BYU lost their first game following their home win over San Diego, as New Mexico picked up the home win by a final of 86-77.

New Mexico freshman Tony Snell limited Jimmer Fredette to just five points in the first 17 minutes.

Lobos coach Steve Alford hoped the 6-7 Snell could use his size to physically wear down Fredette.

"Coach told me it was a big assignment for me," Snell said. "He told me to use my length and maybe that would bother him a little bit, and I just did my best. He's a great player. Oh, man. It was a hard assignment for me."

Fredette shot 12 of 26 from the field, including a 6-of-9 performance from 3-point range.

Dairese Gary guarded Fredette in the second half.

Snell also scored a career-high 16 points and made three important three-pointers in the final five minutes of the game.

An appropriate comparison for Jimmer Fredette might actually be former Arizona State guard Eddie House.

House, now a longtime NBA veteran, once scored 61 points in a game at Cal.

"I see similarities as far as their scorer's mentality," said Grand Canyon University coach Russ Pennell, comparing Fredette to House. Pennell worked with House as an assistant coach at ASU and sat on the bench the night House lit up the Golden Bears.

"Both have supreme confidence. Both are excellent shooters. I think the biggest difference is Jimmer gets so much off the dribble, whereas Eddie used to score so much coming off screens."

House was recruited out of Hayward High in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"The thing with Eddie, once he caught fire you could not guard him,'' Pennell said. "He was so quick and so quick with his release."

The Nets were inclined to take Jimmer Fredette in the late 20s of the 2010 NBA Draft, sources said, but Fredette sought a guarantee and the Nets’ past president, Rod Thorn, couldn’t bring himself to make the promise.

“Some executives will lie to a kid and take someone else that slips down to that spot,” one close associate said. “But Rod would never do that.”

Fredette returned to BYU and he is now one of the most talked about players in the country and has likely improved his stock.

Talent evaluators have differing opinions on Fredette's potential, though many use Stephen Curry as a comparison.

“An insult to Curry’s talent,” one Eastern Conference personnel executive said.

A Western Conference scout disagrees.

“I’m telling you, he’s better than Stephen Curry.

“Curry was always taking difficult, off-balance shots because he couldn’t create space like Fredette can for himself. Plus, I don’t think his team is any good. He’s doing this himself. He’s having one of the most remarkable seasons any college player’s had in the last 10 or 15 years.

“If this kid played in the ACC or Big East, they’d be building a statue for him.”

With over two dozen NBA scouts in attendance to watch Jimmer Fredette and Kawhi Leonard, BYU defeated San Diego State by a final score of 71-58.

Both players showed why they are projected first round picks in the 2011 NBA Draft.

Fredette scored 43 points for BYU, 20 of which came in a frenetic first half. Fredette was 14-for-24 from the floor, 5-for-8 from distance and 10-for-11 at the free throw line. He scored in a multitude of ways and against a variety of very athletic SDSU defenders.

Leonard, meanwhile, scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. The 6-7 sophomore had nine offensive rebounds, most of them coming amongst a crowd of BYU defenders. The strength of Leonard's hands and overall motor on the glass is truly elite and he showed it with his season high in the category.

Mountain West schools haven't had multiple first round picks in the same draft since 1999 when Andre Miller (Utah), Shawn Marion (UNLV) and Kenny Thomas (New Mexico) were selected 8th, 9th and 22nd. Lamar Odom was also drafted 4th overall in 1999 out of Rhode Island, but began his collegiate career with UNLV.

The Mountain West Conference is losing both Utah and Brigham Young next season and is looking at Utah State in hopes of maintaining their presence in the state.

The league will vote on expansion later this week and Utah State is expected to be voted into the Mountain West.

The Aggies have made 11 consecutive postseason appearances, including four NCAA berths in the last six years.

The defections of the Aggies would further deplete the WAC which already will lose Boise State, Nevada and Fresno State to the Mountain West.

The battle between Brigham Young and San Diego State will be highlighted by the individual matchip between Jimmer Fredette and D.J. Gay.

"It's going to be crazy,'' Fredette said of Wednesday night's showdown between No. 4 San Diego State and No. 9 BYU. "If we play well, our crowd will be into it. We need our crowd to rattle them a little bit. But it's going to be a great one."

San Diego State is 20-0 and BYU is 19-1, while both are 5-0 in the Mountain West Conference.

As different as Fredette and Gay are, both point guards make their teams go.

"I think it will be a back-and-forth game between the two,'' said BYU forward Noah Hartsock.

"With San Diego State having a great front line, the (media) might overlook D.J., but he's a tremendous player. He's really one of the great team leaders and great energizers.''

Brigham Young, ranked No. 9, is preparing for an epic battle with No. 4 San Diego State on Wednesday.

It will be the highest ranking for BYU and an opponent to ever play at the Marriott Center.

While Ohio State maintained the top slot in RealGM's college basketball rankings for the week of January 24th, Pittsburgh moved up to the second slot with their win over the previously undefeated Syracuse.

1. Ohio State
2. Pitt
3. Duke
4. San Diego State
5. Connecticut
6. Texas
7. Kansas
8. Brigham Young
9. Missouri
10. Villanova
11. Texas A&M
12. Syracuse
13. Purdue
14. Washington
15. Wisconsin
16. Notre Dame
17. Kentucky
18. Minnesota
19. Louisville
20. Georgetown
21. Illinois
22. Vanderbilt
23. Florida
24. Utah State
25. Michigan State

• Click here to view college rankings from the AP, Coaches and RealGM.

No. 9 Brigham Young's Jimmer Fredette scored 42 points in the team's 94-85 win over Colorado State on Saturday night.

It was Fredette's second 40-point game of the season.

"That doesn't affect me," Fredette of the booing from the crowd of 8,745 at Moby Arena. "It is fun to make a shot and hopefully the crowd will quiet down. It comes with the territory. I'm expecting it."

He scored 47 points on Jan. 11 against Utah.

Brigham Young forward Chris Collinsworth will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery Friday to repair cartilage damage in his right knee.

Cougars coach Dave Rose made the announcement on the school's website.

The procedure Friday revealed cartilage damage that required additional microfracture surgery. Rehabilitation will take four to five months but Collinsworth is expected back for the 2011-12 season.