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New Mexico coach Steve Alford said Monday that there's no reason for any punishment to be doled out for a colorful verbal exhange last Saturday in which he could be heard calling BYU forward Jonathan Tavernari an asshole after New Mexico's win over the Cougars.
"It happened in a competitive nature," Alford said of the incident, which occurred during the teams' post-game handshake. "I don't think there's any harm done.
The Mountain West Conference is investigating the incident.
The Lobos coach chalked up the graphic nature of his exchange with Tavernari to the "emotions" of the moment - which was caught in a video posted on YouTube.
"That's why they give players and coaches a 10-minute cool down before you address the media," Alford said. "It's because of emotions like this. In the handshake line, you don't get that. Everybody is still fired up about things."
Alford said he was trying to congratulate Tavernari, whom he called one of his favorite players, but the compliment apparently fell on deaf ears. The video shows Tavernari and Alford jawing at one another as the teams progress through the handshake line. At the end of the 18-second clip, Alford appears to be surprised at Tavernari's reaction to their exchange and says "You're an asshole" as the video ends.
After the incident, Tavernari went to the New Mexico locker room to apologize to Alford. He also offered to apologize to the rest of the Lobo team.
A post-game dust-up between New Mexico coach Steve Alford and BYU forward Jonathan Tavernari on Saturday has prompted a review by the Mountain West Conference.
After New Mexico won the game, the two benches met to shake hands. Which afforded Alford the perfect opportunity to tell Tavernari what he thought of him. This video clearly shows the Lobos coach calling the Cougars forward an “asshole”:
Earlier in the game, Tavernari was involved in an altercation with a New Mexico player, which may have prompted the above reaction from Alford.
MWC supervisor of officials Bobby Dibbler has reviewed the tape, according the The Deseret News, and could hand down punishment this week.
Read more and discuss the game at our BYU blog, Vanquish The Foe.
Provo, UT (Sports Network) - Dairese Gary posted 23 points with six assists as 10th-ranked New Mexico edged 13th-ranked BYU, 83-81, at Marriott Center.
Darington Hobson recorded 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Lobos (27-3, 13-2 MWC), who have won 13 straight games and moved a game and a half ahead of BYU in the conference. Roman Martinez nailed three triples en route to 15 points.
Michael Loyd scored 19 points for the Cougars (26-4, 11-3), who had won four in a row coming in. Tyler Haws had 18, while Jackson Emery posted 11 points, seven rebounds and five steals in defeat.
A.J. Hardeman hit a driving basket in the lane with 38 seconds left and the Lobos led 82-80, then Jonathan Tavernari missed a three. Gary made 1-of-2 from the foul line at the other end to extend New Mexico's margin to three.
Haws missed a three-point attempt, but when Emery was fouled on the rebound, he missed the front end. Emery hit the second for an 83-81 contest then fouled Gary, who proceeded to miss both free throws with 17 seconds to go.
Noah Hartsock followed with a long-range miss, but Will Brown also tanked his two from the line. However, BYU didn't get off a last-chance shot before the buzzer.
In a closely played first half, New Mexico forged ahead 35-31 on a jumper from Brown with 4:47 left. The bucket capped a quick 6-1 spurt.
Philip McDonald's trey increased the Lobos' edge to 38-33 with 3:20 left, then after Tavernari hit a deuce, New Mexico ran off the final five points to take an eight-point lead to halftime.
BYU kept plugging away at its deficit, and finally was able to do so with 4:38 played as Hartsock's layup made it 48-47. He made another easy bucket off the break for a 57-53 Cougars lead with 12:32 to play, but a Martinez trey just over a minute later created a 59-59 deadlock.
A Brandon Davies free throw with 6:48 to play boosted BYU to a 69-65 edge, but McDonald hit another three to give the Lobos a 70-69 lead.
Hobson hit from beyond the arc with 2:58 to play and New Mexico went up 80-76, but Loyd hit consecutive buckets for an 80-all tie inside a minute left.
New Mexico committed 15 turnovers in the victory, with BYU turning the ball over just seven times...McDonald ended up with nine points, on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc...Hartsock and Tavernari each finished with eight points.
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MWC Officially Reprimands New Mexico Coach Over Vulgarity
The Mountain West Conference posted a public reprimand of New Mexico head coach Steve Alford on their website in light of his verbal exchange with BYU forward Jonathan Tavernari on Saturday.
There will be no further punishment according to the statement.
Mar 01 11:03p by Sean Keeley - 0 comments