This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

New Mexico's Pit was rocking this afternoon — literally. Seven rows of benches broke in the lower portion of the student section on Saturday, but weren't discovered until the students rushed the floor after the 86-77 win over BYU. A UNM spokesperson said nobody was hurt. Of course, the Pit recently underwent a $60 million renovation that has been dogged by problems, including the failure to meet fire code standards. The benches are expected to be repaired before UNM's next home game. After the loss, BYU's third straight at The Pit, coach Dave Rose was asked whether he will miss playing at the arena as the Cougars move to the West Coast Conference. "Yeah, this is a good place to play. It is a great energy. You don't have to worry about getting your guys ready to play here, because your guys come ready to go," Rose said. He was then asked by a New Mexico reporter if BYU will schedule the Lobos again (as if it is only BYU's decision). "We will see. We will see how that goes," Rose said.—————————————— More comments from Rose after the Cougars' second loss of the season: Opening statement: "They've got a really good team. And they play really well in this building. I think what surprises you is when someone comes in and beats them. When San Diego State came and beat them here a week or two ago that was a surprise. Jimmer talks offensively and all these questions are kinda to him about offense. I felt that offensively, except for the first few minutes of the game where we couldn't make a basket, that we actually played pretty well. Defensively we had a hard time getting them stopped the last 10 minutes of the game. I thought the first 30 minutes of the game we were actually in a pretty good spot defensively. But when they spread the floor and went small and put all those shooters around [the three-point line], they started hitting them and then got the lead, it was kind of hard to keep that thing under control." On what he thought of the Lobos: It is a great team. Good talent, great coaching. Great experience, good guards. A really tough post guy inside. They have all the things you need to be a great team, and they are." On whether there was a letdown after BYU's big win over SDSU: "No. We started the game exactly like we wanted to start it.. We had really good looks at the basket. We just didn't make them. But we overcame that, we got the lead. We had a good lead in the second half. We had a couple plays there where we could have gone up 13. We were up 10, could have gone up 13 [actually, the Cougars did go up 13 at one point]. Then they get on a little bit of a run, and we get a couple tough breaks, coming down on the other end, and missed a shot or [had] a tough call here or there. Kind of the lead gets away from you, and you are kinda fighting uphill again." On why he took a timeout after Jimmer's three made it 67-62 with 6:30 left: "They were scoring on almost every possession, and so we were trying to adjust our defense. We went into kind of a defensive adjustment there that we thought would work, and they came down and scored again. We were on our heels defensively, and that was an issue for us. If we could have got a couple stops there, I think we could have got the lead back up. But that's a good offensive team." On winning the league now, if there's still a chance, and what it would mean: "It would be special, just like the other ones that we have won. Every team, every year creates a new challenge. The challenge this year to win this league is probably as good as it has ever been. It would be pretty special." On Emery's foul trouble limiting the team: "Probably more him picking up his second foul in the first half, because we don't like to have guys get their third foul in the first half. So he sat quite a few minutes in the first half. But we managed those minutes better. He's such an aggressive player, that when he gets that fourth foul it slows him down a little bit. We need him in there. The more minutes he plays, the better we are, that's for sure." On whether Emery is OK: "Yeah, he's fine."