle on their way to a possible elite seed. We're talking anything from No. 2-4, which might clear a path for a historic and long awaited NCAA Tournament run. Is it bad of me to recall 1997 when UNM was a No. 3 seed and fell in Round 2?

* This game could sway a lot of voters to pick Darington Hobson as the MVP of the Mountain West. First, now that UNM has clinched a share of the league title, Hobson is the best player on the best team, which for a lot of people, is the essence of an MVP.

It was fitting that the game ended on Hobson's swat of BYU big man Noah Hartsock because that's the area in which Hobson separates himself from the other leading candidate, Jimmer Fredette of BYU. Both players can score and pass. Hobson isn't a great defender, but he makes critical plays, such as that late block, when UNM needs them. He also leads the league in defensive rebounding. And, as coaches always say, a defensive trip doesn't end till the rebound is secured. Something that stood out to me when UNM and BYU played the first time: Fredette didn't guard Dairese Gary, yet Gary guarded him.

Right now, I'd vote for Hobson.

This game wasn't all sterling for the Lobos.

UNM coach Steve Alford again displayed some vitriol immediately after the game, calling BYU's Jonathan Tavernari a name that we'd have to bleep on the air.

Apparently the coach was peeved because Tavernari refused to shake hands with Darington Hobson. Tavernari thought Hobson threw an elbow late in the game.

If this all went down as reported, neither Tavernari nor Alford exhibited much sportsmanship. I do expect more out of Alford, because he is older and a coach, but Tavernari's a senior.

We've seen this before. Local TV cameras once caught Alford screaming and threatening some opposing players after a game. These players didn't shake hands either. I can certainly understand Alford being peeved and defending his players, but his response is hypocritical. How do you justify combating poor sportsmanship with poor sportsmanship?

After cooling off Tavernari reportedly apologized to Alford.

You have to wonder how it might have ended if Fredette played more than 59 seconds in the final half. Fredette reportedly came down with a stomach ailment, sapping his energy, so he sat. I'm not suggesting that BYU would have won without Fredette, but I still wonder. If you ask any Lobos, I'd bet they'd say they'd rather have seen Fredette play too. Because then they have no lingering doubt.

This is just the latest example of the many great breaks UNM has gotten this year, it's been a season with nearly devoid of bad luck. No injuries of note. No buzzer beaters to knock them off. Nothing.

Then there's the fact that they have gotten some important wins against shorthanded teams -- NMSU (twice) and Cal. Don't forget the fact UNM played ranked Texas A&M at a neutral site, during Christmas (read: no students) so that win probably got inflated a bit.

How long can this last?

Maybe the Lobos get all the breaks, but the MWC doesn't.

Saturday's game was probably the biggest basketball game in the short history of the league. It was the first matchup between MWC teams, both ranked in the top 15.

But losses by No. 1 Kansas, No. 2 Kentucky and a top 10 Big East battle between Syracuse and Villanova, which set an attendance record for an on campus game (34,616), overshadowed it.

Oh and it didn't help that the UNM-BYU game wasn't on big network.