LAS VEGAS – It was the best show Vegas had to offer — unfortunately for the UNM men’s basketball team, its star performer missed the second act.
Much of the second half, point guard Dairese Gary sat on bench with a wrapped knee and might have seen his illustrious college career end with an 87-76 loss to BYU in the Mountain West Conference tournament semifinals on Friday.
With 19:25 left to play Gary took an inside drive with the shot clock running down. Suddenly, he fell to the ground and hobbled onto the floor. He lay wincing in pain, grabbing his right leg. He limped off the court into the locker room on the shoulders of two trainers and his head coach.
“He’s been our little bus,” UNM head coach Steve Alford said. “He was doing everything he could to help his team from the sideline. The guys feel for him. You never like having any of your players get hurt. It’s even harder I think when you’re a senior.”
UNM has an outside shot to make the NCAA tournament, but if not, the Lobos, with their fourth-straight 20-win season under Alford, are prime candidates to make the NIT field.
Before Gary went down, the storyline was about the superhuman shooting performance from BYU’s Jimmer Fredette. The National Player of the Year candidate scored a career-high 52 points, 33 of which came in the first half. He hit 22 baskets out of 37 shots and made just one free-throw. His performance set a Mountain West Conference all-time single game scoring record.
“I just shot the ball really well,” Fredette said. “I thought it was a huge team effort just because these guys were rebounding the heck out of the ball and getting it out in transition. They were doing a good job of setting screens, spacing the floor so that they (UNM) couldn’t just double-team me.”
Fredette came out scorching as he scored BYU’s first ten points. However, UNM kept the game close and matched Fredette shot for shot in the first half.
Although UNM was down early, the Lobos used a 6-0 run, propelled by an emphatic Phillip McDonald dunk to tie the game at 12-12. Fredette answered with a jumper. But McDonald hit a wide-open 3 on the next possession to give UNM its first lead, 15-14.
“Obviously, Fredette had one of those career nights. He put on an incredible performance,” Alford said. “We were matching them possession for possession.”
UNM went into locker after the first half down 47-42 and in a position to win their fifth-straight game against the Cougars.
Then came Gary’s injury.
“Having him go down and seeing him in a wrap really kind of hurt the team,” UNM’s center Drew Gordon said. “But it’s the middle of the game, so you need to keep focusing on the task at hand.”
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With Gary out and the Lobos down, the team showed heart and came back to tie the game at 49. UNM continued to match BYU shot for shot, despite the absence of its lone senior.
Guards Jamal Fenton and Kendall Williams took turns playing point guard. The two combined for 27 points and six assists but committed eight turnovers.
Gary’s absence was evident when either guard tried to penetrate the lane. UNM couldn’t break BYU’s 2-3 zone and committed 10 second-half turnovers.
“It’s something we haven’t had to do,” Alford said. “It’s a hard thing for our young guys to do. I can’t fault their effort. They were thrown into a position they have never seen this year.”
The Lobos were also inconsistent late in the game and finally broke down after they tied the game 58-58 with nine minutes left to play.
Gordon, the catalyst for the team’s offense during Gary’s absence, found himself in foul trouble. With Gordon on the bench, BYU broke away and took a 78-67 lead with only two minutes left to play. He finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds, his 12th double-double of the season.
“It was a lot of energy a lot of passion a lot of emotion on the floor,” Gordon said. “When Dairese went down, it will zap the energy out of anybody for a short period of time, seeing one of your brothers fall. It hurt us. But there’s nothing you can do.”
The Lobos had a chance to come within one possession with just a minute left to play. But Fenton turned the ball over driving inside, and Fredette intercepted the ball. The BYU record-breaker then darted across the court for an uncontested layup to give the Cougars a 80-72 lead with 43 seconds left to play.
Suddenly, the game was a contest BYU could only lose from the free-throw line. Unfortunately for the Lobos, BYU didn’t disappoint.
UNM finished 21-12 overall. BYU, in its last season in the MWC, finished 30-3, two of which came against UNM.
The Lobos came into the contest with a three-game winning streak, but just weren’t the same withoutGary, who finished with seven assists and nine points in just 21 minutes of play.
“He’s meant so much, done so much for our program,” Alford said. “Our thoughts, our prayers, everything is going to him over the next 48 hours.”
