The UNM men's basketball team's heartbreaking 70-69 loss to BYU on Tuesday will be remembered for the Cougars snatching the win in the final seconds.
But as disappointing as the sequence was, the game was lost for the Lobos during regulation.
UNM entered the game leading the nation in 3-point accuracy, but was just 3-of-21 on Tuesday. And the Lobos' free-throw shooting woes continued, as they converted just 14-of-22 attempts - 12-of-20 in regulation.
Overall, UNM shot just 37 percent, going 26-of-71 from the field.
UNM head coach Steve Alford said he wasn't disappointed with the shot selection, and it was just an off night for the Lobos.
"I told them from day one I would never be upset with missed shots that were good shots," he said. "It was just a night that we missed a lot of shots that we normally make. And we still lose by one point to the best team in our league."
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The Lobos were 1-of-10 from 3-point range in the first half but kept firing from behind the arc.
Most of UNM's 3-pointers seemed to come in the normal flow of the offense - whether off screens or drive-and-dish opportunities.
For whatever reason, the team just couldn't get hot from deep against the Cougars.
"It was just a tough night for 3s," junior Roman Martinez said. "We got some great looks, and they just weren't falling. It came down to them hitting some big free throws at the end, and that was the game."
BYU took advantage of free throws, especially late. They were 19-of-28 for the game but made 7-of-8 in overtime.
The Cougars' Trent Plaisted drew a foul with five seconds left in overtime and drilled both to give BYU a 70-69 lead and eventual win.
However, the Lobos eight-missed free throws proved to be costly. As great a game as J.R. Giddens had - 30 points, seven rebounds and three blocks - he was just 6-of-13 from the line.
Giddens said there's nothing he can change preparation-wise from the free-throw line - he just has to be more successful in games.
"It's just a mental game," he said. "We shoot free throws every day. I work on my free throws every day. I just got to knock them down when I get up to the line."
One Lobo who hit his free throws was Chad Toppert, who finished 4-of-4 from the line. However, UNM's most deadly 3-point shooter went 0-of-5 from deep and 0-of-6 overall.
So much of the Lobos' success this season has come from outstanding 3-point shooting. So an off night like Tuesday makes it a grind to win, especially against a team the caliber of BYU, Alford said.
"Everybody had tough shooting nights," he said. "And when you have a team that really shoots the ball well like us, and we all have bad shooting nights, that makes it hard."
Now, all UNM can do is pick up the pieces and move on from the tough loss, Alford said.
"This is going to hurt for a while, because they've worked awfully hard to get to this point," he said. "It was just a tough shooting night."
