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PROVO, Utah (AP) -- Jimmy Balderson scored 21 points and Brigham Young reached 20 wins under first-year coach Dave Rose, beating New Mexico 76-68 Saturday night.
The Cougars (20-7, 12-4 Mountain West) held the Lobos scoreless for a 4-minute stretch near the end and were almost perfect from the free throw line in the second half, making 19 of 21 over the final 20 minutes.
BYU, the preseason pick to finish last in the MWC, won its sixth straight and tied Air Force for second in the final league standings. The Cougars will be the third seed in the conference tournament next week because the Falcons won the tiebreaker.
New Mexico (17-12, 8-8), which had won five of seven, made 11 of 21 3-pointers, but went just 5-for-12 from the free throw line.
Jeff Hart led the Lobos, tying his career high with 15 points. Mark Walters was the only other Lobo in double figures, scoring 13.
Brock Reichner, BYU's only senior, scored 11 in his final home game. Keena Young scored 13, Rashaun Broadus had 12 points and Trent Plaisted scored 10 for BYU.
After falling behind 62-60 on a 3-pointer by Kellen Walter with 4:34 left, BYU closed the game on a 16-6 run and shut out the Lobos until just 22 seconds remained. Plaisted tied it at 62, Balderson made a steal and two free throws after getting fouled with 2:20 to put BYU up to stay.
Broadus, Balderson and Young sealed it in the final 2 minutes by making all their free throws.
BYU won the rebounding battle 35-26.
BYU opened the second half with a 16-5 run, but started to turn the ball over midway through the half and the Lobos never trailed by more than seven.
Walters hit a pullup jumper in the lane to put New Mexico back ahead 56-55 with 6:47 left, then after a layup by Reichner -- who New Mexico fans felt should have been called for an offensive foul on the play -- Walter hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the Lobos.
Plaisted tied it at 62-all and Balderson put BYU back on top with two free throws after making a steal and getting fouled by Blake Harden with 2:20 left in the game.
After a time out, Walters couldn't get the ball inbounds and New Mexico turned it over on a 5-second violation.
New Mexico shot well early in the first half and led 22-13, but the Cougars rallied late in the half, taking advantage of six straight missed free throws by the Lobos and had cut the lead to 34-33 at halftime.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
