PROVO, Utah — Phillip McDonald scored 26 points to lead New Mexico to an 82-64 upset of No. 3 BYU on Wednesday night just two days after the Cougars dismissed leading rebounder Brandon Davies for a violation of the school's honor code.
The loss left the Cougars (27-3, 13-2 Mountain West) reeling just as they had vaulted into the top five nationally and sought a coveted No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
That looks like a long shot now even though the Cougars still have national player of the year candidate Jimmer Fredette.
Fredette had 33 points but it came on 10-of-26 shooting including 1-of-9 from 3-point range in a game that saw BYU try to find the right combination on the court without Davies.
BYU started 6-foot-10 junior James Anderson in Davies' place but coach Dave Rose quickly went to Plan B and inserted Kyle Collinsworth.