A couple of lingering issues from BYU's overtime win against New Mexico on Tuesday will take some time to sort out.

The coaching staff, as of Wednesday, had not sorted out exactly how the discrepancy in Lee Cummard's foul situation came about.

The junior, the team's leading scorer, fouled out with nearly a minute remaining in regulation of a hotly contested matchup at The Pit that the Cougars still pulled out in overtime 70-69.

The team, however, was intrigued enough to not just let the issue die -- if only because they want to check for holes in how they keep track of fouls.

The three referees convened at the scorer's table for about five minutes, just after New Mexico tied the score at 62 on a J.R. Giddens basket that was accompanied by a Cummard foul.

But that foul isn't the one in question. The pivotal, debatable ruling came with 2:31 left.

Giddens recorded another traditional three-point play situation. But who hacked him?

What's known for now is that Trent Plaisted -- who the BYU bench thought earned the foul -- wound up with one more foul in the team staff's book than was recorded in the official book, in which he was charged with three.

Conversely, Cummard only had four fouls at the game's end by BYU's count.

Cummard thinks the issue stems from the foul with 2:31 left, as Giddens rebounded his own miss and scored. Cummard said he was on the ground, and couldn't have been at fault.

But was the issue with the referees or the scorer's table?

It was the second consecutive game Cummard has fouled out with about a minute left. But after a win, he didn't sweat the small stuff.

"You can't do much about it, we didn't put up much of an argument," Cummard said. "I'm just proud of the guys and the way they battled."

Guarding Giddens was a tough assignment. Even Cummard, BYU's best defender, used up all five fouls on him, which resulted in seven free-throw opportunities and a couple of baskets.

The bigger issue: As for playing status, it's still too early to determine it for starting point guard Ben Murdock. The senior sprained his left ankle 42 seconds into the second half and did not return. That left freshman Jimmer Fredette a lot more time than usual, 27 minutes.

"I think he was really excited that he was going to get to play a lot of minutes, and he responded really well," said BYU head coach Dave Rose.

How Murdock responds to treatment will take a few days to analyze. BYU, 22-6 and in first place of the Mountain West Conference by a game on UNLV, has had four starters -- Murdock, guard Sam Burgess, Cummard and center Plaisted -- in all 28 games.

The only spot that's been rotated is power forward, where Jonathan Tavernari has started 22 games. There was a period during non-conference play when freshman Chris Collinsworth got the nod.

BYU practiced as usual Wednesday, but very light;y. Normally, the Cougars play MWC games on Wednesdays, but while the pair of Tuesday games (both on the road) have made for stressful preparation they've been cherished afterward.

"I always appreicate an extra day of rest," Plaisted said. "I feel like an old man these days."

• Board out of their minds? BYU is 18-2 when it wins the rebounding margin, so figure that's a stat the team constantly scans. But the Cougars haven't won that battle the past two games, tying San Diego State and losing 42-40 at New Mexico. UNM also had five more offensive rebounds (14-9), which led to a 16-12 edge in second-chance points.

• Spin city: UNM coach Steve Alford admitted the loss to BYU was "going to hurt awhile." But he tried to find a positive despite watching his team, the nation's best at making 3-pointers, go 3-for-21 (that includes all-time school percentage leader Chad Toppert missing all five tries):

"That's the worst 3-point shooting we've had all year, and we still only lose by one point to the best team in our league," Alford said.

• Free pub: BYU, already ranked in the coaches poll (25th) has a good chance of being in the Associated Press version next weekend assuming the Cougars (30th there) also beat Air Force this weekend.

ESPN's college basketball page showed a small picture of a fist-pumping Tavernari as a tease to its feature on "bubble teams" trying to work their way into the NCAA tournament.

• Jason Franchuk can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it