PROVO -- The BYU Cougar men's basketball team (21-7, 10-3) took another step towards the Mountain West Conference regular season title and the NCAA Tournament with a 69-50 win over the Wyoming Cowboys (20-8, 8-5) Thursday night at the Marriott Center.

BYU finished the game with three players in double figures including senior Travis Hansen's game high 23 points in 34 minutes of play. Hansen also pulled down five rebounds, and had two blocked shots. Hansen led the Cougars with three three-pointers on the night.

Hansen was tough all night on defense being assigned to defend Wyoming's leading scorer Donta Richardson who is averaging just over 18 points a game, Hansen held Richardson to only nine on the night.

"We were able to play well on defense and we took care of the ball tonight. I was a little surprised at the spread of the points, but there was nothing easy about beating this team," said head coach Steve Cleveland. "I thought that it would be a possession game that would go down to the last five minutes."

Juniors Mark Bigelow and Rafael Araujo chipped in 13 and 12 points respectively to lift the Cougars past the Cowboys. Araujo also scored the second three-pointer of his career and came within one rebound of a double-double, grabbing nine boards in 29 minutes of play.

Araujo and Hansen got the Cougars off to a big start in the first half scoring a combined 19 of the Cougars' 36 points.

After starting out the game by trading baskets, BYU went on an early 11-2 run to go up 16-6 with 12:30 left to go in the half. On defense, Araujo forced Wyoming's center, Uche Nsonwu-Amadi, to fight for all eight of his first-half points and Hansen held Richardson to only four points at the break.

"Wyoming has some big guys inside that are really tough to guard," said Cleveland.

"BYU is one of the few teams that can match up with Uche when they have Araujo in there," said Wyoming head coach Steve McClain. "I give credit to BYU's defense, their big guys do a great job of helping each other."

With 3:27 remaining Hansen blocked a layup attempt by Wyoming's guard Chris McMillan that pinned the ball between the rim and the backboard. The block brought the Marriott Center to its feet and the 15,383 in attendance stayed there on the ensuing play as Bigelow scored off an Araujo behind-the-back pass.

With only 10.7 seconds left in the half and the Cowboys trying to score, Wyoming's David Rottinghaus threw the ball out of bounds and turned the ball over to the Cougars. On the in-bound play Cougar guard Kevin Woodberry drove the length of the floor to score a layup and take the Cougars into the lockerroom on top 36-25.

In the second half it was all Hansen as he came out shooting, scoring eight of the team's first 10 points.

After forward Jared Jensen connected on a pair of free throws with 13:33 left in the game, the Cougars increased their lead as they went on a 16-2 run led by Jensen who had six points in the stretched.

The Cougars went on to claim the victory with a 69-50 final and tied with Utah in the overall standings for the Mountain West Conference regular season title.

Utah's 66-65 loss to Colorado State on Thursday puts the Cougars and Utes in a first-place tie with identical 10-3 records. The Cougars will battle for the MWC title Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. (MST) when they take on Colorado State in the Marriott Center. It is the last home game of the season for the Cougars and will include a special half-time ceremony honoring former Cougar Danny Ainge, whose BYU uniform will be retired.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
University of Wyoming vs BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars
03/06/03 7:00pm at Brigham Young University
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VISITORS: University of Wyoming 20-8, 8-5
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
20 ROTTINGHAUS, David.. f  1-3    1-3    0-0    1  0  1   2   3  1  4  1  1  25
25 RIES, Joe........... f  3-5    0-0    2-2    1  4  5   1   8  1  0  0  1  29
05 NSONWU-AMADI, Uche.. c  5-11   0-0    5-7    0  4  4   3  15  0  4  0  0  29
01 RICHARDSON, Donta... g  3-8    1-3    2-6    3  3  6   2   9  1  3  0  1  32
03 STRAIGHT, Jay....... g  3-4    0-1    3-5    1  4  5   1   9  2  4  0  0  27
00 MAKUN, Omoniyi......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   0  0  0  0  0   7
13 DUNN, Alex..........    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   1
15 JEGEDE, Supo........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
23 ADAMS, David........    0-4    0-2    0-0    1  1  2   4   0  0  2  0  1  19
24 MCMILLIAN, Chris....    0-2    0-0    2-2    1  2  3   1   2  1  0  0  0  17
31 CORREA, Mory........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   3   0  0  0  0  0   4
32 WILDENBORG, Ryan....    2-4    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   4  0  0  0  0   8
   TEAM................                         2  4  6
   Totals..............   17-43   2-9   14-22  10 22 32  20  50  6 17  1  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-20 40.0%   2nd Half:  9-23 39.1%   Game: 39.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-1   0.0%   2nd Half:  2-8  25.0%   Game: 22.2%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  9-11 81.8%   2nd Half:  5-11 45.5%   Game: 63.6%    3
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HOME TEAM: BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars 21-7, 10-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 BIGELOW, Mark....... f  6-12   1-4    0-0    4  2  6   2  13  3  1  0  1  33
52 JENSEN, Jared....... f  2-2    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   3   6  0  1  0  0  22
55 ARAUJO, Rafael...... c  5-11   1-1    1-2    3  6  9   2  12  2  3  0  2  29
02 HANSEN, Travis...... g  7-15   3-8    6-7    2  3  5   1  23  2  1  2  1  34
24 WOODBERRY, Kevin.... g  2-6    1-4    0-0    0  2  2   2   5  2  2  0  2  27
04 LEMES, Luiz.........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  1   3
05 SHOFF, Jake.........    2-5    0-0    0-0    3  2  5   4   4  0  0  0  0  17
10 NASHIF, Terry.......    1-3    0-0    1-1    0  0  0   3   3  2  0  0  0  11
12 ROBERTS, Marc.......    0-1    0-0    1-2    1  0  1   2   1  0  1  0  0   2
14 BOWER, Ricky........    0-0    0-0    2-2    0  2  2   0   2  0  0  0  1   9
15 ALLEN, John.........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
32 JEPSEN, Bart........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
40 HOWARD, Dan.........    0-0    0-0    0-2    1  1  2   2   0  0  1  0  0   8
   TEAM................                            1  1
   Totals..............   25-58   6-20  13-18  14 21 35  21  69 11 10  2  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-27 51.9%   2nd Half: 11-31 35.5%   Game: 43.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-9  22.2%   2nd Half:  4-11 36.4%   Game: 30.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-8  75.0%   2nd Half:  7-10 70.0%   Game: 72.2%    2
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Officials: David Hall, Milt Stowe, Steve Weimer
Technical fouls: University of Wyoming-None. BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars-None.
Attendance: 15383
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
University of Wyoming.........   25   25  -   50
BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars.........   36   33  -   69
Points in the paint-WY 22,BY 22. Points off turnovers-WY 8,BY 20.
2nd chance points-WY 11,BY 10. Fast break points-WY 0,BY 2.
Bench points-WY 6,BY 10. Score tied-1 time. Lead changes-0 times.

After sweeping the Air Force-New Mexico road trip to finish league play with a 5-2 road record, BYU (20-7, 9-3 MWC) returns home to play its final two conference games in the Marriott Center. The second-place Cougars host third-place Wyoming (20-7, 8-4) Thursday at 7 p.m. MST. The game is a SportsWest Productions telecast that will air on KUWB-TV in Salt Lake City and is also available pay-per-view via ESPN FULL COURT. The radio broadcast can be heard on KSL Newsradio 1160 and the Cougar Sports Network, beginning with a one-hour pregame show. KSL's Greg Wrubell will call the play-by-play action with Mark Durrant providing analysis. Live audio is available on the basketball page of the official BYU athletics website, byucougars.com, and on KSL.com and via BYU Radio on the Dish Network and at byuradio.org.

SATURDAY IS SEASON TICKET HOLDER APPRECIATE DAY, AINGE/HANSEN HONORED

BYU hosts Colorado State at 7 p.m. Saturday in its final regular season home game of the season. BYU will retire the jersey of Cougar great Danny Ainge at the game and honor lone senior Travis Hansen, BYU's top scorer the past two seasons. The evening is Season Ticket Holder Appreciation Day. Season ticket holder who have any unused tickets from previous games this year may redeem them for a free upper-bowl ticket or distribute those tickets to others who may redeem them for a free upper-bowl ticket for Saturday's BYU-CSU home finale. Unused tickets can be redeemed at the BYU Ticket Office. Along with Hansen being honored, Ainge will become the first BYU basketball player to have his jersey retired when it is hung permanently from the Marriott Center rafters. Many of Ainge's former teammates and coaches are expected to be in attendance. The first 20,000 fans in attendance will receive a souvenir poster highlighting his accomplishments. Vintage Danny Ainge jerseys will also be for sale on the concourse level.

GAME #28 FAST FACTS (MWC GAME #13)

BYU (20-7, 9-3 MWC) vs. WYOMING (20-7, 8-4 MWC)

THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2003

MARRIOTT CENTER (22,700)

PROVO, UTAH

7:07 p.m. MST

Coaches:

BYU, Steve Cleveland (105-76 in sixth year; same overall)

Wyoming, Steve McClain (99-48 in fifth year; same overall)

Series:

BYU leads, 88-67; Last: BYU won 74-66 in Laramie on Feb. 8, 2003

TV:

SportsWest Productions (KUWB-TV in Utah; KTWO in Wyoming)

Satellite: TELSTAR 6 TRANSPONDER C-11

Pay-per-view: ESPN FULL COURT

Play-by-Play: Dave McCann

Game Analyst: Craig Hislop

Radio:

KSL Newsradio 1160 AM (Cougar Sports Network)

Pregame Air Time: 6 p.m. MST

Play-by-Play: Greg Wrubell

Game Analyst: Mark Durrant

Web:

Live audio links are available at byucougars.com/basketball_m/ (select 2002-03 schedule) and on KSL.com and byuradio.org or via BYU Radio on Dish Network.

BYU's Probable Starters:

Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG

F 3 Mark Bigelow 6-7 195 Jr. 13.6 3.7

F 52 Jared Jensen 6-9 250 So. 8.4 3.6

C 55 Rafael Araujo 6-11 265 Jr. 11.8 8.8

G 2 Travis Hansen 6-6 210 Sr. 16.5 4.7 2.5 apg

G 24 Kevin Woodberry 6-0 170 Jr. 6.1 2.2 2.4 apg

BYU Reserves:

Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG

G 14 Ricky Bower 6-4 185 Jr. 5.8 1.5

F 5 Jake Shoff 6-9 265 Jr. 2.4 2.4

G 10 Terry Nashif 5-10 165 So. 2.3 1.7 2.3 apg

F 15 John Allen 6-7 215 So. 3.0 1.5

G 12 Marc Roberts 6-3 205 So. 2.1 1.3

G 4 Luiz Lemes 6-3 180 Jr. 1.5 0.8

C 40 Dan Howard 7-0 225 Jr. 1.3 0.7

F 32 Bart Jepsen 6-9 235 Jr. 1.2 0.9

THURSDAY'S MATCHUP - A LOOK AT WYOMING

BYU is 20-7 and is in second place in the league standings at 9-3, one game behind MWC-leader Utah. Wyoming is also 20-7 and is one game behind BYU at 8-4 in league play. BYU is looking for its first regular season sweep of Wyoming since the 1995-96 season. The Cowboys can pull even with the Cougars in the league standings with a win Thursday. The Cowboys join the Cougars as the only teams other than league-leader Utah who still have a chance to earn a share of the regular season title. BYU has a chance to win it outright if the Utes drop both games this week and the Cougars can win twice. Wyoming is only 4-3 at home but is 4-1 on the raod in league play. Wyoming has gone 4-2 since losing to BYU in Laramie. The two losses were bothat home (Utah and SDSU). They are coming off a win over UNLV Monday. The Cowboys are led by guard Donta Richardson (18.2 ppg), forward Uche Nsonwu-Amadi (13.3 ppg, 10.2 rpg) and guard Jay Straight (10.3 ppg, 3.3 apg). The Cowboys shoot .457 from the floor and .353 on threes while converting .702 from the line. They allow .441 shooting, including .381 on threes. Wyoming scores 74.1 ppg while giving up 69.4. They are outrebounding the opposition by an average of 37.0 to 32.0. The Cowboys return five starters, including Chris McMillian, who missed last season because of an injury. The Cowboys lone starter lost from last year was power forward Josh Davis. However, Wyoming lost preseason MWC Player of the Year Marcus Bailey to injury in the ninth game.

WYOMING'S PROBABLE STARTERS

POS. # NAME HT. WT. YR. PPG RPG

F 20 David Rottinghaus 6-5 195 Jr. 6.1 2.7

F 25 Joe Ries 6-8 225 Jr. 7.4 4.0

C 5 Uche Nsonwu-Amadi 6-10 260 Sr. 13.3 10.2

G 1 Donta Richardson 6-2 170 Sr. 18.2 3.1

G 3 Jay Straight 5-11 175 So. 10.3 2.5 3.3 apg

COWBOYS COMING OFF WIN OVER UNLV

Donta Richardson scored 22 points and Uche Nsonwu-Amadi added 20 as Wyoming squeaked past UNLV 69-66 on Monday. Wyoming led 31-23 at the half and again by eight at 3:49 but the Rebels crept back and stayed in the game off several Cowboy turnovers, including a bad pass with under a minute left that led to a layup by Marcus Banks, putting UNLV within two. Richardson widened the lead to three after being fouled on the inbounds pass but UNLV (18-9, 7-6) came within one with 31 seconds remaining after Chris McMillian fouled Banks, who led the Rebels with 23 points and made both free throws. After a Wyoming time out, David Adams was fouled and sank two free throws to put Wyoming up 67-64. But UNLV answered again after Dalron Johnson, who led both teams with 11 rebounds, tipped in a miss by JK Edwards with 11 seconds left. Richardson was then fouled by Jermaine Lewis. He sealed the win, sinking two free throws with 8.3 seconds remaining. Banks turned over the ball on UNLV's final possession. The Rebels tied the game for the first time since the first half at 7:56 off a basket by JK Edwards, who was fouled by Mory Correa. UNLV rebounded after Edwards missed a free throw but turned the ball over off an offensive foul by Johnson. Wyoming grabbed the lead again off a driving layup by Richardson at the seven-minute mark. Several UNLV turnovers and scores by Correa and Nsonwu-Amadi put the Cowboys up by eight. The Rebels shot a paltry 28 percent in the first half but still led the first 7 minutes. A dunk by Uche Nsonwu-Amadi, who had 10 points and six rebounds in the first half, tied the game at 13 and Richardson put the Cowboys ahead 16-13 with a 3-pointer. Nsonwu-Amadi left the game at 5:59 in the first after he took an elbow to his left eye while bringing down a rebound. He returned three minutes later, lifting Wyoming out of a scoring drought with a slam dunk off a long pass from David Rottinghaus.

SERIES TIDBITS

This will be the 156th meeting between the two schools. BYU leads the series 88-67. BYU has won four straight in Provo. Wyoming's last win in the Marriott Center was on Feb. 8, 1997 (72-60). BYU has won four of the last five overall, including a win at Laramie in the first meeting this year. That victory ended five straight losses to the Cowboys at Arena-Auditorium. BYU's prior win in Laramie was an 81-71 triumph on Feb. 10, 1996. BYU has not swept the regular season series since 1996. The two teams split the season series with home wins in 2002, 2001, 2000 and 1998. They did not meet in 1999. Wyoming swept the series in 1997 during BYU's 1-25 season to end four straight BYU wins in 1995 and 1996. After Utah (234 games) and Utah State (219 games), BYU has faced Wyoming the third-most times in its history. Steve Cleveland is 6-4 vs. Wyoming, including an 4-0 mark in Provo.

SERIES BREAKDOWN

Overall Series Record: BYU leads 88-67

BYU Record in Provo: 59-13

BYU Record in Laramie: 26-52

BYU Record at Neutral Sites: 3-2

BYU Record under Steve Cleveland: 6-4

BYU Record in Overtime Games: 1-3* (all in Laramie)

*0-1 in 2OT games (1981 in Laramie, 84-86)

Last OT Game: 1981, lost in Laramie, 84-86 (2OT)

Longest BYU Win Streak: 12 (1972-77)

Longest Wyoming Win Streak: 9 (1942-46)

Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 35, 78-43 in 1966

Largest Wyoming Margin of Victory: 32, 63-31 in 1931

Most Points Scored by BYU: 102 in 1965

Most Points Scored by Wyoming: 107 in 1966

LAST MEETING -- COUGAR WIN IN LARAMIE THE FIRST SINCE 1996

LARAMIE -- BYU coach Steve Cleveland got his first win in Laramie Saturday as the Cougars (16-5, 5-1) defeated the Wyoming Cowboys (16-5, 4-2) 74-66 in a battle for first place in the Mountain West Conference. Utah (5-1) defeated Colorado State (3-3) in Fort Collins later Saturday night to share the conference lead with the Cougars.The third largest crowd to ever assemble in Arena-Auditorium, 15,418, saw the Cougars break a five-game losing streak in Laramie dating back to 1996. Last season the Cougars lost in part due to the team's poor rebounding, but Saturday the Cougars out rebounded the Cowboys 37-21. Three players who came up big were juniors Mark Bigelow and Rafael Araujo and senior Travis Hansen. Hansen finished the game with 15 points including two crucial free throws in the final minute, as did Bigelow, who turned in another impressive game with a season-high 23 points that led all scores. Araujo chipped in 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Entering the game ranked fifth nationally in three-point percentage, BYU had another nice game from behind the arc, shooting an 42.9 percent, and was a solid 45.2 percent overall from the field. Junior Kevin Woodberry started at point guard for the Cougars and finished with five steals, the first time a Cougar has had five thefts since Matt Montague did more than a year ago against San Francisco. At halftime the Cougars led the Cowboys by seven at 35-28, and had managed to out rebound Wyoming 21-15. BYU took an early 10-4 lead. BYU trailed once, at 12-11, and the Cowboys came close to taking the lead again when Wyoming guard David Adams connected on a three-point shot and was fouled by Bigelow. After the foul shot the Cowboys had tied the game at 16-16. The Cougars came roaring back and pushed their lead up to 10 at 29-19, the team's largest lead of the half with 5:23 left in the half thanks to a Bigelow three-pointer. BYU led by seven at the half. In the second half the Cougars came out strong and extended their lead to 41-28, but Araujo picked up his fourth foul in the first two minutes of the second half and sat for the next nine minutes. The Cowboys and the Cougars battled back and forth throughout the half. With Araujo out, Wyoming took the ball into the paint again and again. Jared Jensen picked up his fifth foul with 12:20 remaining with the Cougars still up by 10 at 52-42. Jake Shoff and Bart Jepsen took over the job of defending the lane until Araujo returned to the game with just over eight minutes left to play in the game. Wyoming's Uche Nsonwu-Amadi led a Cowboy comeback after being down 62-52 and brought the Cowboys to within five. With just over two minutes left in the game the momentum seemed to have shifted to the Cowboys after finally getting the game to within one possession at 66-63. But clutch foul shooting from Bigelow and Hansen as well as two steals, including a Woodberry theft, kept the Cougars on top.

WHAT BYU COACH STEVE CLEVELAND HAD TO SAY AFTER THE FIRST MEETING THIS YEAR ...

"Last year was a competitive game and the year before we were up 16 or 17 and couldn't finish it off. Tonight we were up and as things started slipping away one guy after another came up big for the team. I told Travis and Mark that we aren't going to win anywhere in this leagues unless they play well every night. (Travis) is driven and he wants to win. He is willing to give everything every night. Nobody can every question his effort for this team. "

LAST YEAR IN PROVO - HOT-SHOOTING COUGARS DOWN COWBOYS

PROVO -- Travis Hansen and Mark Bigelow each scored 19 points to lead BYU to an 85-70 win over league-leading Wyoming. The Cougars shot 68 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from beyond the arc in the first half and 58.6 percent and 57.1 percent respectively for the game. BYU's sharp shooting allowed them to build a 12-point halftime lead. Hansen and Bigelow got plenty of support from Eric Nielsen's 12 points, seven rebounds and career-high three blocks and Jared Jensen's 10 points and two blocked shots. Matt Montague's 15 assists tied a career high he set this season against the Idaho Vandals on Dec. 15. The Cougar bench got into the act as well with Jimmy Balderson, Daniel Bobik and Jon Carlisle combining for 19 points. Carlisle had BYU career bests of 4-4 free throwshooting, eight points and 19 minutes played. BYU's 58.6 percent field goal shooting against the Cowboys was the first time the Cougars had shot over 50 percent since the Southern Utah game Dec. 29. The Cougars had only shot better from the arc when they played Stanford Dec. 22, going 7-of-11 for 63.6 percent. BYU was able to hold the Cowboys to 29 rebounds, 13 below the Pokes' season average. BYU was only out-rebounded by two against a Wyoming team that leads the nation in rebounding margin (+10.3). The Cougars' defense was also able to hold Wyoming to 70 points, 11 below its 81-point average (tied for 19th best nationally).

WHAT BYU COACH STEVE CLEVELAND HAD TO SAY IN PROVO LAST YEAR ...

"It's been a long couple of weeks but it was great to see the kids start making baskets. This was a very important game just for the whole mental framework of this team. I thought we got great play off the bench. They gave us offense and defense."

WHAT WYOMING COACH STEVE MCCLAIN HAD TO SAY IN PROVO LAST YEAR ...

"We caught them on a night when everything was going good and we couldn't do anything to stop that. That is a credit to Steve Cleveland, his staff and his players. I think we ran into a team coming off [three] losses that knew they had their backs against the wall. McClain. They had a game plan and it worked. I thought they had a solid defensive effort."

BYU'S LAST OUTING -- FIVE COUGARS SCORE IN DOUBLE-DIGITS IN WIN

ALBUQUERQUE -- BYU caps off its Mountain West Conference road season with a win over the Lobos of New Mexico 91-81, Monday night. With the win, the Cougars finish 5-2 away from home in the conference and pick up their 20th win of the season overall (20-7, 9-3 MWC). BYU held a three-point lead at the break, but went on a 16-4 run to open the half, extending the lead to 54-39. During the run, junior Mark Bigelow hit back-to-back treys and two free throws and Araujo had a transition jam inside to build the lead. The Cougars looked to lone senior Travis Hansen for big shots down the stretch to fight off attempted runs by the Lobos. Hansen led five Cougars in double figures with 26 points, including a perfect 12-for-12 from the line. "Travis has been our leader all season on and off the court and he made some big shots," BYU head coach Steve Cleveland said. Jared Jensen topped a new season-high in points with 19 along with six rebounds. He made many key buckets inside to quiet the raucous crowd of 15,741 at The Pit. Jensen scored 15 on the Lobos earlier this season in Provo. Araujo chipped in 14 points while grabbing 14 boards. The two big men scored 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting. "It is a great time for our big men to play well," Cleveland said. "We just needed to get them some post touches, and we did that tonight." Bigelow paced the run out of the gate in the second half before fouling out with 14 points. Kevin Woodberry added 11 points with five assists and just one turnover. BYU mixed defenses to try and contain UNM's Ruben Douglas. The Lobo guard scored 27 points, including 12-for-12 from the line to match Hansen for BYU in free throw accuracy. Cleveland wanted to limit Douglas' trips to the foul line after he helped the Lobos beat Utah Saturday by making 26 free throws. Mark Walters and Jamaal Williams scored 18 and 17 points respectively for New Mexico. The Cougar's defense came within 52 seconds of snapping Douglas' streak of 35 consecutive games with a three-pointer. He hit 1-of-7; the lone make came in the final minute of the game. BYU shot 63.6 percent in the second half to build the lead that they would never give up. The Cougars shot 54.5 percent from the field on the game and totaled the most points in a road game for BYU since 1994 at Air Force. BYU was 26-of-28 from the line for 93 percent.

BYU BASICS

Led by senior guard Travis Hansen, junior swingman Mark Bigelow and junior center Rafael Araujo, the Cougars (20-7) earned an 11-4 non-conference record and are in second place with at 9-3 behind Utah (10-2) in the MWC standings. Hansen leads the team in scoring (16.5) and assists (2.5) and is second in rebounding (4.7); Bigelow is second in scoring (13.6), third in rebounding (3.7) and the team's top three-point shooter (58-128); while Araujo is the third-leading scorer (11.8) and top rebounder (8.8). Sophomore forward Jared Jensen adds 8.4 points and 3.6 rebounds while JC transfer Kevin Woodberry starts at the point averaging 6.1 points and 2.4 assists. Coach Cleveland has more talent on the bench this year. Wisconsin transfer junior guard Ricky Bower leads the reserves, averaging 5.8 points and shooting 43 percent from behind the arc. The Cougars shoot .472 from the floor, .394 on threes (No. 6 nationally (.406) entering Saturday's game at AFA) and an MWC-best .754 from the line. BYU is among the top MWC defensive teams, allowing .405 shooting, including .307 on threes. BYU scores 72.6 ppg while allowing 64.0. BYU is 11-1 at home and 9-6 away, including a 3-1 neutral record and 6-5 road mark. Cleveland has used five starting lineups. Sophomore guard Marc Roberts came out of a possible redshirt season after 13 games, playing at Weber State. Freshmen guards Austin Ainge and Jermaine Odjegba are redshirting this season.

COUGAR NOTABLES

o With its 91-81 win over UNM, BYU scored the most points on an opponent's homecourt since defeating Air Force 94-82 in 1994. Five Cougars reached double figures for the fist time since December 2000.

o BYU finished the conference season with a 5-2 record on the road. BYU swept two conference road trips this year, winning on the Front Range for the first time since 1993 and winning at AFA an UNM for the first time since 2001. BYU didn't play at SDSU (win) and UNLV (loss) in the traditional single-trip this season. In 2001, BYU went on to earn a share of the regular season title, win the MWC tournament and advance to the NCAA tournament with a 24-9 record. In 1993, BYU finished the season with a 25-9 record, tied for the WAC title and advanced to the NCAA tournament, going 1-1 with a win over SMU before a loss to Kansas.

o BYU enters the week with a chance to claim the MWC regular season title. Trailing Utah by one game, the Cougars would need two wins coupled with two Utah losses this week. If BYU and Utah were to finish in a tie for the league crown, Utah would win the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed in the MWC tournament because of sweeping BYU this season. Wyoming can also earn a share of the crown if the Cowboys sweep BYU and Utah this week and the Utes also drop their game to Colorado State Thursday.

o Travis Hansen has scored in double figures a team-leading 25 times this year, including a string of 21 straight games that came to an end with his 8 points at AFA. The 21-game streak is the longest by a BYU player since the inception of the MWC. He has led BYU in scoring 15 times, including eight of the last 10 games. He had a team-leading 26 points at UNM Monday.

o Mark Bigelow has a team-leading 58 threes. The single season record for threes is 74 (Andy Toolson in 1990). Bigelow made 65 threes last year, the fifth-best total in BYU history. He has made multiple threes in 17 games this year. He had 14 points at UNM on 4-7 shooting, including 2-4 on threes.

o A solid defender, Kevin Woodberry has been more effective on the offensive end since returning to the starting lineup. In his first 14 starts prior to losing the job he shot .329, including .286 (16-56) on threes, and .514 on the line while averaging 6.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2.4 apg and 1.4 spg. Starting again in the last seven games he is shooting .415 (17-41), including .429 (12-28) on threes, while averaging 7.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.7 apg and 2.1 spg. He is shooting .583 (7-12) from the line in the last seven games.

o After playing a career-low 5 minutes at AFA and not attempting a field goal for the first time in his career, sophomore foward Jared Jensen responded by scoring a season-high 19 points in 28 minutes off the bench at UNM. He made a career-best seven field goals while tying his high of 10 attempts. He has made 15 of his last 20 shots (.750) over the last four games.

o Rafael Araujo recorded his team-leading sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 14 boards at UNM. He was coming off career-best 31-point effort on 13-16 shooting at AFA last Saturday, also adding 9 rebounds and a career-high 5 steals.

COUGARS LED BY STRONG EFFORTS OF SENIOR TRAVIS HANSEN

BYU is off to its first 9-3 start in the four years of the Mountain West Conference in part due to the leadership and strong play senior Travis Hansen, who will be honored Saturday in his final regular season home game. Hansen and his supporting cast of Cougar teammates have BYU in good position for an NCAA bid this year. Listed below are some of the highlights of conference play of BYU's four leading scorers.

TRAVIS HANSEN

Through 12 conference games entering the final weekend of the regular season, Hansen leads BYU in scoring at 18.0 ppg, is second in rebounds (5.0 rpg) and is tied for second in assists per game (2.3) ... A first-team NABC District 13 selection, Hansen has led BYU in scoring in eight of 12 games played and has scored 18 or more points in six games ... Extremely consistent, he has topped 14 points in 11 of 12 games ... He recorded a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds vs. Utah, making 14 free throws, the fourth highest total by an MWC player ...He is one of only four MWC players to record a perfect night from the line on at least 10 attempts in league play, going 12-12 at New Mexico ... He has recorded game highs of 27 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals ... While leading BYU in scoring, the versatile Hansen is the Cougars' top defender and usually draws the opponent's best perimeter player and has also been successful guarding the opponent's power forward ... He held CSU's Brian Greene to 2 points in Fort Collins (more than 11 below his average), shut down UNLV's Jermaine Lewis in Las Vegas (2-11 for 4 points), and held SDSU's leading scorer Tony Bland to 7 points (2-7 shooting) ... With two home games still to play, Hansen is sixth in the league in scoring (18.0), 10th in rebounds (5.0), tied for fourth in free throw percentage (.864), tied for 13th in steals (1.08), tied for 15th in three-pointers made (1.17), tied for 13th in offensive rebounds (1.75), and 14th in defensive rebounds (3.25)

MARK BIGELOW

Through 12 conference games entering the final weekend of the regular season, Bigelow ranks in the top-10 among MWC players in five statistical categories and is in the top-20 in two others ... Bigelow is eighth in the league in scoring (15.3), first in free throw percentage (.925), third in three-pointers made (2.58), tied for fourth in steals (1.5), seventh in three-point percentage (.456), tied for 14th in assists (2.33) and tied for 17th in rebounds (3.9) ...

He is BYU's second-leading scorer, third in rebounds and tied for second in assists per game ... He has made a team-leading 31 treys while shooting 45.6 percent (31-68) from behind the arc ... He tied a career-high 5 treys at SDSU and became BYU's all-time three-point leader as only a junior ...He has made multiple threes in 9 of 12 games ... He leads BYU and all MWC players in free throw percentage at 92.5 percent ...He had a string of 19 consecutive free throws made without a miss during league play ... He is tied for first among BYU players in steals (1.5) ...He has reached double figures in 10 of 12 league games, leading BYU in scoring twice, while topping 20 points four times and scoring at least 16 points in seven games ... He had back-to-back 20-plus point games twice in league play ... He has recorded game highs of 23 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals.

RAFAEL ARAUJO

Through 12 conference games entering the final weekend of the regular season, Araujo ranks in the top-5 among MWC players in five statistical categories. Araujo is second in rebounds (8.9), second in defensive rebounds (6.08), second in offensive rebounds (2.58), third in field goal percentage (.579) and tied for fourth in steals (1.5) ... He is 17th in scoring (12.2) ...His 15 rebounds against UNLV is the top rebounding effort of any MWC player during league play ... He also has the second-best shooting night, making 81.2 percent at Air Force on 13-of-16 shooting ... His 13 field goals is tied for second most made in a game by any MWC player ... Araujo leads BYU in rebounds, is the team's third-leading scorer, is tied for first in steals and is second in field goal percentage ... He has reached double-digit points in 6 of 12 games and double-figure rebounds in 4 games ... He has two double-doubles and was only one point or rebound away from three others ... He has led BYU in scoring in three games and in rebounds in nine outings ...He has game highs of 31 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals.

JARED JENSEN

Through 12 conference games entering the final weekend of the regular season, Jensen ranks second among MWC players in field goal percentage (.581), seventh in free throw shooting (.850) and is tied for 13th in offensive rebounds (1.75). Jensen is averaging 8.8 points and 3.3 rebounds, while shooting a team-leading 58.1 percent from the floor ...An excellent free throw shooter, he is making 85 percent of his attempts from the line ... He has recorded double-digit points in 6 of 12 league games ... He led BYU in assists in one game and in blocks in one game ... He has game highs of 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

BYU TO RETIRE DANNY AINGE JERSEY SATURDAY AT BYU-CSU GAME

In a historic event, BYU will retire the uniform of former Cougar great Danny Ainge on March 8, 2003, during the final regular season home game against Colorado State. Ainge becomes the first BYU men's basketball player to have his jersey retired.

"A tradition of retiring jerseys is long overdue at BYU," BYU Director of Men's Athletics Val Hale said. "We have had some incredible coaches and athletes represent this university in the past. It will be fun to be reminded of them each time we see their jerseys hanging from the rafters and the press box. This is one more step we are taking to try to bring the past and present together for the benefit of our fans and our former and current athletes."

Many of Ainge's former coaches and teammates are expected to be in attendance at the game. During the ceremony, Ainge's No. 22 jersey will be hung from the Marriott Center rafters, where it will be on permanent display. To commemorate the event, the first 20,000 fans in attendance will receive a souvenir poster highlighting his accomplishments. Vintage Danny Ainge jerseys will also be for sale on the concourse level.

Ainge's jersey, not his number, will be retired. Future players may still have the option to wear No. 22. The criteria considered to retire a jersey include the following:

-- First team All-American

-- Recipient of major national award

-- University graduate

-- Minimum 15-year waiting period

-- Significant accomplishments after BYU graduation (athletics, community, church)

-- Faithful member of LDS Church or other religious affiliation

Two football players -- Eldon Fortie (1960-62), who wore No. 40, and Marion Probert (1951-54), who wore No. 81 -- have had their jerseys retired.

Known for his competitive, hard-nosed playing style, Ainge has become one of the most famous athletes to graduate from BYU. Ainge played for BYU from 1978-81.

During his four-year career as a Cougar, Ainge was a Consensus All-American, a two-time First Team Academic All-American, the WAC Player of the Year and a four-time All-WAC selection. He set an NCAA record with 112 consecutive games scoring in double digits and broke the BYU and WAC all-time scoring records with 2,467 points -- all prior to the three-point era.

As a senior in 1981, Ainge led BYU to the NCAA Elite Eight at the Eastern Regional in Atlanta. He concluded his senior season by winning the Eastman Award as well as the John Wooden Award -- given annually to the top collegiate basketball player in the nation.

Ainge beat out Isiah Thomas (Indiana), Sam Bowie (Kentucky), Mark Aguirre (DePaul), Ralph Sampson (Virginia) and Steve Johnson (Oregon State) to win the Wooden Award. In doing so, he became the award's fifth winner, joining Marques Johnson, Larry Bird, Phil Ford and Darrell Griffith.

A two-sport athlete, Ainge was drafted by both the Toronto Blue Jays for baseball and the Boston Celtics for basketball. After playing four seasons with the Blue Jays, including several while attending BYU, he chose to pursue an NBA career.

Ainge was a member of the Celtics' 1984 and 1986 Championship teams, and played in six NBA finals with three different teams (Boston, Portland and Phoenix). He also played for the Sacramento Kings. He became only the third player in NBA history to make 1,000 three-point field goals, finishing his 14-year career with 1,002.

Ainge played in 193 NBA playoff games, which ranks third all-time behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 237 games and Scottie Pippen's 204. He ranks ahead of Magic Johnson, Robert Parrish, John Havlicek and Bill Russell to name a few.

After retiring in 1995, Ainge was an NBA basketball television analyst for Turner Broadcasting for one year before the Phoenix Suns brought him back to the organization as an assistant and then the head coach in 1996. Realizing he wanted to spend more time with his family, Ainge resigned as head coach in 1999. In his three years as head coach of the Suns, Ainge had a mark of 123-83 (.597) with three NBA Playoff appearances.

Ainge was inducted into the GTE Academic All-America Hall of Fame in May 2000. He currently works with Turner Broadcasting as an NBA analyst. His son Austin is a freshman on the 2002-03 BYU basketball team.

Tickets to the BYU-CSU game honoring Ainge are available at the BYU Ticket Office or by calling 800-322-BYU1. The game on Saturday, March 8, starts at 7 p.m.

"This is certainly a well-deserved honor for Danny," Head Basketball Coach Steve Cleveland said. "I really like that fact that we are recognizing the accomplishments of people who have helped create an excellent basketball tradition at BYU. Obviously, Danny's impact on the program has been significant. I look forward to seeing his jersey hanging from the Marriott Center rafters."