Marriott Center
500 E University Parkway Provo UT 84604
PROVO -- Led by Mekeli Wesley's career-high 34 points, BYU improved to 13-3 Thursday with an 87-78 win over Wyoming at the Marriott Center.
Scoring a season-best 16 first-half points, Wesley carried the Cougars to a slim 38-37 halftime advantage. He continued his strong play in the final 20 minutes, adding 18 second-half points to surpass his previous scoring high of 31 points set twice during his freshman season.
Wesley not only led the Cougars in scoring but also had team highs of eight rebounds and four assists. It was Wesley's sixth straight double-digit scoring night and his 14th in 16 games this year. Terrell Lyday added 22 points, 17 in the second half, while hitting 2-4 three pointers to tie a school record of 16 straight games with a made three-pointer. Andy Toolson also made a three in 16 straight game in 1990.
LaDarion Jones led Wyoming with 26 points, followed by Anthony Blakes with 19 and Josh Davis with 13. Wyoming shot 42.6 percent for the game while the Cougars made 49 percent of their attempts.
BYU improves to 2-1 in Mountain West Conference play while Wyoming falls to 1-2 (11-7 overall).
Coaches Quotes
Wyoming Coach Steve McClain:
"I thought our kids did a good job of keeping their composure. [BYU] hit one of those streaks where they started hitting their three-pointers...that's probably why they're one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country. I guess they left their free throw misses in the Utah game, because they were hitting all of them tonight."
"You have to give [Eric] Nielsen credit...he did a nice job defensively...if Nielsen doesn't defend like that, Josh [Davis] gets more points."
"We played a very confident BYU team tonight. You can see the fans coming back...I think I enjoyed that just about as much as anybody. We knew we were coming into a tough environment, and I think we did alright.."
"How much better are they? Much better, and Steve [Cleveland] deserves all the credit."
BYU Coach Steve Cleveland:
"I said this in the beginning...that we would have to win our home games, and I knew this was the kind of team that is really difficult. This wasn't one of our better defensive efforts. We didn't have an answer for their post people, and eventually we began covering down and we got a little bit better play."
"I could see at the walk through earlier today that we did not have the intensity. We got a stretch their in the second half, when we got stops, and Terrell [Lyday] and Mekeli [Wesley] came up with the baskets. The bottom line is, if those two men don't play well, we're going to have a hard time with anybody. So far, they have kind of risin to the occasion. They both played outstanding offensively. I also thought Silester [Rivers] did a really good job defensively in the second half. Matt [Montague] and Todd [Christensen] combined for a really good effort tonight. Matt was playing with good confidence. He has struggled the last couple of weeks, but he made some big baskets tonight."
"There is no question but what our game with Utah was felt tonight. It's like everything else in this game--you can talk about it until you're blue in the face. But every one of the players gave everything they had Saturday night, and it didn't matter who we played tonight, it wasn't going to be the emotional intense game we needed to have, and that was apparent in our defense."
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICSWyoming vs BYU
1/20/00 7:35 at Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Wyoming 11-7
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
00 JONES, LaDarion..... f 10-21 2-2 4-4 3 4 7 3 26 3 2 0 1 34
44 BAILEY, Marcus...... f 2-4 0-0 1-3 1 2 3 4 5 0 4 0 1 28
22 DAVIS, Josh......... c 5-9 0-0 3-4 3 5 8 4 13 0 0 0 1 25
05 BLAKES, Anthony..... g 7-15 1-4 4-4 3 7 10 1 19 2 2 0 2 38
10 McMILLIAN, Chris.... g 1-5 0-2 4-4 0 5 5 5 6 4 4 0 0 28
14 McFALL, Brett....... 1-3 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 4 3 2 4 0 1 15
33 LOSTETTER, Antone... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 8
40 FRENCH, Justin...... 3-4 0-0 0-1 0 1 1 2 6 0 1 0 0 12
52 MANN, Bradley....... 0-5 0-4 0-0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 12
TEAM................ 5 2 7
Totals.............. 29-68 4-14 16-20 15 28 43 27 78 12 17 0 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-29 .448 2nd Half: 16-39 .410 Game: .426 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-5 .400 2nd Half: 2-9 .222 Game: .286 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-12 .750 2nd Half: 7-8 .875 Game: .800 2
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HOME TEAM: BYU 13-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... f 10-19 3-7 11-14 2 6 8 3 34 4 1 3 0 37
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 0 1 1 1 0 21
04 CHRISTENSEN, Todd... g 2-5 1-3 2-2 0 1 1 3 7 3 1 0 1 27
13 VRANES, Michael..... g 2-7 1-3 3-4 2 3 5 4 8 3 1 0 0 20
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g 6-12 2-4 8-10 0 3 3 0 22 1 2 0 2 36
02 RIVERS, Silester.... 3-4 0-0 2-4 0 3 3 4 8 0 2 1 0 19
05 ROBERTS, Marc....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... 3-3 0-0 1-3 0 4 4 0 7 3 3 0 1 23
42 COOPER, Nathan...... 0-2 0-1 1-2 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 16
TEAM................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 26-53 7-18 28-39 6 26 32 19 87 16 11 5 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-28 .464 2nd Half: 13-25 .520 Game: .491 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 .333 2nd Half: 4-9 .444 Game: .389 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-15 .600 2nd Half: 19-24 .792 Game: .718 4
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Officials: Scott Thornley, Dick Cartmell, Jim Danner
Technical fouls: Wyoming-McMILLIAN, Chris. BYU-None.
Attendance: 10347
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Wyoming....................... 37 41 - 78
BYU........................... 38 49 - 87
PROVO -- BYU, 12-3 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain West Conference, will host Wyoming, 11-6 and 1-1, Thursday at 7:35 p.m. in the Marriott Center. KSL Newsradio 1160 AM will broadcast the game with Greg Wrubell and former Cougar Mark Durrant calling the action. The game is the second half of a double header with the BYU women's basketball team, who plays Colorado State at 5 p.m. Fans attending both games can purchase double-header tickets for $5 (adults) and $4 (students). A double-header meal-deal coupon can also be picked up during the first half of the women's game.
Up Next
After Thursday's game with Wyoming Thursday, the Cougars will prepare to face Colorado State Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised by SportsWest Productions on KSL-TV, channel 5 in Salt Lake City.
Last Time Out
BYU saw its five-game win streak come to an end Saturday with a 56-49 loss to No. 24-ranked Utah in front of 22,580 in the Marriott Center. With Utah holding a 51-49 edge with 6:54 left in the game, both the Cougars and Utes went the next six minutes without scoring before Hanno Mottola's jumper with 54 seconds left gave Utah a four-point margin. A Utah steal on BYU's next possession sealed the Cougars' fate. The Utes' size proved an advantage as the 6-9 Mottola led Utah with 18 points and 6-11 center Nate Althoff added 11. Senior forward Alex Jensen scored nine while making both of his three-point attempts to give the Utes a lift at critical times. Mekeli Wesley scored 21 points, followed by Terrell Lyday with 12, to lead BYU. Wesley also had a game-high seven rebounds. The Cougars shot 40 percent for the game compared to Utah's 43 percent.
Quick Facts
BYU (12-3) vs. Wyoming (11-6)
Thursday, Jan. 20 • Marriott Center (22,700) •Provo, Utah• 7:35 p.m. Mountain
Broadcast Plans
(No TV)
Radio:
Network: Cougar Sports Network
Station: KSL Newsradio 1160 AM
Air Time: 7 p.m. Mountain
Play-by-play: Greg Wrubell
Commentary: Mark Durrant
BYU's Probable Starters
F 25 Eric Nielsen 6-8 210 So. 4.1/3.8
F 15 Mekeli Wesley 6-9 230 Jr. 18.4/ 6.2
G 24 Terrell Lyday 6-3 190 Jr. 17.3/4.1
G 4 Todd Christensen 6-1 185 Jr. 6.3/0.7
G 13 Michael Vranes 6-3 190 So. 8.3/4.4
Wyoming's Probable Starters F 00 LeDarion Jones 6-7 232 Sr. 10.9/3.9
F 44 Marcus Bailey 6-5 185 Fr. 6.8/2.8
C 22 Josh Davis 6-8 230 So. 13.7 8.7/1.3
G 5 Anthony Blakes 6-2 188 Sr. 13.6/5.8
G 10 Chris McMillian 5-10 175 So. 9.9/3.0
BYU Coach: Steve Cleveland
Record at BYU: 33-40 (3rd year)
Overall Div. I record: Same
Wyoming Coach: Steve McClain
Record at Wyoming: 29-16 (2nd year)
Overall Div. I record: same
Series Record: 83-64 BYU
Game Time: 7:35 p.m. Mountain
Scouting Wyoming
Wyoming is 11-6 overall and 1-1 in Mountain West Conference play. The Cowboys are 3-3 on the road with wins at Hawaii Pacific (110-65), Denver (78-60) and Idaho State (89-83) and losses to Indiana (99-80), Oregon State (83-77) and Wichita State (80-71). On Jan. 10 at Wichita State Chris McMillian (So., G) scored a team-high 18 points and recorded two steals in the loss. The Cowboys began conference play with an 88-83 home win vs. New Mexico. It was their third straight home victory over the Lobos. Josh Davis (So., F/C) notched his league-leading seventh double-double of the year with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Anthony Blakes (Sr., G) tallied his third 20-plus scoring game of the season with 20 points and nine rebounds. Wyoming dropped its first home contest of the season and the third consecutive game to border rival Colorado State (77-71) on Saturday. Blakes notched his first double-double of the year (7th career) with 16 points and 10 rebounds. After playing at BYU Thursday, the Cowboys play Utah Saturday. Wyoming has three players averaging double figures, led by center Davis at 13.7, Blakes at 13.6 and LaDarion Jones at 10.9. McMillian adds 9.9 points for the Cowboys. The Cowboys are ranked ninth nationally in scoring offense at 84.6 ppg (2nd in MWC behind UNLV). Wyoming put up an MWC-high for points in a half with 64 vs. Hawai`i Pacific on Nov. 26, during a 110-65 victory. The Cowboys are the only team in the league to have eclipsed 60 points in a half this season. In addition to leading the team in scoring, Davis averages a team-best 8.7 rebounds per game. Wyoming lost one of its key inside players earlier this year when Ugo Udezue (6-8 F/C) went down with an injury after five games. He will be out for the entire season.
Series Notes
This will be the 148th meeting between the two schools. BYU leads the series 83-64. The Cougars and Cowboys did not play last year, being in different WAC divisions. BYU has won six of the last 10 games (4-1 at home) dating back to the 1993-94 season, but Wyoming has won three of the last four meetings. BYU coach Steve Cleveland is 1-1 against Wyoming, with a 60-41 win in Provo and a 77-54 loss at Wyoming in his first season. After Utah (226 games) and Utah State (216 games), BYU has faced Wyoming the third-most times in school history (147 games dating back to 1919).
Recent Meetings
Wyoming won the last meeting, a 77-54 Wyoming win in Laramie, but BYU won the previous outing that year and the last game played in Provo, 60-41. In the win, BYU was led by Ron Selleaze with 16 points while Justin Weidauer had eight rebounds and Brian Dignan seven assists. Mekeli Wesley, the only current Cougar to play in the game, had nine points and three rebounds as a freshman. The Cougars held the Cowboys to a BYU-opponent season low of 16 second-half points and 41 total points in Cleveland's sixth win at BYU. The Cougars also held the Cowboys to opponent season lows of 15 field goals, five assists and 13 percent shooting from behind the three-point line. BYU shot 46 percent from the floor to Wyoming's 32 percent. A crowd of 7,986 attended the game. In Laramie, Selleaze had team-highs of 22 points and seven rebounds in the loss while Dignan added a team-best five assists. Wesley added 12 points and four boards and BYU shot 34 percent from the floor to Wyoming's 51 percent.
Cougars Looking for No. 13
With BYU's next win, the Cougars will surpass last year's win total (12-16). Last year's 12th win came in BYU's 27th game, a 90-74 upset of TCU at the Thomas & Mack Center in the WAC Tournament. This year's 12th win was also earned at the Thomas & Mack Center against UNLV but it came in BYU's 14th game. The last time BYU achieved its 13th win in a season was on Feb. 10, 1996 (an 81-71 win at Wyoming) in the Cougars' 22nd game of the 1995-96 season.
Lyday Nears No. 16
Having made a three-pointer in each of BYU's 15 games this season, Terrell Lyday is only one game away from equaling the BYU record of 16 straight games with a three-point shot set by Andy Toolson in 1990. Lyday has made 45 percent of his three-point attempts, making a team-best 36 treys.
Streaks
BYU had its five-game win streak halted Saturday with its 56-49 loss to Utah. The loss also ended BYU's eight-game home win streak, including one win from last year. All eight wins were by double-digit margins. The Cougars have two five-game win streaks this year and have won 10 of their last 12. BYU has won its last four straight road games. The last time BYU won four straight road games was in 1992-93, when the Cougars has a six-game road streak. BYU's three straight non-conference road wins was a first since the 1991-92 season.
BYU's RPI Ranking Best in MWC
According to CollegeRPI.com rankings computed by Jerry Palm (released Jan. 18) and the Collegiate Basketball News (released Jan. 17), BYU is the highest rated team in the Mountain West Conference in both the Collegerpi.com (36th) and Collegiate Basketball News (39th) rankings. According to CBN, New Mexico has the toughest schedule among Mtn. West team at No. 36. CSU is second at 71th, followed by BYU (73), Utah (117), Air Force (133), SDSU (137), UNLV (156) and Wyoming (162). The Mountain West Conference is rated ninth among the 31 conferences (and five independents) in the country.
School -- CBN/Collegerpi.com
BYU -- 39/36
Utah -- 40/39
Colorado St -- 53/57
UNLV -- 73/69
New Mexico -- 82/87
Wyoming -- 111/110
San Diego St -- 211/210
Air Force -- 258/267
Playing at Home
BYU is 7-1 at home this year, coming off its 56-49 loss Saturday against Utah. The Cougars are averaging 75.6 points per game in the Marriott Center and a 16.6-point margin of victory. BYU is making 50.4 percent of its shots, including 40.2 percent of its three-point attempts, in the Marriott Center this year. The Cougars are pulling down 36.6 rebounds per game to their opponents 33.0. Wesley is scoring a team-best 18.2 points, followed by Terrell Lyday at 14.4, Michael Vranes and Nathan Cooper at 9.2 and Silester Rivers at 8.9.
Numbers on the Road
BYU is 5-2 on the road this year, having more than doubled the number of wins it achieved in the opponent's home arena last year (2-10 in road games last year). The Cougars have won their last four road games and are scoring 72.1 in away games for a 3.7 scoring margin. On the road, BYU is shooting .436, including .442 on threes, and .704 from the free throw line. BYU is being out rebounded 37.6-35.3. Terrell Lyday leads the Cougar scoring effort on the road with a 20.6 average after scoring a career-high 35 at Utah State and 30 at UNLV Monday. Mekeli Wesley averaged 18.6 points and a team-best 5.9 rebounds.
Defense
The Cougars are rank first in the Mountain West Conference in both field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense. They have held their opponents to a collective 37.6 shooting percentage and a 28.9 percentage on three-pointers. The Cougars have held the opposition to below 40 percent shooting in 10 of 15 games this year. In BYU's three losses, Arizona shot .544, South Alabama .490 and Utah .429. BYU is 11-0 when it out shoots its opponent. BYU is holding opponents to 63.1 points per game. While collectively good, individually BYU has had outstanding defensive efforts, including Terrell Lyday helping hold Eddie House of Arizona State (No. 3 scorer in the nation) to a 0-16 night -- the only time House has gone without a field goal in his career.
On the Boards
BYU is pulling down 36.0 rebounds per game while its opponents are grabbing 35.1. The Cougars are 9-0 when they have out rebounded their opponents and 3-3 in games were the opposition totalled more boards. Mekeli Wesley leads BYU with 6.2 rebounds per game, including a team-best 71 defensive boards. Silester Rivers has a team-high 26 offensive rebounds.
Offense
BYU has shot better than 50 percent from the floor in seven games. The Cougars have shot below 40 percent twice -- 36.5 percent in a loss at nationally ranked Arizona and a season-low 29.6 in a win at UC Santa Barbara. The Cougars are shooting 47.0 percent from the floor, including 42.3 percent on threes, and 70.4 percent from the line. Three regular players are shooting better than 50 percent. Silester Rivers is making a team-best 56.5 percent from the floor, Todd Christensen 51.6 and Mekeli Wesley 51.3. Nathan Cooper has made a team-best 81.6 percent from the line. The Cougars score 74 points per game.
Three-Point Range
BYU is tied for second in the nation in three-point percentage in the latest rankings released Jan. 17 (Colorado State is ranked No. 1). The Cougars are shooting 42.3 percent from three point range this year. Four players are shooting 40 percent or better individually, led by Todd Christensen (22-46) who is making 48 percent of his attempts. Terrell Lyday (36-80) has made 45 percent, Mekeli Wesley (12-27) 44 percent and Michael Vranes (18-43) 42 percent. Six players have made a three-pointer, led by Lyday's team-high 36. Nathan Cooper has made six and Matt Montague two. Eric Nielsen (0-2), Silester Rivers (0-1) and the departed Morgan Smith (0-1) are the only other Cougars to attempt a shot from behind the arc. BYU's opponents are shooting 29 percent from three-point range. BYU is making 6.4 threes per game compared to 5.1 by its opponents.
BYU's record when . . .
BYU leads at half 10-0
Opponent leads at half 1-3
Score tied at half 1-0
BYU leads with 5 minutes left 11-1
Opponent leads with 5 min. left 0-2
BYU leads with 1 minute left 11-0
Opponent leads with 1 min. left 1-3
Score tied with 1 minute left 0-0
Game goes into overtime 1-0
BYU out rebounds opponent 9-0
Opponent out rebounds BYU 3-3
BYU and opponent tie in rebounds 0-0
BYU shoots 50 % or better 7-0
Opponent shoots 50 % or better 0-1
BYU out shoots opponent 11-0
Opponent out shoots BYU 1-3
BYU in Mountain West Conference Stats
Team (as of 1-16-00)
Scoring Offense, 3rd (74.0)
Scoring Defense, 3rd (63.4)
Scoring Margin, 2nd (10.6)
Free Throw Percentage, 2nd (70.4)
Field Goal Percentage, 3rd (.470)
Field Goal % Defense, 1st (.376)
3 pt. Percentage, 3rd (.423)
3 pt. % Defense, 1st (.289)
Rebounding Offense, 4th (35.9)
Rebounding Defense, 4th (35.1)
Rebounding Margin, 5th (+ 0.8)
Offensive Rebounds, 7th (9.2)
Defensive Rebounds, 2nd (26.7)
Blocks, 8th (1.9)
Assists, 4th (15.5)
Steals, 4th (8.1)
TO Margin, 4th (1.0)
Asst./TO Ratio, 4th (1.1)
Individual (as of 1-16-00)
Scoring:
Wesley, 2nd, (18.4)
Lyday, 6th (17.3)
Rebounding:
Wesley, 7th (6.2)
Rivers, 14th (4.9)
Field Goal Percentage (min 3 per game):
Wesley, 12th (.513)
Free Throw Percentage:
Cooper, 4th (.816)
Lyday, 8th (.760)
Lyday, 9th (.758)
3 pt. Percentage:
Christensen, 4th (.478)
Lyday, 7th (.450)
Vranes, 10th (.419)
3 pt. FG Made:
Lyday, 4th (2.40)
Christensen, 14th (1.47)
Assists:
Montague, 4th (4.20)
Vranes, 14th (3.07)
Steals:
Lyday, 3rd (2.20)
Wesley, 13th (1.40)
Asst./TO Ratio:
Montague, 5th (1.70)
Vranes, 5th (1.70)
BYU in National Stats (as of 1-17-00)
3 pt. Percentage, T2nd (.423)
Field Goal % Defense, T15th (.376)
Starting Lineups
UCR Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley
SUU Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley
Ariz. Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley
Den. Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley
ASU Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley
TSU Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley
WSU Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley
SCSU Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley
USA Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley
FIU Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Rivers, Wesley
UCSB Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Rivers, Wesley
UCI Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley
USU Christensen, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley
UNLV Christensen, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley
Utah Christensen, Lyday, Vranes, Rivers, Wesley
Mekeli Wesley
Wesley is BYU's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 18.4 ppg and 6.2 rpg. He has been BYU's top scorer in eight games this season and has scored in double figures in 13 of BYU's 15 games. He had game highs of 21 points and seven rebounds against Utah while making 8-16 shots, including two three-pointers. He scored 17 points and had four rebounds at UNLV Monday. He scored 11 points and had a team highs with eight rebounds and three assists at Utah State. He scored 18 points and pulled down six boards against UC Irvine. He had six rebounds and scored a game-high 24 points, 16 in the second half, at UCSB -- the seventh time he has scored 20 or more points. He had eight points and seven rebounds at Florida International. He had a game-high 20 points at South Alabama. He averaged 21 points and nine rebounds to earn MWC Player of the Week honors (Dec. 7-11) and was named the Cougar Classic MVP for the second time in his career (also as freshman). After averaging three rebounds per game in first three contests, he averaged 7.4 over the next eight. He recorded his first double-double of the year (fourth of career) with 24 points and 10 rebounds in win over Texas Southern. He scored a season-high 26 points in back-to-back games this year versus Denver and Arizona State (he scored 31 points twice as a freshman).
Michael Vranes
Vranes is pulling down 4.4 rebounds per game and is third on the team in scoring at 8.3 ppg. He is second on the team with 3.1 assists per game from his shooting guard spot (averaged 2.9 last year as point guard), although he has seen some limited play at point in the last two games. He has made a trey in nine games and has scored in double figures in five games. He is 18-43 (.419) on treys. He was 2-7 for four points and had four rebounds and three assists vs. Utah. He had nine points and four boards at UNLV and had nine points, five rebound and two assists last Saturday at Utah State. He had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists against UC Irvine. Vranes matched a career high with a team-best nine rebounds at UCSB. He also had team-high three assists despite three points on 1-9 shooting. He scored eight of his 12 points in overtime at FIU. He totalled 10 points, six rebounds and a season-high seven assists vs. South Carolina State. He had a season-high 15 points along with five rebounds vs. Weber State.
Terrell Lyday
Lyday averages 17.3 points, second on the team, and team-high 32.9 minutes. He has scored in double figures in 13 of BYU's 15 games and has made a three-pointer in all 15 games this season on his way to a team-high 36 three pointers (36-80, .450). Last year he made more than 100 treys for Fresno City College. He has excelled defensively also, guarding the other team's best perimeter player. He helped hold Arizona State's high scoring Eddie House to a five-point night on 0-16 shooting, the only time House has not scored a field goal in his career. House has the top two scoring games in the nation this year (61 and 46). Lyday in averaging 21 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 2.5 assists in his first two MWC games. Saturday Lyday had 12 points, six rebounds, three steals and three assists vs. Utah. Lyday made 5-10 threes, scored 30 points and had a career-high 11 rebounds and tied a career-best with six steals at UNLV Monday. It was his first double-double of the year. He was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week (Jan. 3-8) after averaged 28.5 points and shooting better than 60 percent from the floor and on threes in two BYU wins. He carried BYU to a win at Utah State with a career-high 35 points, including six three pointers, and scored a game-high 22 points to lead a BYU comeback win over UC Irvine. He had career-best six steals at UCSB, despite an off night scoring (2-11 for eight points and held scoreless in the first half for the first time this year). He scored 26 points at FIU and had 15 points against South Alabama, where he was a perfect 4-4 on three-point attempts. He joined Wesley on the Cougar Classic All-Tournament team Dec. 10-11 and is showing why he was recruited by Coach Steve Cleveland out of Fresno City College to help replace production lost by the LDS Church mission departure of freshman sensation Mark Bigelow (15 ppg last year). He scored 18 points against Arizona and had 17 vs. ASU.
Eric Nielsen
A returned LDS missionary to Russia, Nielsen is averaging 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds. He came off the bench against Utah but has started in all but three games. He averaged 5.4 points (52.8 percent) and 4.0 rebounds in 24.6 minutes as a starter in the first nine games. After scoring 10 and 12 points in first two games, he has not reached double digits in the past 13 outings. He fouled out, playing 14 minutes, scoring two points on one attempt and had one rebound vs. Utah. In foul trouble, he played only 10 minutes at UNLV (2 pts, 4 rebounds). At Utah State he was held scoreless for the first time this year, going 0-3 with four rebounds. He had four points, three rebounds and a season-high three assists against UC Irvine. At UCSB, he equaled a career-best seven rebounds. He was married to BYU All-American volleyball player Anna-Lena Smith Dec. 30 in Mesa, Ariz. He had eight points at South Alabama and at Denver. He scored a season-high 12 points versus Southern Utah and had 10 in the season-opener against UC Riverside.
Todd Christensen
Regarded as the best shooter on the team, Christensen has made 32-62 attempts (.516), including 22-46 (team-best .478) from behind the arc. He averages 6.3 ppg in 17.3 minutes. He is sharing point guard duties after playing shooting guard most of last year. He has started the last three games. He did not score, taking only one shot, vs. Utah. At UNLV, he had eight points, including a clutch three-pointer to put the Cougars up four late in the game. Christensen started at Utah State and scored seven early points to help BYU shot 57 percent in the first half. Christensen scored 13 points, including a four-point play at UCSB. Against UCSB and Florida International he was 9-16 (.562) from the floor, 6-11 (.545) on treys, and 3-3 from the line while averaging 13.5 ppg. He scored all of his 14 points in the first half at FIU (4-5 treys in 11 minutes). He had season-best three assists at South Alabama in 12 minutes. He had a season-high 16 points, including 5-8 threes, vs. South Carolina State. He scored 10 at Denver.
Silester Rivers
Rivers averages 7.8 points (4th on team) and 4.9 rebounds (2nd on team) per game. He has a team-high 26 offensive boards and is shooting a team-best 56.5 percent (FG). He has scored in double figures six times this year and has led the team in rebounds three times (6 vs. UC Riverside, 9 at Denver, 11 at FIU). He started his third game of the year vs. Utah and had five points, four rebounds while guarding the much larger Ute post players. Rivers had three points (3-4 FTs) and five rebounds at UNLV. He had a strong outing Saturday at Utah State, scoring 15 points with some nice post play and pulling down seven rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench. Rivers came off the bench against UC Irvine after starting the two previous games. Despite being weakened by the flu, he contributed five points and six rebounds in 11 minutes. He started his second straight game against UCSB but was 0-2 with four rebounds in 17 minutes. He played a season-high 31 minutes in his first start at Florida International and had double-double 10 points and season-high 11 rebounds. He scored eight points in 12 minutes at South Alabama. He scored game- and season-high 17 points against South Carolina State. Coming off the bench in the first nine games he averaged 8.8 ppg and is 4.3 rebounds, including 10 points versus Arizona State and 14 points in back-to-back games to open the year against UC Riverside and Southern Utah.
Nathan Cooper
He is coming off the bench this year after starting 23 of BYU's 28 games last year. He is averaging 6.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 20.9 minutes. He has made a team-best 31 of 38 free throws (.816). He has made a trey in five games and is only 6-21 from long range. He had five points and three rebounds vs. Utah. He was forced to play the 4 position at UNLV with foul trouble to Eric Nielsen and Silester Rivers. He played 22 minutes and had two points and one rebound. He played 15 minutes at Utah State, scoring one point and adding two boards and two assists. He and Michael Vranes received the coaches game ball for their effort against UC Irvine. Cooper had 14 points and four rebounds in a season-high 31 minutes. He scored BYU's first basket at UCSB five minutes into the contest and sparked an 8-0 run with a steal, forcing a turnover and handing out an assist. He finished with three points and three boards. He had five points, six rebound effort at FIU. He set a career high with seven assists at South Alabama. He scored a season- and team-high 15 points against Weber State, the third time he has reached double figures.
Matt Montague
The only true point guard on the BYU roster, he has team-leading 63 assists (4.2 apg). He is averaging 2.5 points and 2.9 rebounds. He has been plagued by a achilles injury all year. After starting the first 12 games, he has come off the bench in the last three games. He played a season-low seven minutes vs. Utah (1 assist, 3 TO, 1 rebound). He scored a season-best six points and had seven assists at UNLV. At Utah State he played 25 minutes off the bench and had four points and two assists. He was limited to only 10 minutes because of his achilles against UC Irvine and did not record an assist for the first time this year. Montague did not take a shot but made three clutch free throws down the stretch at UCSB. He had two points, four rebounds and eight assists in team- and personal career-high 41 minutes at FIU. He shared team-high five rebounds with Wesley at South Alabama while handing out four assists. He matched his season high with five points vs. South Carolina State and made his second three-pointer of the year (2-6 on the season). After receiving stitches to repair a cut above his eye against ASU, Montague returned and led BYU on a 14-1 run. He dished out a season-high nine assists vs. Weber State and helped hold Wildcat guard Eddie Gill to 2-14 shooting.
Comparing StatisticsBYU Wyo.
SCORING
Points per game .74.0 84.6
Scoring margin + 10.9 + 7.3
SHOOTING PERCENTAGES
Field goals .470 .447
3-pointers .423 .373
Free throws .704 .695
REBOUNDING
Rebounds per game .36.0 .41.0
Rebounding margin + 0.9 + 2.9
ASSISTS
Assists per game 15.5 17.1
TURNOVERS
Turnovers per game 14.7 15.4
Turnover margin + 1.0 + 1.3
BLOCKS
Blocks per game 1.9 3.2
STEALS
Steals per game 8.1 7.9
Brigham Young Combined Team Statistics (as of Jan 18, 2000)
All games
RECORD: OVERALL HOME AWAY NEUTRAL
ALL GAMES........... (12-3) (7-1) (5-2) (0-0)
CONFERENCE.......... (1-1) (0-1) (1-0) (0-0)
NON-CONFERENCE...... (11-2) (7-0) (4-2) (0-0)
DATE OPPONENT W/L SCORE ATTEND
------------ -------------------- --- ----- ------
11/20/99 CALIFORNIA-RIVERSIDE W 91-62 7546
11/24/99 SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY W 92-64 4518
12-1-99 at Arizona Wildcats L 62-86 14345
12/4/99 at Denver Pioneers W 81-58 1507
12/7/99 ARIZONA STATE W 78-67 5867
12/10/99 TEXAS SOUTHERN W 76-61 6541
12/11/99 WEBER STATE W 66-53 9862
12/18/99 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE W 76-43 7584
12-21-99 at South Alabama L 63-64 1785
12/23/99 at Florida International W OT 83-75 953
12-29-99 at UC Santa Barbara Gauchos W 57-48 2891
1/5/00 CALIFORNIA, IRVINE W 77-66 9574
01-08-00 at Utah State University W 82-73 10270
*01/10/00 at UNLV Runnin' Rebels W 77-75 12597
*1/15/00 UNIVERSITY OF UTAH L 49-56 22580
* denotes conference game
## SUMMARY GP-GS Min FG% 3PT% FT% R/G A/G STL BLK PTS/G
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15-15 31.1 .513 .444 .758 6.2 1.7 21 7 18.4
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... 15-15 32.9 .477 .450 .760 4.1 1.7 33 6 17.3
13 VRANES, Michael..... 15-15 26.4 .402 .419 .486 4.4 3.1 19 1 8.3
02 RIVERS, Silester.... 15-3 18.3 .565 .000 .609 4.9 0.6 9 6 7.8
42 COOPER, Nathan...... 15-0 20.9 .416 .286 .816 3.3 2.1 9 1 6.7
04 CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15-3 17.3 .516 .478 .692 0.7 1.0 8 1 6.3
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... 15-12 21.6 .480 .000 .636 3.8 0.7 8 5 4.1
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15-12 25.4 .310 .333 .750 2.9 4.2 12 0 2.5
40 HOWARD, Dan......... 4-0 4.8 1.000 .000 .000 2.0 0.0 0 0 1.5
50 NIELSEN, David...... 6-0 3.3 .200 .000 .857 0.5 0.2 1 0 1.3
05 ROBERTS, Marc....... 7-0 4.6 .400 .000 .833 0.6 0.3 0 1 1.3
33 SMITH, Morgan....... 5-0 2.6 .125 .000 1.000 0.6 0.2 0 0 1.2
10 ALLEN, John......... 6-0 3.7 .667 .000 .667 1.0 0.2 1 0 1.0
34 ELLSWORTH, Joe...... 3-0 2.0 .333 .000 .000 1.0 0.0 0 1 0.7
20 TAGGART, Nick....... 3-0 1.7 .000 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0
Total............... 15 .470 .423 .704 36.0 15.5 121 29 74.0
Opponents........... 15 .377 .289 .701 35.1 12.6 104 35 63.4
SCORING GP FG-FGA FG% 3FG-FGA 3PT% FT-FTA FT% PTS PTS/G
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 96-187 .513 12-27 .444 72-95 .758 276 18.4
LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 83-174 .477 36-80 .450 57-75 .760 259 17.3
VRANES, Michael..... 15 45-112 .402 18-43 .419 17-35 .486 125 8.3
RIVERS, Silester.... 15 39-69 .565 0-1 .000 39-64 .609 117 7.8
COOPER, Nathan...... 15 32-77 .416 6-21 .286 31-38 .816 101 6.7
CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15 32-62 .516 22-46 .478 9-13 .692 95 6.3
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15 24-50 .480 0-2 .000 14-22 .636 62 4.1
MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15 9-29 .310 2-6 .333 18-24 .750 38 2.5
HOWARD, Dan......... 4 3-3 1.000 0-0 .000 0-2 .000 6 1.5
NIELSEN, David...... 6 1-5 .200 0-0 .000 6-7 .857 8 1.3
ROBERTS, Marc....... 7 2-5 .400 0-0 .000 5-6 .833 9 1.3
SMITH, Morgan....... 5 1-8 .125 0-1 .000 4-4 1.000 6 1.2
ALLEN, John......... 6 2-3 .667 0-0 .000 2-3 .667 6 1.0
ELLSWORTH, Joe...... 3 1-3 .333 0-0 .000 0-1 .000 2 0.7
TAGGART, Nick....... 3 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0 0.0
Total............... 15 370-787 .470 96-227 .423 274-389 .704 1110 74.0
Opponents........... 15 329-872 .377 77-266 .289 216-308 .701 951 63.4
REBOUNDS
TOTALS GP MIN OFF DEF TOT PF FO A TO A/TO HI
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 467 22 71 93 47 0 25 27 0.9 26
LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 493 4 58 62 25 0 26 41 0.6 35
VRANES, Michael..... 15 396 19 47 66 28 1 46 27 1.7 15
RIVERS, Silester.... 15 274 26 48 74 45 0 9 27 0.3 17
COOPER, Nathan...... 15 314 15 34 49 37 1 32 15 2.1 15
CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15 259 0 10 10 29 0 15 14 1.1 16
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15 324 20 37 57 43 2 11 18 0.6 12
MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15 381 4 40 44 20 0 63 37 1.7 6
HOWARD, Dan......... 4 19 3 5 8 4 0 0 2 0.0 6
NIELSEN, David...... 6 20 1 2 3 4 0 1 3 0.3 6
ROBERTS, Marc....... 7 32 1 3 4 2 0 2 5 0.4 4
SMITH, Morgan....... 5 13 1 2 3 0 0 1 2 0.5 2
ALLEN, John......... 6 22 0 6 6 2 0 1 1 1.0 2
ELLSWORTH, Joe...... 3 6 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0.0 2
TAGGART, Nick....... 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0
Total............... 15 3025 138 402 540 286 4 232 221 1.0 92
Opponents........... 15 3027 196 331 527 310 - 189 236 0.8 86
TEAM STATISTICS BYU OPP
---------------------------------------------------
SCORING.................. 1110 951
Points per game........ 74.0 63.4
Scoring margin......... +10.6 -
FIELD GOALS-ATT.......... 370-787 329-872
Field goal pct......... .470 .377
3 POINT FG-ATT........... 96-227 77-266
3-point FG pct......... .423 .289
3-pt FG made per game.. 6.4 5.1
FREE THROWS-ATT.......... 274-389 216-308
Free throw pct......... .704 .701
REBOUNDS................. 540 527
Rebounds per game...... 36.0 35.1
Rebounding margin...... +0.9 -
ASSISTS.................. 232 189
Assists per game....... 15.5 12.6
TURNOVERS................ 221 236
Turnovers per game..... 14.7 15.7
Turnover margin........ +1.0 -
Assist/turnover ratio.. 1.0 0.8
STEALS................... 121 104
Steals per game........ 8.1 6.9
BLOCKS................... 29 35
Blocks per game........ 1.9 2.3
WINNING STREAK........... 0 -
Home win streak........ 0 -
ATTENDANCE............... 74072 44348
Home games-Avg/Game.... 8-9259 7-6335
Neutral site-Avg/Game.. - 0-0
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT Total
------------------------------ ---- ---- ---- ----
Brigham Young................. 522 574 14 - 1110
Opponents..................... 438 507 6 - 951
Brigham Young Category Leaders (as of Jan 18, 2000)
All games
FG PERCENTAGE FG ATT Pct FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS G Att Att/G
---------------------------------- -----------------------------------
HOWARD, Dan......... 3 3 1.000 WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 187 12.5
ALLEN, John......... 2 3 .667 LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 174 11.6
RIVERS, Silester.... 39 69 .565 VRANES, Michael..... 15 112 7.5
CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 32 62 .516 COOPER, Nathan...... 15 77 5.1
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 96 187 .513 RIVERS, Silester.... 15 69 4.6
NIELSEN, Eric....... 24 50 .480
LYDAY, Terrell...... 83 174 .477 FIELD GOALS MADE G Made Made/G
COOPER, Nathan...... 32 77 .416 -----------------------------------
VRANES, Michael..... 45 112 .402 WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 96 6.4
ROBERTS, Marc....... 2 5 .400 LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 83 5.5
ELLSWORTH, Joe...... 1 3 .333 VRANES, Michael..... 15 45 3.0
MONTAGUE, Matt...... 9 29 .310 RIVERS, Silester.... 15 39 2.6
COOPER, Nathan...... 15 32 2.1
CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15 32 2.1
3-POINT PERCENTAGE 3FG ATT Pct 3-POINT FG ATTEMPTS G Att Att/G
---------------------------------- -----------------------------------
CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 22 46 .478 LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 80 5.3
LYDAY, Terrell...... 36 80 .450 CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15 46 3.1
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 12 27 .444 VRANES, Michael..... 15 43 2.9
VRANES, Michael..... 18 43 .419 WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 27 1.8
MONTAGUE, Matt...... 2 6 .333 COOPER, Nathan...... 15 21 1.4
COOPER, Nathan...... 6 21 .286
3-POINT FGS MADE G Made Made/G
-----------------------------------
LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 36 2.4
CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15 22 1.5
VRANES, Michael..... 15 18 1.2
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 12 0.8
COOPER, Nathan...... 15 6 0.4
FT PERCENTAGE FT ATT Pct FREE THROW ATTEMPTS G Att Att/G
---------------------------------- -----------------------------------
SMITH, Morgan....... 4 4 1.000 WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 95 6.3
NIELSEN, David...... 6 7 .857 LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 75 5.0
ROBERTS, Marc....... 5 6 .833 RIVERS, Silester.... 15 64 4.3
COOPER, Nathan...... 31 38 .816 COOPER, Nathan...... 15 38 2.5
LYDAY, Terrell...... 57 75 .760 VRANES, Michael..... 15 35 2.3
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 72 95 .758
MONTAGUE, Matt...... 18 24 .750 FREE THROWS MADE G Made Made/G
CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 9 13 .692 -----------------------------------
ALLEN, John......... 2 3 .667 WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 72 4.8
NIELSEN, Eric....... 14 22 .636 LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 57 3.8
RIVERS, Silester.... 39 64 .609 VRANES, Michael..... 15 17 1.1
VRANES, Michael..... 17 35 .486 RIVERS, Silester.... 15 39 2.6
COOPER, Nathan...... 15 31 2.1
POINTS G Pts Pts/G POINTS AVERAGE G Pts Avg/G
----------------------------------- ----------------------------------
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 276 18.4 WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 276 18.4
LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 259 17.3 LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 259 17.3
VRANES, Michael..... 15 125 8.3 VRANES, Michael..... 15 125 8.3
RIVERS, Silester.... 15 117 7.8 RIVERS, Silester.... 15 117 7.8
COOPER, Nathan...... 15 101 6.7 COOPER, Nathan...... 15 101 6.7
CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15 95 6.3 CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15 95 6.3
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15 62 4.1 NIELSEN, Eric....... 15 62 4.1
MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15 38 2.5 MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15 38 2.5
ROBERTS, Marc....... 7 9 1.3 HOWARD, Dan......... 4 6 1.5
NIELSEN, David...... 6 8 1.3 NIELSEN, David...... 6 8 1.3
ALLEN, John......... 6 6 1.0 ROBERTS, Marc....... 7 9 1.3
HOWARD, Dan......... 4 6 1.5 SMITH, Morgan....... 5 6 1.2
SMITH, Morgan....... 5 6 1.2
REBOUNDS G Reb Reb/G ASSISTS G No. A/G
----------------------------------- -----------------------------------
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 93 6.2 MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15 63 4.2
RIVERS, Silester.... 15 74 4.9 VRANES, Michael..... 15 46 3.1
VRANES, Michael..... 15 66 4.4 COOPER, Nathan...... 15 32 2.1
LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 62 4.1 LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 26 1.7
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15 57 3.8 WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 25 1.7
REBOUND AVERAGE G Reb Avg/G STEALS G No. S/G
----------------------------------- -----------------------------------
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 93 6.2 LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 33 2.2
RIVERS, Silester.... 15 74 4.9 WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 21 1.4
VRANES, Michael..... 15 66 4.4 VRANES, Michael..... 15 19 1.3
LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 62 4.1 MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15 12 0.8
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15 57 3.8 COOPER, Nathan...... 15 9 0.6
RIVERS, Silester.... 15 9 0.6
OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS G No. Avg/G BLOCKED SHOTS G No. Blk/G
----------------------------------- -----------------------------------
RIVERS, Silester.... 15 26 1.7 WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 7 0.5
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 22 1.5 RIVERS, Silester.... 15 6 0.4
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15 20 1.3 LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 6 0.4
VRANES, Michael..... 15 19 1.3 NIELSEN, Eric....... 15 5 0.3
COOPER, Nathan...... 15 15 1.0 COOPER, Nathan...... 15 1 0.1
ROBERTS, Marc....... 7 1 0.1
DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS G No. Avg/G ELLSWORTH, Joe...... 3 1 0.3
----------------------------------- VRANES, Michael..... 15 1 0.1
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 71 4.7 CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15 1 0.1
LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 58 3.9
RIVERS, Silester.... 15 48 3.2 MINUTES G No. Min/G
VRANES, Michael..... 15 47 3.1 -----------------------------------
MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15 40 2.7 LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 493 32.9
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 467 31.1
VRANES, Michael..... 15 396 26.4
MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15 381 25.4
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15 324 21.6
FOULS G No. Per/G TURNOVERS G No. TO/G
----------------------------------- -----------------------------------
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 47 3.1 LYDAY, Terrell...... 15 41 2.7
RIVERS, Silester.... 15 45 3.0 MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15 37 2.5
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15 43 2.9 VRANES, Michael..... 15 27 1.8
COOPER, Nathan...... 15 37 2.5 RIVERS, Silester.... 15 27 1.8
CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15 29 1.9 WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15 27 1.8
FOULOUTS G No.
----------------------------
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15 2
COOPER, Nathan...... 15 1
VRANES, Michael..... 15 1
