Provo » It's probably a good thing for BYU's Jonathan Tavernari that he is a senior and never has to go back to Albuquerque for a game against New Mexico.

Lobos' coach Steve Alford , on the other hand, can probably expect an interesting reception when he takes his team to the Marriott Center next year.

Tavernari and Alford were involved in some postgame jawing in the handshake line after the Lobos' 83-81 win, and several bystanders said Alford called Tavernari an "a------", among other things.

At least two New Mexico assistant coaches also had some angry words for Tavernari before players and officials from both teams intervened.

Then, about 15 minutes after the game ended, Tavernari was accompanied by BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe to New Mexico's locker room. When Alford opened the door, Tavernari apologized for his behavior.

Alford told Tavernari that he initially was just trying to tell him that he had a heck of a career at BYU.

The bad blood started brewing when Tavernari and New Mexico's Darington Hobson were involved in a minor skirmish with 52 seconds remaining after Michael Loyd 's dunk tied the score at 80-80. Officials reviewed the game tape to see if any punches were thrown. Tavernari claimed that Hobson threw an elbow after a timeout was called.

Officials "just reviewed it to see if anything was flagrant," said BYU coach Dave Rose . "They felt like the players were kind of engaged in normal play, and there wasn't anything to be called."

Hobson, who had 20 points and 14 rebounds, said he and Tavernari "were both shoving" during the timeout.

"I respect him," Hobson said. "He's also from Las Vegas, a good friend of mine. I wish him the best of luck, and he's a classy guy for what he did after the game" in approaching the New Mexico locker room.

Loyd lights it up

BYU's 83-81 loss marred an otherwise spectacular game for BYU's third-string point guard, Loyd. With Jimmer Fredette ailing, Loyd scored a career-high 19 points, all in the second half. His previous high was 17 against Eastern New Mexico.

"We didn't know if Jimmer was going to be able to play," said Tyler Haws . "We just went out there and battled and tried to play up-tempo and make good decisions, and Mike did a great job in that second half. He did a great job coming in for us."

drew@sltrib.com