Cougars Cruise to 72-50 Win at San Diego State
SAN -- Breaking a two-game losing skid, BYU cruised to a 72-50 road win over San Diego State Thursday in Cox Arena.
The Cougars and Aztecs battled back and forth over the game's first 12 minutes before the Cougars went on a 17-5 run to turn a 21-20 Aztec lead into an 11-point BYU advantage at 37-26 entering the break. After shooting 52 percent in the first half, the Cougars just got better during the final 20 minutes, making 56 percent of their second-half attempts and increasing their lead to as many as 29 points.
Four Cougars scored in double figures for BYU, led by Mekeli Wesley with a game-high 15 points and nine rebounds. Terrell Lyday and Michael Vranes added 12 points and Todd Christensen scored 11. After only hitting four three-pointers in the last two games, both road losses, the Cougars made 7-13 treys against the Aztecs with Christensen connecting on 3-4 attempts. Lyday went 1-3 to extend his BYU record for consecutive games with a three-pointer to 20.
"We were prepared defensively and able to do a good job on (Myron) Epps," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "And we shot the ball pretty well tonight."
Epps, who was averaging a league-best 22 points in Mountain West Conference games, was held to three points in 32 minutes of action. Marcelo Correa led the Aztecs with 13 points and six rebounds. The Aztecs shot 34 percent from the floor and made only 2-15 three-point attempts. The Cougar shot 54 percent from the field and from the three-point line.
BYU also got solid efforts from Eric Nielsen, who scored nine points and had a team-best three assists, and Nathan Cooper, who added six points. David Nielsen came off the bench to score four points in the late going.
With the win, BYU improves to 15-5 overall and 4-3 in the MWC. The Aztecs fall to 5-14 and 0-6.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICSBrigham Young vs San Diego State
2-3-00 8:00 pm at Cox Arena
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 15-5 (4-3)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
13 Vranes, Michael..... f 5-10 2-3 0-1 3 3 6 2 12 2 3 0 0 27
25 Nielsen, Eric....... f 2-4 0-0 5-6 1 3 4 5 9 3 1 1 2 25
15 Wesley, Mekeli...... c 6-11 1-2 2-2 3 6 9 3 15 1 2 1 2 25
24 Lyday, Terrell...... g 4-10 1-3 3-4 0 5 5 2 12 1 2 0 3 32
31 Montague, Matt...... g 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 2 1 0 2 20
02 Rivers, Silester.... 1-1 0-0 1-3 1 1 2 5 3 0 2 1 0 13
04 Christensen, Todd... 4-6 3-4 0-0 0 1 1 0 11 1 0 0 0 23
05 Roberts, Marc....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 4
10 Allen, John......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 7
20 Taggart, Nick....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 4
42 Cooper, Nathan...... 3-4 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 6 1 2 0 1 15
50 Nielsen, David...... 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 4 0 2 0 1 5
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 27-50 7-13 11-16 10 24 34 21 72 12 18 3 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-25 .520 2nd Half: 14-25 .560 Game: .540 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-6 .667 2nd Half: 3-7 .429 Game: .538 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-10 .700 2nd Half: 4-6 .667 Game: .688 3
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HOME TEAM: San Diego State 5-14 (0-6)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
32 Marion, Michael..... f 4-11 0-2 1-2 2 0 2 2 9 1 2 1 3 22
33 Epps, Myron......... f 1-4 0-1 1-2 1 3 4 3 3 0 4 0 0 32
42 Correa, Marcelo..... c 5-11 0-1 3-5 3 3 6 3 13 1 3 1 2 32
04 Wilson, Donte....... g 1-2 1-1 2-2 0 2 2 3 5 3 0 0 0 23
05 Jackson, Bradley.... g 2-4 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 4 1 2 0 1 25
11 Abramowitz, David... 0-8 0-5 2-2 0 0 0 0 2 3 1 0 2 18
21 Berokoff, Jeffrey... 2-5 1-4 0-0 1 1 2 2 5 0 2 0 0 17
25 Small, Walter....... 0-2 0-1 1-2 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 5
34 Okotie, Vincent..... 2-5 0-0 1-2 0 2 2 1 5 1 2 0 2 16
52 Mann, Joe........... 1-1 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 1 3 0 1 0 0 10
TEAM................ 3 1 4
Totals.............. 18-53 2-15 12-19 13 15 28 16 50 10 17 2 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-26 .385 2nd Half: 8-27 .296 Game: .340 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 .250 2nd Half: 0-7 .000 Game: .133 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 .571 2nd Half: 8-12 .667 Game: .632 5
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Officials: David Hall, Scott Thornley, Bobby Hunt
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. San Diego State-None.
Attendance: 3658
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Brigham Young................. 37 35 - 72
San Diego State............... 26 24 - 50
