SAN DIEGO -- Trent Whiting and Mekeli Wesley scored 21 points each Monday to lead BYU to its first conference road win of the season. The Cougars defeated San Diego State 69-66 at Cox Arena to improve to 17-7 overall and 6-3 in Mountain West play.
"San Diego State played with purpose, took care of the ball and defended us better than they ever have," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "The character of this (BYU) team showed in the last 20 minutes. Mekeli and Trent made some big shots and Terrell (Lyday) was playing on one leg. I am proud of their effort. In order to win on the road you have to make plays."
The game was tight throughout with nine lead changes and 10 ties but the Cougars were able to make the big plays down the stretch to earn the breakthrough road victory. After the Aztecs scored the first bucket of the second half to take their biggest lead of the game at 33-24, Wesley and Whiting went to work scoring six points apiece to help the Cougars narrow the gap to 40-38 with 15 minutes remaining.
BYU was finally able to even the score at 48 when Nate Knight took a feed from
Wesley for an easy lay-in at the 10:18 mark. A little over two minutes later BYU took its first lead since the opening minute of the game when Whiting made two free throws to give BYU a 52-50 advantage.
While BYU had failed to make plays at the end its three conference road losses this year, this time around Cougar players came through in the clutch. With the Aztecs leading 63-62, Nathan Cooper dove to the ground for a loose ball to end a San Diego State possession and prevent the Aztecs from building on their slim lead. Whiting put the Cougars back on top for good at 65-63 by hitting his third three of the game with just over a minute remaining. A steal by Eric Nielsen after a San Diego State defensive rebound forced San Diego State to foul, with Wesley and Whiting each making free throws to seal the Cougar win.
"I think it is obvious at halftime that they decided to be more aggressive on the offensive end," San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. "They did a better job of going to Mekeli and we didn't do as good a job of running at him."
The fourth rated free throw shooting team in the nation, BYU went 19-20 from the line while shooting 46.8 percent from the floor and 35.3 percent on three-point attempts. After Wesley and Whiting's game-high 21 points, Lyday added 11 and Nielsen and Daniel Bobik chipped in six points apiece. Whiting pulled down a game-high seven rebounds.
San Diego State shot a strong 51.1 percent from the field, including 45.5 percent on threes, while also missing only once from the line, going 15-16 from the charity stripe. It was the first time this year the Aztecs have shot better than 50 percent and lost and the first time BYU has won a game in which the opponent has made 50 percent from the floor. The Cougars have only allowed five teams to make half of their shots in a game this year.
Marcelo Correa scored 18 points to led the Aztecs with Al Faux and Randy Holcomb contributing 15 and 13 points, respectively. Myron Epps pulled down a team-high six rebounds. The Aztecs are now 1-8 in conference play and 11-11 overall.
BYU will travel home Tuesday and prepare for its matchup with league-leading Wyoming Thursday in Provo. The Cougars then host Colorado State Saturday to complete a four-games-in-eight-days stretch.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICSBrigham Young vs San Diego State
02/12/01 7:05pm at San Diego, CA
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 17-7 (6-3)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f 2-3 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 4 6 0 4 0 0 25
42 COOPER, Nathan...... f 0-2 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 2 2 3 2 0 2 32
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... c 7-11 1-3 6-6 3 3 6 3 21 1 4 1 0 36
21 WHITING, Trent...... g 7-15 3-7 4-4 2 5 7 1 21 0 2 2 4 34
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g 4-11 1-5 2-2 1 1 2 2 11 3 2 0 2 32
01 KNIGHT, Nate........ 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 2 0 0 1 1 11
20 BOBIK, Daniel....... 1-2 1-2 3-4 0 1 1 0 6 2 0 0 2 10
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 10
34 CHRISMAN, Jacob..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 0 0 10
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 22-47 6-17 19-20 9 17 26 18 69 12 15 4 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-24 .417 2nd Half: 12-23 .522 Game: .468 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-11 .273 2nd Half: 3-6 .500 Game: .353 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 .500 2nd Half: 18-18 1.000 Game: .950 2
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HOME TEAM: San Diego State 11-11 (1-8)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
23 HOLCOMB, Randy...... f 5-11 1-2 2-2 1 1 2 2 13 0 3 0 1 34
33 EPPS, Myron......... f 3-5 0-0 0-0 1 5 6 3 6 4 2 0 1 31
42 CORREA, Marcelo..... c 5-6 0-0 8-8 2 1 3 4 18 2 1 1 2 24
05 FAUX, Al............ g 5-11 3-5 2-3 1 1 2 3 15 0 4 1 0 34
11 ABRAMOWITZ, David... g 1-6 1-3 3-3 0 1 1 2 6 3 4 0 2 37
03 WALTON, Chris....... 4-5 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 4 8 2 3 0 0 28
10 KOVACIC,Karlo....... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12
TEAM................ 5 5 1
Totals.............. 23-45 5-11 15-16 6 15 21 18 66 11 18 2 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-23 .522 2nd Half: 11-22 .500 Game: .511 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-6 .500 2nd Half: 2-5 .400 Game: .455 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 .800 2nd Half: 11-11 1.000 Game: .938 0
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Officials: Jim Stupin, Jim Danner, Greg Burks
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. San Diego State-None.
Attendance: 5037
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Brigham Young................. 24 45 - 69
San Diego State............... 31 35 - 66
After its defeat at UNLV Saturday, BYU is still looking for its first conference road win as it travels to San Diego to meet the Aztecs Monday in a 7 p.m. (8 p.m. Mountain) start. BYU (16-7, 5-2) defeated San Diego State (11-10, 1-7) in the first meeting this year in Provo. The game is a SportsWest Productions telecast on KSL-TV, channel 5, in Utah with Tom Kirkland and Craig Hislop offering play by play and analysis. KSL Newsradio 1160 provides the radio broadcast on the Cougar Sports Network with Greg Wrubell and Mark Durrant describing the action.
Up Next
BYU will finish its stretch of four games in eight days with three games this week. After returning from its game Monday at San Diego State, BYU hosts Mountain West Conference leader Wyoming Thursday and Colorado State Saturday in the Marriott Center. Both games start at 7 p.m. and will be televised on KSL-TV (SportsWest).
Game 24 Fast Facts (MWC Game 9)
Teams:
Brigham Young University Cougars (16-7, 5-3 MWC)
San Diego State Aztecs (11-10, 1-7 MWC)
Date: Monday, Feb. 12, 2001
Site: San Diego, Calif.
Arena:Cox Arena
Time: 7 p.m. (8 p.m. Mountain)
Series:
BYU leads, 33-13
Last Meeting: BYU won 79-50 in Provo (Jan. 13, 2001)
Last Year: BYU swept the season series
Coaches:
BYU, Steve Cleveland (59-55 in fourth year; same overall)
SDSU, Steve Fisher (16-33 in second year; 200-115 in 11th year overall)
TV:
SportsWest Productions (KSL-TV in SLC)
Play-by-Play - Tom Kirkland
Game Analyst - Craig Hislop
Satellite: Telstar 5 Transponder K12
Radio:
KSL Newsradio 1160 AM (Cougar Sports Network)
Pregame Air Time - 7:30 p.m. MST
Play-by-Play - Greg Wrubell
Game Analyst - Mark Durrant
BYU's Probable Starters:
Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG
F 42 Nathan Cooper 6-6 210 Sr. 4.8 4.1
F 25 Eric Nielsen 6-9 215 Jr. 6.5 4.1
F 15 Mekeli Wesley 6-9 240 Sr. 16.0 5.6
G 24 Terrell Lyday 6-3 195 Sr. 15.8 2.8
G 21 Trent Whiting 6-1 185 Sr. 14.2 2.7
SDSU's Probable Starters:
Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG
F 23 Randy Holcomb 6-9 219 Jr. 16.0 6.9
F 33 Myron Epps 6-6 210 Jr. 12.2 4.8
C 42 Marcelo Correa 6-10 226 Sr. 5.6 4.0
G 5 Al Faux 6-2 186 Jr. 10.7 3.5
G 1 Deandre Moore 5-9 179 So. 7.0 3.3
Scouting San Diego State
San Diego State has added a cast of newcomers to the two starters and four lettermen returning from last year's 5-23 team. The Aztecs posted a 10-3 non-conference record this year, having improved significantly. The 10 victories surpass the number of wins for the Aztecs in the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons combined and are more wins than the Aztecs have posted in four of the last nine seasons. The Aztecs are 1-7 in conference games with a win over Air Force (67-43) at home. The Aztecs have dropped seveon of their last eight, including four straight. SDSU was defeated by Utah (76-63)Saturday. Junior forward Randy Holcomb, who has been named MWC Player of the Week twice this year, leads the team with a 16.0 points per game average. Returning forward Myron Epps adds 12.2 points. Junior guard Al Faux led the Aztecs with 12 points against Utah and averages 10.7 points on the year. Among the Aztec non-conference wins are victories over common BYU foes Arizona State (64-62 at home) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (84-70 at home), as well as Oklahoma State (87-66 at home) and New Mexico State (77-62 at home). SDSU lost to common BYU opponent UC Santa Barbara in triple overtime (80-77 on the road). SDSU's other non-league losses were to Fresno State (70-62 on the road) and San Diego (55-52 at home). San Diego State is 10-3 at home this year, including a 1-2 conference record in Cox Arena. The Aztecs are averaging 69.6 points per game and giving up 67.7.
Series History
This will be the 47th meeting between the two teams dating back to 1940. BYU won this first meeting this year in Provo and holds a 33-13 advantage in the series. BYU has won eight of the last 11, including the last six in a row. San Diego State's last win over BYU in San Diego was an 83-76 win on Jan. 13, 1996. The Cougars swept the season series the past two years and BYU won in a non-league contest in the 1997-98 season opener in Steve Cleveland's first game as BYU's coach (73-59 in San Diego). Cleveland is 6-0 against the Aztecs.
San Diego State Quick Facts:
General Info
Location: San Diego, Calif.
Founded: 1897
Enrollment: 29,500
Nickname: Aztecs
Colors: Scarlet and Black
Home Arena: Cox Arena
Conference: Mountain West
Athletic Director: Rick Bay
Basketball Info
Head Coach: Steve Fisher
Alma Mater: Illinois State, 1967
Office Phone: 619-594-6249
Overall Record (Years): 200-115 (11th)
Record at School (Years): 16-33 (2nd)
Assistant Coaches: Brian Dutcher, Marvin Menzies, Jim Tomey
1999-2000
Overall Record: 5-23
Conf. Record/Finish: 0-14/8th
Final Ranking/Post Season Finish: N/A
2000-2001
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 4/6
Starters Returning/Lost: 2/2
Returning Starters (last year's stats)
Marcelo Correa, 6-10, 230, Sr., C
Myron Epps, 6-6, 215, Jr., F
Media Relations
Basketball Contact: Michael May
Office: 619-594-5342
E-mail: mmay@mail.sdsu.edu
Fax: 619-582-6541
Pressrow: 619-265-5853
Athletic Web Site: www.goaztecs.com
BYU Wins First Meeting This Year with SDSU
Cougars Opened MWC Play with 79-50 Win Over the Aztecs
PROVO -- The BYU men's basketball team, led by senior guard Terrell Lyday, soundly defeated a much-improved San Diego State Aztec team in front of a loud crowd at the Marriott Center. The final score of 79-50 totaled a 29 point victory for BYU, the second highest margin of victory for the Cougars during the 2000-2001 campaign. "We just got a good old fashioned whipping today," said San Diego State coach Steve Fisher. "They were very good. We gave them a few easy shots in the beginning and then they just took over from there. We couldn't stop them." The Cougars utilized a hot hand from the perimeter, shooting 13 for 26 from the three point arc, to hand the Aztecs their second conference loss in as many games. The 13 three point field goals made by BYU tied a Cougar record set against LSU in 1992 and TCU in 1999. Specifically, Lyday and Trent Whiting found the range early and often, shooting a combined 10 for 14 on 3 point field goals. The prolific starting backcourt for BYU of Lyday (15 ppg) and Whiting (15 ppg) scored 24 and 17 points respectively, as Lyday just missed a season high in only 22 minutes of action. He scored 25 in a game against Boise State at the Yahoo Sports Invitational. BYU coach Steve Cleveland cited the layoff between games as an asset for the Cougars in preparing for the Saturday afternoon Mountain West Conference opener. "Four or five days to prepare for a game does make a difference, especially offensively," Cleveland said. "Our preparation for tonight was the difference. We made baskets tonight and we defended well and when you do that, it is fun to watch." Two-time MWC Player of the Week, Robert Holcomb was held in check by the Cougars stifling defense. Holcomb scored 13 points, almost 5 points below his season average. Cleveland commented on the defensive effort his team put forth. "The guys who played the first 30 minutes played very well," Cleveland said. "We defended well and had lots of energy and that is what it is going to take to win."Mekeli Wesley, BYU's senior forward and leading scorer (16.0 ppg), switched roles for the win. Wesley dished out a season high 5 assists, just one short of his career high. Freshman forward Jacob Chrisman also enjoyed career high of eight rebounds to contribute to the Cougar victory.
Cougars Equal Long Range Mark
The Cougars made 13 three-point field goals vs. SDSU to equal a BYU record set against LSU in 1992 and TCU in 1999. The Cougars attempted 26 three point field goals, a season high.
BYU TEAM NOTES
BYU Suffers Defeat Saturday at UNLV
LAS -- Still seeking its first conference road victory, BYU was defeated by UNLV, 68-56, Saturday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The Cougars led throughout most of the first 30 minutes but could not hold off the home team as the Rebels evened the season series. BYU led by 16 points, 30-14, at the 9:04 mark of the first half but managed only one field goal and three total points over the nine minutes to take a 33-31 advantage at the break. Mekeli Wesley led the Cougars with 12 points in the first half and added a bucket and an assist in the first three minutes of the second half to help BYU take a nine-point lead at 40-31. But the Cougars went cold from the floor and suffered foul trouble, which helped the Rebels gain the momentum. After shooting 41 percent in the first half, BYU made only 27 percent of its shots in the final 20 minutes, including 1-7 from three-point range. Wesley picked up his fourth foul with 12 minutes remaining with the Cougars still clinging to a 42-39 lead. Wesley, Eric Nielsen and Nate Knight all had four fouls before the second half was eight minutes old. "I thought we had good intensity and that we had good execution," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "They did a much better job defensively but we missed several layups and 2-footers. Lafonte Johnson is a good shooter. He stepped up and had a big night. He's the reason they won the ball game." UNLV got a career night from reserve guard Lafonte Johnson, who equaled Trevor Diggs with a team-high 17 points on 5-8 shooting, including three treys. Rebel center Kaspars Kambala added a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds while Dalron Johnson contributed 10 points and six boards. Wesley led BYU with 17 points and six rebounds. Terrell Lyday also pulled down six boards while adding 14 points. Much of Lyday's success came from the line where he was a perfect 7-7. Lyday and Trent Whiting continued to have trouble finding the mark from the field on the road as Lyday went 3-12 while Whiting was only 2-11. Dropping its third straight road game, BYU falls to 16-7 overall and 5-3 in the Mountain West Conference while UNLV improves to 14-9 and 5-3.
Wesley Leads Cougars to Three Key Wins
Mekeli Wesley was the catalyst in three BYU wins last week. Wesley averaged 15.3 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 48.1 percent from the floor, 53.3 percent from behind the arc and 80 percent from the line. Wesley took his game to the perimeter where was able to beat defenders off the dribble and knock down 8-15 (.533) treys in the three games. He set a career high by making four three-pointers vs. Utah Monday and equaled that mark again Saturday with four treys vs. New Mexico. He was 4-6 from behind the arc in both games. Wesley scored a game-high 21 points vs. New Mexico Saturday, including 16 first-half points to give BYU a 13-point lead at the break. He went 5-8 from the floor for the game and 7-9 on free throws while pulling down four rebounds. Wesley started the week with 16 points in 25 minutes vs. Utah. He grabbed three rebounds and went 6-13 from the floor, including 4-6 on threes. Wesley game up big in the second half, hitting 3-4 treys while scoring 11 of his 16 points to help BYU increase a 2-point half-time lead into a comfortable double-digit advantage for most of the final 20 minutes.
Cougars Solid at Home last Week
BYU shot a combined 48.0 percent from the field, 40.0 percent on threes and 74 percent from the line last week while its opponents shot 36.3, 29.8 and 69.4 percent combined. The Cougars held its three opponents to a 51.7 scoring average last week, winning the three games by an average of 13.7 points per game.
Fans Supporting Cougars
BYU fans averaged 16,240 last week, including a season-best 19,098 in BYU's win over rival Utah on ESPN Monday night. Overall, BYU is averaging 10,589 in 13 home dates and 15,028 in its five conference home contests.
BYU Avenges Last Year's Two Home Losses
BYU ended two home losing streaks last week with its wins over Utah and New Mexico. Both the Utes and Lobos had five-game winning streaks in Provo dating back to 1995 before falling in the Marriott Center last week. Including last year's MWC Tournament wins, BYU has now defeated Utah in consecutive meetings for the first time since the 1993-94 season and New Mexico twice in a row for the first time since the 1994-95 season.
Cougars Claim State's Oquirrh Bucket
BYU moved to 4-0 for the season versus in-state opponents with its win over Utah to claim the Oquirrh Bucket, which honors the team with the best record against instate opponents each year. The Cougars have now defeated every team in the state at least once for second consecutive year. BYU ended Utah's string of six straight Oquirrh Bucket triumphs. BYU has won the instate competition eight times since the first Oquirrh Bucket in the 1974-75 season. Steve Cleveland is now 10-9 versus in-state opponents, moving above .500 for the first time in his career at BYU. The victory over Utah improves his record against the Utes to 2-7, which is the only instate team to which Cleveland has a losing record.
Whiting Comes Up Big Against Former Mates
Against his former team, Trent Whiting led the Cougars with 21 on 8-14 shooting from the field and 8-8 from the free throw line while dishing out a career-high eight assists. Whiting has dished out 13 assists last week in three games after totaling only two assists in two road losses at CSU and Wyoming. He is averaging four assists per game in BYU's five MWC wins, all at home. Whiting averaged 13.7 points and 2.3 rebounds last week
Cougar Defense Stifles Falcons
The Cougars held Air Force to 45 points on just 30 percent shooting from the field. The point total is the second lowest total for a Cougar opponent this season and the third lowest shooting percentage.
BYU Keeps Lobos in Check
BYU held New Mexico to 23 points at half on 40 percent shooting. The 23-point output was the lowest total at half for the Lobos since scoring 21 points vs. Temple in the second game of the season.
Cooper Responds to Increased Role
Cooper had a game-high and season-best eight rebounds vs. New Mexico after pulling down six boards the first two games of the week. He averaged 4.7 points and 6.7 rebounds in BYU's last three home games while getting two starts in place of the injured Travis Hansen. Cooper had nine points, five rebounds and four assists at UNLV Saturday.
BYU Ranks Fourth Nationally in Free Throw Shooting
BYU is ranked fourth in the nation in free throw percentage in the latest NCAA statistics released Tuesday. The Cougars are shooting 76.7 percent as a team. Ten players are shooting 70 percent or better, with three shooting better than 80 percent (Lyday, Bobik, Howard). Freshman Jake Chrisman has the team's worst percentage (except Jordan Archibald, 1-2, .500) at 67.7 percent (21-31).
Scoring Points
Nine BYU players have had double figures scoring games this season. The regular starters (Wesley, Lyday, Whiting, Nielsen, Hansen) are the only players to reach double figures in conference games. Wesley scored the individual season high thus far with his 29 points at Wyoming. Wesley, Terrell Lyday and Trent Whiting are the only three players to earn team-high game scoring honors this year. Wesley carries more of the scoring load on the road, scoring 19.1 ppg while Lyday adds 14.7 and Whiting 11.7. At home, Lyday scores 16.6, Whiting 16.2 and Wesley 13.6.
Offense
BYU has topped 50 percent six times this year, all wins, including home conference wins over San Diego State, UNLV and Air Force. Five of the six games over 50 percent were in the Marriott Center. The one road game BYU shot over 50 percent was vs. Boise State (53.3 percent) during the Yahoo! Sports Invitational in Hawaii. BYU has scored 40 or more points in the first half in five of the last 10 games but has not reached 40 points in five of the last six games (except Wyoming).
Defense
BYU holds opponents to 61.8 points (19th nationally) and a 39.6 field goal percentage (T-18th nationally), including 29.5 percent on threes. BYU has held its last eight opponents at home to under 40 percent shooting and has held 13 of 23 opponents overall under 40 percent shooting. BYU has not allowed an opponent to shoot 40 percent on threes in the last 13 straight games and 20 of 23 games overall. BYU has held its opponents to less than 30 points in seven of the last 10 games (except CSU, Wyoming and UNLV). BYU held the MWC's top shooting team, CSU, to 41.7 percent in Moby Arena, nearly nine percentage points below their season average, before allowing Wyoming a 50.9 percentage in Laramie. BYU has also had success shutting down the opponent's top player. BYU held New Mexico's Eric Chatfield and Ruben Douglas to nine points apiece and held the MWC's leading scorer, Marcus Bailey, to nine points, more than 10 points under his average, at Wyoming. BYU held UNLV center Kaspars Kambala, averaging 18.3 points and 10.3 rebounds entering the game, to two points and three rebounds in Provo. Against SDSU, Aztec star forward Randy Holcomb was the only player to reach double figures, but BYU held the two-time MWC Player of the Week winner to 13 points, almost five points below his team-leading season scoring average.
70-Point Mark
BYU is 15-2 when holding opponents to less than 70 points. BYU is 1-5 when opponents have scored 70 or more points. UNLV (68) joined Colorado State(60) as the only opponents to score less than 70 points and still win. Wyoming scored 85 points against BYU, the most points given up by the Cougars this season.
On the Boards
BYU is nearly even with its opponents in rebounding, 33.7-33.1. was out boarded by UNLV Saturday, 39-35. BYU has totaled 40 or more boards six times this year. Mekeli Wesley pulls down a team-best 5.6 boards per game.
Whiting Adds Third Threat to Cougar Attack
In addition to last year's one-two scoring punch of Mekeli Wesley and Terrell Lyday, BYU has another potent scorer in transfer Trent Whiting. He scored a game-high 21 vs. his former team Utah and had a career-high 26 points while going 10-15 from the field and 3-6 on treys in the first meeting with UNLV. He had his string of consecutive double-digit points games stop at 11 when he scored a season-low 7 points at Wyoming. A transfer from Utah, he has reached double figures in 13 of 16 games since becoming eligible to play on Dec. 16 vs. Utah State. He had nine points vs. New Mexico and a season-low four points at UNLV. He is third in scoring at 14.2 ppg.
Whiting, Knight Made Strong BYU Debuts
Transfer players Trent Whiting (Utah) and Nate Knight (Kentucky) made their Cougar debuts Dec. 16 vs. Utah State after sitting out the first seven games of the year because of transfer rules. Whiting scored a game-high 22 points on 7-11 shooting, including 4-7 threes, in a team-high 39 minutes in his debut while Knight made a solid contribution with five points and six rebounds in 18 minutes. Neither player had played in a game for more than a year since transferring last fall.
Cleveland's Record
Steve Cleveland is now 59-55 overall in his fourth year, having improved the Cougars in each year since taking over a 1-25 program. With BYU's win over Idaho on Jan. 2 Cleveland went above a .500 winning percentage for the first time since going 1-0 with a win in his first game at San Diego State in 1997. He had evened his winning percentage at .500 twice this year. He went to 50-50 with a win over Boise State in Hawaii before the Cougars suffered back-to-back close defeats to ranked teams. Wins at Weber State and vs. South Alabama brought his record to 52-52 , the last time he was at .500.
Wesley Moving Up Career Charts
Wesley passed two career milestones in the first half vs. New Mexico (the day after his 22nd birthday). Wesley passed former Cougar and NBA first-round draft choice Michael Smith into sixth place for the number of made free throws by a BYU player when he made his fourth free toss of the first half at the 6:20 mark to give BYU a 23-14 lead. Exactly one minute later, Wesley gave BYU a 27-15 advantage when he knocked down his second three-pointer of the half to surpass BYU Hall of Fame member Kresimir Cosic into eighth place on the all-time BYU scoring list. Wesley finished the night with 21 points while going 7-9 from the line. After his 17 points at UNLV, he has 1,539 career points and 439 made free throws. Wesley is also sixth all-time at BYU in free throw attempts with 570. He needs to make 29 more free throws to move into 5th place past Fred Roberts and is also 33 attempts shy of Roberts. He needs to score 114 points to pass Fred's younger brother Kenneth Roberts into seventh place on the scoring list.
Trey Lyday
In the last nine games Lyday is 17-39 (.436) from three-point range. He is 12-22 (.545) at home in BYU's five MWC wins and is 2-11 (.182) in BYU's three MWC road losses. He went 0-5 at CSU, 1-2 at Wyoming and 1-4 at UNLV. Lyday's 0-5 night on threes at CSU was only the second game this year in which he has not made a trey but he didn't make his three at Wyoming until the final buzzer. Overall, he is shooting 37.8 percent on threes, making a team-leading 42 triples.
Streaks
BYU had its three-game winning streak halted at UNLV Saturday. BYU has lost its last three road games. BYU has had three two-game losing streaks this year. The Cougars also had back-to-back losses on three occasions last season. BYU has not lost more than two consecutive games since losing three straight in February of the 1998-99 season. BYU's longest winning streak this year is six games, which was halted during the Cougars last road trip with its loss at CSU. The six-game streak was BYU's longest since a seven-game victory string during the 1994-95 season. BYU has reached five straight wins four times under coach Cleveland. Two times last year and twice this season.
Home Court Streak
The Cougars have an 18-game home winning streak dating back to last year when BYU won its final five contests in the Marriott Center. The home court streak is tied for the 7th longest active home success run in the nation. BYU is 13-0 at home this season. BYU's last home loss was to New Mexico (78-74) on Feb. 17, 2000.
BYU at Home
BYU is 13-0 at home this year after going 14-2 at home last year. BYU avenged both of last year's home losses (Utah and UNM) last week. The Cougars have an 18-game home winning streak. BYU is shooting 49.5 percent from the floor and 43 percent on threes in the Marriott Center this year. The Cougars are out rebounding their opponents at home 35.0-31.5. BYU is scoring 73.9 points at home while giving up 54.6 points. BYU has won its 13 home games by an average of 19.3 points. BYU has a high of 100 points (vs. Elon College) and a low of 58 points (vs. Southern Utah).
BYU on the Road
BYU is 3-7 in away and neutral games this year, including a 2-2 neutral court record and a 1-5 away mark. The Cougars away win was at Weber State. BYU is shooting 41.3 percent from the floor, 26.7 percent on threes and 79.8 percent on free throws away from the Marriott Center. The Cougars are being out rebounded 35.2-32.1. BYU has been out scored on the road, 71.1-67.5. BYU has a high of 84 points (at Weber State) on the road and a low of 52 points (at ASU).
Hansen Out with Stress Fracture
Travis Hansen will be out for another week to three weeks with a stress fracture in his right foot. He played with discomfort and pain at CSU and Wyoming. His injury was discovered by a bone scan after returning from the road trip. He played with the injury vs. Utah but has not played or practiced since. He had some infection in the area, which has cleared up. As part of his treatment, he uses a bone stimulater in hopes to accelerate the healing process. He is not making the trip to Las Vegas and San Diego.
BYU In the polls (Feb. 5)
BYU received 10 votes (32nd) in the latest ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll. Wyoming received 13 votes (29th). The Cowboys were the only MWC team to receive votes (17, 31st) in the AP poll. North Carolina is ranked first in both polls. BYU opponents Iowa State and USC are both ranked in the top 25.
Sagarin ratings (feb. 6)
BYU has the best rating among MWC teams according to the Feb. 6 Sagarin Ratings. The records below reflect Division I games.
Rk Team Rating Record
50 BYU 82.05 16-6
56 Wyoming 81.60 15-5
74 Utah 79.57 10-9
93 CSU 77.58 11-7
97 New Mexico 77.23 12-7
102 UNLV 76.91 11-9
140 SDSU 72.92 10-9
237 Air Force 65.22 6-15
College RPI ratings (Feb. 6)
BYU has the best RPI rating among MWC teams according to the Feb. 6 CollegeRPI.com ratings computed by Jerry Palm. The Mountain West Conference is rated ninth among the 32 conferences (and five independents) in the country.
Team CollegeRPI.com
BYU 51
Wyoming 58
Utah 62
New Mexico 66
UNLV 88
CSU 114
SDSU 161
Air Force 237
BYU In the National Stats (feb. 6)
4th Free Throw Percentage 76.7
T-19th Scoring Defense 61.5
T-18th Field Goal % Defense 39.6
T-7th Home Winning Streak 18 games
BYU In the conference Stats (feb. 6)
Category All Games Conf. Only
Scoring Offense 5th 2nd
Scoring Defense 1st 1st
Scoring Margin 1st 1st
FT Percentage 1st 1st
FG Percentage 2nd 2nd
FG % Defense 1st 1st
3-FG Percentage 3rd 2nd
3-FG % Defense 1st 3rd
Rebound Offense 7th 5th
Rebounding Defense 4th 3rd
Rebound Margin 4th 4th
Blocked Shots 5th 4th
Assists 6th 6th
Steals 6th 1st
Turnover Margin 2nd T-2nd
Assist/Turnover Ratio 8th 7th
Offensive Rebounds 7th T-7th
Defensive Rebounds 6th 4th
3-FG Made 6th 3rd
BYU's record when . . .
BYU leads at half 14-4
Opponent leads at half 2-3
Score tied at half 0-0
BYU leads with 5 minutes left 15-2
Opponent leads with 5 min. left 1-5
BYU leads with 1 minute left 15-0
Opponent leads with 1 min. left 1-7
Score tied with 1 minute left 0-0
Game goes into overtime 0-0
BYU out rebounds opponent 9-0
Opponent out rebounds BYU 6-6
BYU and opponent tie in rebounds 1-1
BYU shoots 50 % or better 6-0
Opponent shoots 50 % or better 0-4
BYU out shoots opponent 16-1
Opponent out shoots BYU 0-6
BYU scores 70 or more 8-3
BYU scores less than 70 8-4
Opponent scores 70 or more 1-5
Opponent scores less than 70 15-2
Trey Barometer
BYU is shooting 42.7 percent (100-234) on threes in its 16 victories this season but is only 22-101 (21.8 percent) from behind the arc in its seven losses. BYU has shot 44.8 percent (39-87) on threes in its five home MWC wins and 19.4 percent (7-36) in its three road MWC losses. The following breakdown reflects total individual player three-point field goal percentages during BYU wins and losses:
Player Wins Losses
Terrell Lyday 33-74 (.446) 9-37 (.243)
Trent Whiting* 27-58 (.466) 3-25 (.120)
Mekeli Wesley 15-32 (.469) 4-14 (.286)
Nathan Cooper 8-18 (.444) 1-5 (.200)
Daniel Bobik 8-30 (.267) 1-6 (.167)
Travis Hansen** 3-8 (.375) 2-7 (.286)
Matt Montague 5-11 (.455) 2-5 (.400)
* Includes 11 wins and 4 losses since becoming eligible
** Includes 14 wins and 6 losses only (currently out with stress fracture)
BYU PLAYER NOTES
Mekeli Wesley (16.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg overall -- 16.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal in 35 minutes at UNLV.
• He leads the team in scoring (16.0) and rebounding (5.6). Wesley carries more of the scoring load on the road, averaging 19.1 points compared to his 13.6 average at home.
• With his game-high 17 points at UNLV, Wesley has led BYU in scoring 13 times this year. It was his 19th (of 23) double figures scoring game this season. Last year he reached double figures in 30 of 33 games and led the Cougar in scoring in 17 games.
• Wesley was the catalyst in BYU's three recent home wins. Wesley averaged 15.3 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 48.1 percent from the floor, 53.3 percent from behind the arc and 80 percent from the line.
• Being double teamed inside, Wesley took his game to the perimeter where was able to beat defenders off the dribble and knock down 8-15 (.533) treys in the three games. He set a career high by making four three-pointers (4-6) vs. Utah and New Mexico.
• Wesley scored a game-high 21 points vs. New Mexico, including 16 first-half points to give BYU a 13-point lead at the break. He went 5-8 from the floor for the game and 7-9 on free throws while pulling down four rebounds. Wesley joins Lyday with a team-high six 20-plus point games this year for the Cougars.
• Wesley started the week with 16 points in 25 minutes vs. Utah. Wesley game up big in the second half, hitting 3-4 treys while scoring 11 of his 16 points to help BYU increase a 2-point half-time lead into a double-digit advantage for most of the final 20 minutes.
• With his bucket at the 12:55 mark in the second half vs. Air Force, Wesley became one of only nine players to surpassed 1,500 points as a Cougar.
• Wesley passed two career milestones in the first half Saturday vs. New Mexico. Wesley passed former Cougar and NBA first-round draft choice Michael Smith into sixth place for the number of made free throws by a BYU player and surpassed BYU Hall of Fame member Kresimir Cosic into eighth place on the all-time BYU scoring list.
• Wesley was only 4-9 at the line at UNLV. He did not attempt a free throw for only the second game this season against Utah. The other game was at home vs. San Diego State.
• He attempted a career-high 21 field goals (29 points) while making a season-high 10 baskets at Wyoming. He also had his second-best rebounding effort this year with 11.
• His double-double at Wyoming was his second this year and the sixth of his career.
• He became the conference's first repeat winner of the MWC Player of the Week Award. He was also named to the Yahoo! Sports Invitational All-Tournament Team Dec. 23 while averaging 21.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in three games.
• After starting the year shooting 34.9 percent in the first four games, he shot 60.8 percent over the next seven games and is now shooting 49.2 percent for the year.
• Wesley has 1,539 career points, eighth on the all-time BYU list. He needs to score 114 points to pass Kenneth Roberts into seventh place on the scoring list. Wesley has made 439 free throws, sixth on BYU's career charts. He is also sixth all-time in free throw attempts with 570. He needs to make 29 more free throws to move into 5th place past Fred Roberts and is also 33 attempts shy of Roberts.
Terrell Lyday (15.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.6 apg overall -- 17.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.9 apg MWC)
Last Game: 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steals in 37 minutes at UNLV.
• Lyday is second on the team in scoring at 15.8 ppg.
• With Lyday's 14 points at UNLV, Lyday has reached double figures in 10 straight games and 20 of 23 overall this year. He has reach double figures in 50 of 56 games in his two years at BYU.
• Lyday averaged 18.3 points in BYU's three recent home wins.
• With his 22 points against Air Force, Lyday has reached 20 or more points in six games this year, sharing the team-high honor with Wesley. Whiting is the only other Cougar to reach 20 points, having done so three times in 15 games.
• In the last nine games Lyday is 17-39 (.436) from three-point range. He is 12-22 (.545) at home in BYU's five MWC wins and is 2-11 (.182) in BYU's three MWC road losses. Overall, he is shooting 37.8 percent on threes, making a team-leading 42 triples
• He was named the MWC Player of the Week Jan. 15 after scoring 24 points in 22 minutes vs. SDSU.
• Lyday averages 32.6 minutes on the year, second only to Trent Whiting's 33.9 minutes. They are the only two players to average more than 30 minutes per game.
• Terrell has made 28-59 (.475) threes in 13 home games but is 5-33 (.152) in six true away games. He is 9-23 (.391) in four neutral court contests. Overall he shoots 37.8 on threes.
• Lyday has made multiple threes in 11 games this year (last vs. Utah). Last year he made two or more treys in 20 of 33 games.
• He has made a trey in 21 of 23 games this season. At CSU (0-5) he ended a string of five straight games with a three. He had not made a three in his last two road games before making a trey (1-2) at the buzzer at Wyoming. At Weber State he ended a string of 15 straight games with a three dating back to last year. The 15-game streak is third on the BYU all-time list. He set the BYU record with a trey in the first 21 games of last year. He made a three in each of BYU's first 11 games this year.
Trent Whiting (14.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.4 apg -- 13.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.9 apg MWC)
Last Game: season-low 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal in 37 minutes at UNLV.
• Whiting averaged 13.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in BYU's three recent home wins. He dished out 13 assists in the three games after totaling only two assists in two road losses at CSU and Wyoming. He is averaging four assists per game in BYU's five MWC wins, all at home, and only 1.0 assists per game in the three MWC road losses.
• Against his former team, Trent Whiting led the Cougars with 21 on 8-14 shooting from the field and 8-8 from the free throw line while dishing out a career-high eight assists.
• He is third on the team in scoring at 14.2 ppg. He plays a team-high 33.9 minutes per game.
• He tied a career best 3 steals for the fourth time in the last six games vs. New Mexico.
• He did not start at Wyoming while blisters on his toe was being attended to but he checked in at the 19:50 mark for Matt Montague, missing only 10 seconds of early action. • He failed to reach double figures for the first time this season at Wyoming, ending a string of 11 straight double-digit games. He has not reached double figures in the last two games, scoring nine points vs. New Mexico and 4 at UNLV.
• He scored a career-high 26 point vs. UNLV earlier this year. He was 10-15 from the floor, including 3-6 on threes, vs. UNLV.
• Starting in his BYU debut, Whiting hit his first three shots and made four of five threes to score 14 first half points. He made several big plays in the game. He nailed a buzzer-beating three from 30-plus range to put BYU up 41-40 to end the half. He later made a critical steal and layup to tie the game with 2:40 remaining and made two free throws in the last minute to tie the score again at 67. He was 7-11 from the floor on the night.
Nathan Cooper (4.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg overall -- 4.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists in 31 minutes at UNLV.
• Cooper had a game-high and season-best 8 rebounds vs. New Mexico. He averaged 4.7 points and 6.7 rebounds in the three home wins while getting two starts with Travis Hansen being out with a stress fracture.
• After taking only four shots over four games, he is 7-14 in the last three games.
• He is shooting 50 percent overall this year and is 9-23 on threes (.391). After being last year's top Cougar (.778) from the free throw line, he is shooting 70 percent from the line this year. He has never averaged less than 74 percent (as a freshman) from the line over the course of a season.
• He is third on the team in rebounding (4.1) and sixth in scoring (4.8).
Eric Nielsen (6.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg overall -- 6.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block in 19 minutes at UNLV.
• Nielsen is fourth on the team in scoring (6.5) and second in rebounding (4.1).
• He had his sixth double-digit scoring game of the year at Wyoming.
• After not scoring for the first time this year vs. Iowa State, he reached double figures in three straight games for the first time in his career. He also did not score vs. AFA.
• He returned to the starting lineup in the last 12 games. He has 20 starts overall.
• Nielsen had his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds vs. South Alabama.
• He is 14-19 (.737) from the floor in the five games. Nielsen is shooting a team-best 61.1 percent from the floor. Last year he had the eighth best season field goal percentage in BYU history with a 57.8 percentage. His current 56.3 career percentage ranks third all-time at BYU among starters having made 213-378 field goals.
Travis Hansen (6.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg overall -- 7.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg MWC)
Last Game: Has not played the last three games because of a stress fracture injury.
• He played sparingly off the bench vs. Utah because of a stress fracture in his right foot. He will be out 2-4 weeks. He averaged 9 points and 5.5 rebounds in BYU's two road losses at CSU and Wyoming.
• He had started the last seven games before his injury and has nine total starts. The Cougars are 7-2 (CSU, Wyoming) when Hansen starts and 7-4 in games he came off the bench. He came off the bench in the first seven games of the season before getting his first start.
• Overall, he is fifth on the team in scoring (6.3) and fourth in rebounding (3.2).
• He averaged 8.2 points and 3.7 rebounds during BYU's six-game winning streak.
Nate Knight (2.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg overall -- 1.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 4 points 3 rebound, 1 block, 1 steak in 15 minutes at UNLV.
• He averages 12 minutes as one of the first substitutes off the bench. He has two starts.
• He had scored twice on offensive tip-ins at UNLV. In BYU's earlier game vs. UNLV he did not take a shot but played a key role helping guard UNLV center Kaspars Kambala. The UNLV star came in averaging a double-double but was held without a field goal while scoring 2 points and grabbing only 3 rebounds.
Matt Montague (2.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 3.4 apg overall -- 1.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 1.5 apg MWC)
Last Game: Played 6 minutes with 1 turnover at UNLV.
• He started vs. Air Force along with Whiting and Lyday on the guard line.
• Montague made 1-2 threes vs. Utah. He hit his first attempt to end a string of seven straight missed threes over the previous 14 games. Montague went 6-7 on three pointers in the first 5 games before his 0-7 string. He started at Wyoming when Trent Whiting was delayed while having blisters on his foot attended to. Whiting came in after only 10 seconds ran off the clock.
• He did not have an assist for the second time this year at UNLV (also at CSU). He had no rebounds or points for the third time this year in 6 minutes at UNLV. He has not scored in 12 games overall.
• He has a team-best 79 assists (Whiting is next with 39).
• He has taken 10 shots in the last eight games.
• He started the first seven games but has come off the bench (except Wyoming and Air Force) since Trent Whiting made his BYU debut vs. Utah State. He is fifth in minutes played per game at 22.7 (behind Whiting, Lyday, Wesley and Nielsen).
• He started the year making his first eight shots, including 5-5 on threes, but is 3-21 from the floor in the last 16 games. Overall, he is shooting 42.5 percent from the floor and 43.8 percent from three-point range. He has more than doubled the number of treys (7-16) he made all of last year (3-12).
Daniel Bobik (3.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg overall -- 2.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal in 10 minutes at UNLV.
• He has played double-digit minutes the last three games with Hansen out with an injury.
• He was 2-2 from the floor vs. AFA, making his first field goal since scoring 11 points in 12 minutes vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
• He had two steals in only 6 minutes at Wyoming. He had played limited minutes since playing 15 minutes vs. SDSU. Against SDSU, he went 0-6, including 0-5 on treys.
• He has played double-digit minutes in 10 games this year. He has played less than 10 minutes in 10 games. He has not played in three games.
Jacob Chrisman (3.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg overall -- 1.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg MWC)
Last Game: Played 5 minutes with 1 turnover at UNLV.
• He did not score for the fourth time this year at UNLV. He has scored in 18 of the 22 games he has played (except SUU, UNLV, Wyoming, UNLV). He has had a rebound in 18 of 22 games played (except Rice, SUU, Utah, UNLV).
• Prior to his limited play at Wyoming, he had pulled down 19 boards in the previous four games (4.8 rpg) after totalling only 17 rebounds in the prior 10 games (1.7 rpg) in which he played. He had back-to-back career highs of 6 and 8 rebounds vs. TAMCC and SDSU.
• He did not play for the only time this year vs. ISU.
• He is 26-46 (.565) from the field this year.
Derek Dawes (1.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg overall -- 0.4 ppg, 1.0 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 1 rebound in 5 minutes at UNLV.
• He has taken 12 shots in the last 15 games in which he has played (appeared in 17 of 23 games). He is 7-19 (.368) on the year from the field.
• He averages 2.2 rebounds in 5.3 minutes per game.
Dan Howard (1.1 ppg, 0.7 rpg overall -- 0.5 ppg, 1.0 rpg MWC)
Last Game: Did not play.
• He has played in 11 game overall, including 7 of the last 13 games.
• He is 5-8 from both the floor and 2-2 from the line this year. Last year he was 3-3 from the floor before being forced to redshirt with a knee injury.
Ty Shippen (0.8 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 0.4 apg overall -- 1.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.0 apg MWC)
Last Game: Did not play. (not on the road trip)
• He hit the three vs. SDSU that tied the BYU team record for 13 treys in a game.
• He has played 23 minutes in nine games. After playing 10 minutes in BYU's first two home wins, he has played 13 total minutes since.
Jordan Archibald (0.1 ppg, 0.1 apg overall -- 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg MWC)
Last Game: Did not play.
• He played one minute vs. UNLV and missed his only shot in limited play vs. SDSU. He has played 14 minutes this year, six in the season opener vs. Elon College.
