LAS VEGAS — Once again, the UNM men’s basketball team will knock on BYU’s door.
The fifth-seeded Lobos, behind forward Drew Gordon’s 13th double-double, knocked fourth-seeded Colorado State Rams out of the Mountain West Conference tournament 67-61 in a seesaw affair at the Thomas & Mack Center that saw five second-half ties and lead changes.
“We made the winning plays down the stretch,” head coach Steve Alford said. “I could see their faces. We looked a little bit more confident, a little bit more comfortable that we were going to get over the hump and get this done.”
Except the Lobos aren’t done — they advanced to play top-seeded BYU in tonight’s semifinal matchup. UNM holds a four-game winning streak over the Cougars, who ended TCU’s season earlier in the day with a 64-58 victory.
“They’ve had an enormous amount of success in our league the last five years,” Alford said. “This is the top of our league. This is the best of the best. For us to advance now, we’ve got to beat that team three times in one year, and that’s not easy.”
Neither was it smooth sailing against the Rams.
To get there, the fifth-seeded Lobos got overall consistent effort from their starters.
Guard Kendall Williams had a game-high 16 points, and point guard Dairese Gary scored nine.
Forward Drew Gordon was the spark plug, putting up yet another double-double (13 points, 13 rebounds).
“Our wings and point guards have good spacing on the floor, so it kind of opens up the inside for me to go one-on-one with whomever I’m playing to get the rebounds,” Gordon said.
Tied 59-59 with two minutes to play, Gordon found Gary on a cut to the basket, and he banked a layup off the glass to give the Lobos a two-point lead.
On the next possession, Gordon swarmed CSU’s Andy Ogide and forced him to miss a contested shot. Then Gordon found forward Cameron Bairstow open for a mid-range jumper that gave the Lobos a 63-59 lead with less than a minute to play.
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“I had to hold my breath because he just subbed in,” Gordon said. “He did a great job, shot it with confidence and knocked it down.”
Gordon pulled down a defensive rebound on the next possession and was fouled. He made his free throws and put the contest out of reach for CSU.
“You don’t get points for being fouled; you get points for making foul shots,” Alford said. “I think he’s (Gordon) learned that.”
The Lobos almost didn’t get the chance: They nearly shot themselves in the foot during the second half. Up 44-36, the Lobos didn’t hit a field goal for more than five minutes and allowed CSU to take a 47-46 lead off Dorian Green’s 3-point jumper with 12:21 left.
Then things got interesting.
The Lobos stopped CSU on its next two possessions. Gordon hit two free throws and Jamal Fenton hit a long 3 to give the Lobos a 51-47 lead.
CSU responded with two quick baskets from Pierce Hornung and took a one-point lead. Back and forth they went.
UNM shot just 39 percent from the field to CSU’s 45 percent, but the Lobos made up for it at the free-throw line, where they were 17-of-25.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well again tonight,” Alford said. “But we out-rebounded them badly. We did a lot of good things at the defensive end and got to the free-throw line.”
UNM went into the half with a 36-29 lead. They took control of the game with quick penetration from Williams and strong inside work from forward A.J. Hardeman, who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Their inside game benefited from the absence of CSU’s Adam Nigon, who sat out because of an injury he sustained in practice.
The Lobos likely ended any chance of CSU making the NCAA tournament.
“It’s disappointing,” CSU head coach Tim Miles said. “Anytime you fall short of a goal, you put a lot of heart and work into it. It disappoints you.”
