Albuquerque, N.M. » Another long BYU basketball winning streak was snatched away in front of a crazed and hostile crowd Wednesday night, but this time the Cougars went down with a little bit of fight.

Surging past the No. 12-ranked Cougars with three huge field goals and just enough free throws in the final three minutes, No. 23 New Mexico held off BYU 76-72 to snap the 15-game winning streak in front of 14,586 delighted onlookers at The Pit.

"They just made a few more plays than we did," said BYU's Jonathan Tavernari. "When it counted, they made the plays we usually do."

BYU dropped to 21-2 overall and 5-1 in the Mountain West Conference with the loss, its first since falling 71-61 in front of a similarly rambunctious crowd Dec. 2 to Utah State in Logan.

"A loss is a loss -- it doesn't really matter how we feel," said Tavernari, but it was evident the Cougars felt like this is one they easily could have won.

Trailing most of the game, and falling behind by as many as nine points in the first half, coach Dave Rose's crew scratched and clawed its way back, answered almost every roar from the Lobos' crowd with a timely hoop or trip to the free-throw line.

"Great game," said Rose, although he was visibly upset with the officiating in the contest, going so far as to walk on to the court to mockingly shake referee Larry Spaulding's hand when 3.3 seconds remained on the clock.

"Two really good basketball teams were playing tonight," Rose said.

Ironically, the beginning of the end came for the Cougars moments after they took a 64-62 lead on Jimmer Fredette's three-pointer with about three minutes left. Fredette finished with a game-high 27 points on 8-for-21 shooting.

After a timeout, New Mexico's Phillip McDonald made a three-point play, hitting a fading 12-footer and drawing a foul on Fredette, then making the free throw.

"McDonald made a tough shot, a heck of a shot," Rose said.

Fredette tried desperately to get the same call on the other end, twice driving into the paint, but missed both layups and was not rewarded with a whistle either time.

"Sometimes the calls just don't go your way," Fredette said.

A.J. Hardeman's putback off a McDonald miss -- one of many offensive rebounds that killed the Cougars -- gave the Lobos a 67-64 lead, and left the Cougars having to foul in the final minute or so.

Both teams went 24-for-63 from the field, and the Cougars made eight three-pointers to New Mexico's seven.

The Lobos got 33 free throws, however, making 21, to improve to 19-3, 5-2 in league play.

drew@sltrib.com