Lobos Take Down Cougars At MWC Tournament, 85-71

March 10, 2005

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By EDDIE PELLS
AP Sports Writer

DENVER (AP) – They were ready for prime time, and next, the New Mexico Lobos
hope to prove they’re ready for the NCAA tournament, too.

Led by 23 points from Danny Granger and a career-high 12 assists from Mark
Walters, the Lobos beefed up their postseason resume Thursday night with an
85-71 victory over BYU in the first round of the Mountain West Conference
tournament.

Conference officials scheduled second-seeded New Mexico (24-6) for a 9 p.m.
EST start so more members of the NCAA selection committee – many of whom live
back East – would be awake to watch.

With their 24 wins being offset by a weak RPI rating of 85 and an abysmal
schedule rated 298th toughest in the country, the Lobos find themselves
squarely on the bubble to make the tournament for the first time since 1999.

They need to impress at every opportunity and they did just that against
overmatched BYU (9-21). Jared Jensen scored 19 points and Mike Hall had 13 for
the seventh-seeded Cougars, who finished the season on a five-game losing
streak and with the same record they had in 1997-98 – coach Steve Cleveland’s
first season with the program.

Pushing the pace all night, Walters finished with 12 points to go with his
12 assists. Alfred Neale went 4-for-5 from 3-point range to finish with 15. The
star of the team, Granger, showed his versatility – whirling in the paint,
spotting up outside and catching a long pass for a sweet dunk late to lead the
Lobos in scoring for the 16th time this season.

New Mexico forward Bambale Osby forces his way past BYU forward Jared Jensen during the first half. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)

New Mexico improved to 24-3 with Granger in the lineup – another factor the
Lobos hope the NCAA will consider – and coach Ritchie McKay got his first
career victory in a postseason conference tournament in five tries.

Conference commissioner Craig Thompson said the Lobos were given the prime
spot in the first day’s lineup – top-seeded Utah played at noon Denver time –
in part to give them the exposure they might need to give the conference a
second team in the NCAA’s 65-team field.

“It was definitely part of the decision,” he said. “It was that, the
crowd they could bring. They earned it.”

Not so happy was third-seeded Air Force, which played San Diego State in the
late game, with the winner advancing to face UNM on Friday.