"What are you going to do about it?" New Mexico assistant coach Wyking Jones asked Tavernari several times as they walked in the same direction as Alford, with players shaking hands between them.

"I'm going to tell you real clear ... You're an [expletive]," Alford then yelled at Tavernari.

Alford said he was trying to congratulate Tavernari, a senior, on an outstanding career at BYU, but that the player "didn't want to hear that at the time."

"I'm wired as a competitor sometimes to a fault, and Jonathan's a fierce competitor, and it's senior night," Alford said Monday on "ESPN First Take."

"I understand that, I've been there, I've experienced that both as a player and as a coach."

Tavernari, a reserve forward, had eight points and six rebounds in 27 minutes in the loss for BYU (26-4, 11-3).

"We got to speak afterwards," Alford said on "First Take." "And so I think it was just the heat of the moment between two pretty good competitors. But nobody has any more respect for him as a player than I do."

Minutes after the confrontation, Tavernari was escorted by BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe to wait outside New Mexico's locker room while the Lobos celebrated. He apologized to Alford, and according to the Albuquerque Journal, Alford replied: "You're still one of my favorites."

"If I could, I'd apologize to the whole team," Tavernari said.

"You don't have to," Alford replied. "You just shocked me. You're one of my favorites."

"I just lost my cool," Tavernari said.

With 52 seconds to play and the game tied at 80, tempers flared between Tavernari and New Mexico's Darington Hobson after the two players bumped at midcourt. As he was calling a timeout, Hobson extended an elbow toward Tavernari.

During the timeout, Tavernari remained visibly upset.

Officials reviewed the sequence on video but no fouls were called against either side. The coaches were summoned by officials to midcourt for a quick meeting. Coming out of the break, Hobson offered a handshake to Tavernari but the BYU player ignored it.

Alford said he had reviewed video of the game and didn't feel there was anything that warranted a reprimand by the Mountain West against himself, Hobson or New Mexico's assistants, who also jawed with Tavernari in the handshake line.

"And I definitely don't think there's anything warranted along Jonathan's way," Alford said. "I think it was just two really good teams and, like I said before, it's unfortunate that somebody has to lose in a game like that."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.