| Show Lobos tied with Utes s in Cougars close behind Marco Villano Special to the C Chronicle Luke Nevill scored 16 points in New Mexico Tuesday night despite fouling out of the game with four minutes left Utah lost 77 It was clear that title implications were on the theline theline theline line Tuesday night in The Pit Ph After a March Madness- Madness caliber night in New Mexico the Lobos Lobo are now tied with the Utes atop the Mountain West Conference at 4 11 after a 77 71 win over Utah The Utes are arenow arenow arenow now on a two-game two skid and BYU 4 10 could see themselves among the leaders if it gets a win against Wyoming tonight You have to give New v Mexico credit they have havea a good team but I have a good team too said head coach Jim Boylen On Senior Night in The Pit the Utes lost their cool with 10 minutes left and couldn't regain it in time The Lobos had already taken advantage of the fans on hand to celebrate the last game before the famed stadium goes under renovations The Lobos went on a 12 0 y run that spanned nearly four minutes to take a 60 47 lead avith less than 10 minutes in the game During that stretch the Utes had eight turnovers and only three baskets Utah chipped away at the lead in hi the final five minutes of the half with the brunt of the scoring coming from Tyler who scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half including several that came on with New Mexico holding a comfortable lead The closest the Utes came to catching the Lobos was 66 61 with two minutes left after a and one missed a chance to cut it to four less than a minute later and New Mexico ran away with the game from there I thought we battled very hard Boylen said They made some down the stretch but we beefed up our pressure on defense and had some success In their final home games seniors Tony Dandridge Daniel Faris Fans and Chad left it all out on the floor They fed the crowd the crowd fed them and they were instrumental inthe in inthe inthe the win Dandridge was the Lobos' Lobos main scoring threat scoring a high career-high 29 points blowing off the fact that Lawrence Borha one of the best defenders in the conference was guarding him Faris Paris fed off of the crowds crowd's energy and frustrated Luke Nevill into two fouls which sent him to the bench with just under four minutes left in the game Nevill's point 16 rebound 10 game was not enough particularly in the second half in which he only scored one field go goal goaland goaland a and two free throws kept New Mexico o in the game for the first half taking the lead twice with two 3 Late in the second he knocked down clutch free throws helping extend the Lobos' Lobos lead and finished the game with 12 points Nevill fouled out of the game for the first time this season after Faris Paris pestered him all night Wyoming could become Utah's greatest ally down the stretch as it hosts BYU on Wednesday before taking on New Mexico in inthe inthe inthe the season regular-season finale The Utes will have to beat on Saturday in their own Senior Night if they want to control their own destiny and a chance to win their first conference title in four years |
