In Section 21 of The Pit, three BYU fans showed up with a sign that read, “You Got Jimmered.”
Unfortunately for the Cougars and their fans, BYU got “Snelled” on Saturday. The UNM men’s basketball team erased a 13-point deficit with the help of freshman guard Tony Snell and defeated No. 9 BYU 86-77. Snell had a career-high 16 points and hit four 3-pointers in the second half.
“I just played big,” Snell said. “Did what the coaches told me.”
Down 53-40 with 14:14 to go in the game, UNM rallied with a 10-0 run. Snell hit a reverse lay-up to cut the lead to 53-52 with 11:21 left. He also drained two 3-pointers in the final two minutes.
BYU head coach Dave Rose said the Cougars’ defense fell apart in the final 10 minutes of the game.
“I thought the first 30 minutes of the game we were in a pretty good spot,” Rose said. “When they spread the floor small and put all those shooters around, and they started hitting them and then got the lead, it’s hard to keep everything under control.”
Aside from his offensive output, Snell was one of two Lobos assigned to guard BYU’s Jimmer Fredette, the nation’s leading scorer averaging 27.4 points per game.
Coming in at 55 percent from beyond the 3-point line in his previous three games, Fredette was 6-of-9 from beyond the arc and 12-of-26 from field-goal range. He finished with 32 points and hit an array of dazzling, difficult shots.
“He’s a beast,” Dairese Gary said. “What can you say? Some of the shots he made, I was like, ‘Wow. Did he just make that in my face?’ A player like that, you have to live and die defending him one-on-one.”
Fredette said the Lobos’ defense deserves all the credit during Saturday’s matchup.
“Steve Alford is a very defensive-minded coach,” Fredette said. “Our game plan was to go out and make it tough as we can on them. I made some tough shots, and I made some plays, but in the end, they just made more plays then we did.”
Fredette had six points through the first 11 minutes of the game before getting into a rhythm before halftime. He hit a 3-pointer and a jumper in the final three minutes of the first half.
UNM also found its shooter Saturday.
Alford said Snell hit big shots in the clutch.
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“We’ve seen this coming all along,” Alford said. “His whole thing is having the confidence that he can do it. We’ve seen him do well in practice, and that’s why his minutes have gone up. We’re a little bit more potent on offense, and we’re getting better on defense, and part of that was waiting for the maturation of Tony.”
While Fredette got his points, other BYU players struggled to make baskets.
Cougar forward Brandon Davies picked up on some of the scoring. Davies had eight points in the first half and finished the game with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Davies battled with UNM’s Drew Gordon. Gordon was the garbage man picking up his sixth double-double of the season. He had 15 points and nabbed 12 rebounds. Gordon nearly had the double-double at the half, but was one rebound shy.
Gary finished with 14 points and 10 assists, and freshman Kendall Williams put up 16 points.
Gary said he made the extra passes, and Snell did the rest.
“Luckily Tony made the right shots for me,” he said.
