LAS -- Still seeking its first conference road victory, BYU was defeated by UNLV Saturday afternoon, 68-56, 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.
BYU hopes to break through on the road when it continues the road trip at San Diego State Monday. The game tips at 8 p.m. Mountain and is being televised by SportsWest Productions on KSL-TV, channel 5, in Salt Lake City.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICSBYU vs UNLV Runnin' Rebels
02/10/01 12:00 PM at Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nev.
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VISITORS: BYU 16-7, 5-3 MWC
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 2-2 0-0 2-2 0 4 4 4 6 0 1 1 0 19
42 COOPER, Nathan...... f 3-6 1-2 2-2 1 4 5 3 9 4 1 0 0 31
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... c 6-12 1-2 4-9 0 6 6 4 17 3 2 0 1 35
21 WHITING, Trent...... g 2-11 0-3 0-0 1 4 5 3 4 1 1 0 1 37
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g 3-12 1-4 7-7 1 5 6 3 14 3 4 0 1 37
01 KNIGHT, Nate........ 2-4 0-0 0-0 3 0 3 4 4 0 1 1 1 15
20 BOBIK, Daniel....... 0-2 0-1 2-2 0 2 2 1 2 0 1 0 1 10
31 MONTAGUE,Matt....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6
34 CHRISMAN, Jacob..... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 5
43 DAWES, Derek........ 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 5
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 18-53 3-12 17-22 7 28 35 24 56 11 13 2 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-27 .407 2nd Half: 7-26 .269 Game: .340 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-5 .400 2nd Half: 1-7 .143 Game: .250 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-10 .900 2nd Half: 8-12 .667 Game: .773 2
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HOME TEAM: UNLV Runnin' Rebels 14-9, 5-3 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
10 JOHNSON, Dalron..... f 5-9 0-0 0-0 1 5 6 2 10 3 2 1 1 25
33 LEWIS, Jermaine..... f 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12
34 KAMBALA, Kaspars.... c 3-11 0-0 7-14 3 10 13 4 13 2 1 3 2 34
03 DIGGS, Trevor....... g 3-9 2-5 9-10 1 0 1 4 17 5 2 1 1 38
24 BOOKER, Vince....... g 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 10
05 BROTHERSON, Danny... 1-3 1-2 4-4 1 3 4 2 7 4 3 2 3 30
12 JOHNSON, Lafonte.... 5-8 3-5 4-5 0 3 3 0 17 1 2 0 0 30
13 DOTSON, Sylvester... 2-2 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 2 4 0 2 1 0 11
20 RICHARDSON, Chris... 0-4 0-1 0-0 1 3 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 10
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 19-50 6-16 24-33 8 31 39 17 68 15 12 9 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-30 .333 2nd Half: 9-20 .450 Game: .380 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 .444 2nd Half: 2-7 .286 Game: .375 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-13 .538 2nd Half: 17-20 .850 Game: .727 4
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Officials: Stanley Reynolds, Verne Harris, Randy McCall
Technical fouls: BYU-BENCH. UNLV Runnin' Rebels-None.
Attendance: 11512
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
BYU........................... 33 23 - 56
UNLV Runnin' Rebels........... 31 37 - 68
Coming off three wins at home last week, BYU begins the second half of the Mountain West Conference season with its second league road trip of the season. BYU begins the trip Saturday against UNLV in a noon (1 p.m. Mountain) game at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Cougars (16-6, 5-2 MWC) won the first meeting in Provo this year and enter the game just a half game behind Wyoming in the league standings while UNLV (13-9, 4-3 MWC) is just a game behind BYU after defeating Wyoming in Laramie Monday. The game is being televised by ESPN+Plus (KJZZ-TV in Utah) with Rich Waltz and Irv Brown 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 continues its road trip in San Diego Monday to face the San Diego State Aztecs (11-9, 1-6 MWC entering Saturday's game vs. Utah) at 7 p.m. (8 p.m. Mountain) in Cox Arena. BYU won the first meeting in Provo this season in BYU's conference opener.
Game 23 Fast Facts (MWC Game 8)
Teams:
Brigham Young University Cougars (16-6, 5-2 MWC)
UNLV (13-9, 4-3 MWC)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 10, 2001
Site: Las Vegas, Nevada
Arena:Thomas & Mack Center (18,500)
Time: Noon (1 p.m. Mountain)
Series: Series tied, 5-5
Last Meeting: BYU won in Provo, 91-63, on Jan. 15 on ESPN Big Monday
Last Year: BYU swept the series before losing in the MWC Tourney Finals.
Coaches:
BYU, Steve Cleveland (59-54 in fourth year; same overall)
UNLV, Max Good (10-5 in first year; same overall)
TV:
ESPN+Plus
Play-by-Play - Rich Waltz
Game Analyst - Irv Brown
Radio:
KSL Newsradio 1160 AM (Cougar Sports Network)
Pregame Air Time - 12:30 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. 4.6 4.0
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. 15.9 2.6
G 21 Trent Whiting 6-1 185 Sr. 14.9 2.5
UNLV's Probable Starters:
Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG
F 10 Dalron Johnson 6-9 205 So. 12.6 7.8
C 34 Kaspars Kambala 6-9 250 Sr. 16.8 9.4
G 33 Jermaine Lewis 6-4 190 Jr. 10.8 3.8
G 3 Trevor Diggs 6-3 185 Sr. 12.7 2.0
G 24 Vince Booker 6-1 175 Jr. 4.1 1.4
Cougar sports network
The "Voice of the Cougars" is KSL Newsradio 1160 Sports Director Greg Wrubell. He is in his fifth season as the play-by-play voice of BYU basketball. Wrubell, who has also been a part of BYU football broadcast team for the past nine years, is joined by color analyst Mark Durrant, a four-year BYU basketball letterman who graduated in 1995 as a three-time Academic All-WAC forward.
KSL Newsradio 1160 AM in Salt Lake City is the flagship of the Cougar Sports Network. Network Stations are located in:
Price, Utah KARB 98.3 FM
Cedar City, Utah KSUB 590 AM
St. George, Utah KDXU 890 AM
Manti, Utah KMXU 105.1 FM
Blanding, Utah KUTA 790 AM
Burley, Idaho KBAR 1230AM
Jerome, Idaho KART 1400 AM
Boise, Idaho KCID 1490 AM
Blackfoot, Idaho KOSZ 105.5 FM
Preston, Idaho KACH 1340 AM
Las Vegas, Nevada KSHP 1400 AM
BYU Basketball Game Broadcasts
BYU basketball broadcasts on the Cougar Sports Network begin 30 minutes before tip off with the Cougar Coaches Show. The Cougar Tipoff Show begins 25 minutes before tipoff. After the game, listeners can hear the Cougar Postgame Scoreboard show, the Cougar Lockeroom Show (with a live player interview), and the Cougar Call-in Show (with coach Steve Cleveland or one of his assistant coaches).
KSL Broadcasts on the Internet
KSL's broadcasts can also be heard on the KSL website (www.ksl.com), the LDS Radio Network (Satcom C1, Tr. 6, audio channel 5.58 MHz), the LDS Radio Network website (www.ldsradio.com), and on Dish Network Audio Channel 990.
SportsNight with Greg Wrubell
Sports Night with Greg Wrubell can be heard weekday evenings from 6-8 p.m. Mountain time on KSL. Wrubell also hosts the following weekly BYU Basketball shows:
The Steve Cleveland Show
Wednesday, 7-8 p.m.
Cougars Hoops Weekly
with Associate Head Coach Dave Rose
This Thursday 7-8 p.m.
Regularly on Tuesday, 7-8 p.m.
ESPN AND ESPN+PLUS Broadcasts
ESPN, Inc. and the Mountain West Conference announced a seven-year agreement on Feb. 1, 1999, giving ESPN exclusive national and regional television rights to MWC men's basketball and football games beginning with the 1999-2000 academic year.
Under the agreement, ESPN will distribute all MWC men's basketball games through ESPN, ESPN2, and syndication via ESPN Regional Television/ESPN+Plus (ERT). ESPN's Big Monday basketball lineup also includes MWC games. BYU has played two ESPN Big Monday contests in 2000-01 and will play three ERT games during the regular season.
ESPN has the exclusive rights to distribute any MWC home men's basketball game via subscription or pay-per-view packages (as part of ESPN FULL COURT) outside the local markets of the participating schools.
The following list includes the ESPN+Plus (ERT) Affiliates for the 2000-01 season:
Market Affiliate
Arizona
Phoenix KUSK-TV
Tucson, Ariz. KTTU-TV
Yuma, Ariz. KECY-TV
California
San Diego Channel 4 San Diego
Colorado
Denver KPXC-TV
Colorado Springs, Colo. KXRM-TV
Grand Junction, Colo. KFQX-TV
Georgia
Atlanta Comcast Sports
Idaho
Boise KTRV-TV
Idaho Falls/Pocatello KFXP-TV
Twin Falls KXTF-TV
Iowa
Cedar Rapids KWKB-TV
Kansas
Wichita KWCV-TV
Michigan
Detroit. WADL-TV
Missouri
Kansas City Metro Sports
Nevada
Las Vegas KFBT-TV
Reno KREN-TV
New Mexico
Albuquerque KRQE-TV
Oregon
Portland KOIN-TV
Tennessee
Memphis TV Memphis
Utah
Salt Lake City KJZZ-TV
Washington
Seattle/Tacoma KTWB-TV
Wyoming
Cheyenne KWYF-TV
Casper KLWY-TV
Scouting UNLV
UNLV (13-9, 4-3 MWC) returns four starters and nine lettermen from last year's 23-8 team that tied Utah as Mountain West Conference regular season champions before beating BYU for the MWC Tournament title. The Rebels were placed on probation by the NCAA on Dec. 12. The university responded by relieving coach Bill Bayno of his duties and replacing him with assistant Max Good. UNLV was 3-4 under Bayno and is now 10-5 with Good at the helm. Among the sanctions leveled against UNLV is being prohibited from post-season play this season, including the MWC Tournament in Las Vegas. The Rebels are appealing their ban on postseason play this season.The Rebels are coming off an 80-78 win at Wyoming Monday. The Rebels are the only conference team to beat Wyoming at home this year. The Rebels' Dalron Johnson hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give UNLV the win. In addition to the win at Wyoming, UNLV's conference wins include home wins over Air Force (65-54), New Mexico (80-72) and San Diego State (82-72 in OT). Conferences losses were at Utah (70-79), BYU (63-91) and Colorado State (55-80). UNLV also suffered a non-conference loss at Georgetown (62-79) on Jan. 25. Senior center Kaspars Kambala (6-9, 250) nearly averages a double-double while leading the Rebels with 16.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Senior shooting guard Trevor Diggs (6-3, 185) adds 12.7 points, followed by sophomore forward Dalron Johnson (6-9, 205) at 12.6 points and 7.8 boards. Junior guard Jermaine Lewis (6-4, 190) adds 10.8 points. The Rebels average 76.3 points while giving up 72.6 and pull down a 38.9 rebounds per game while allowing 40.2.
Series History
This will be the 11th meeting between the two schools. BYU evened the series for the second time in the last two years with its 91-63 win in Provo on Jan. 15. The Rebels won the previous meeting, blowing out the Cougars, 79-56, at home for the MWC Tournament title last March 11. BYU won the two regular season games last year, opening the conference season with a 77-75 win in Las Vegas and then pulling out an 83-82 victory in Provo. The Rebels won the prior four games in the series with two wins in 1998 (84-76 in Provo and 76-63 in Las Vegas) and two wins in 1982 (52-50 win in Las Vegas and a 66-63 win in Provo). BYU won the first two games of the series in Danny Ainge's senior season in 1981 (86-77 in Provo and 92-90 in double overtime in Las Vegas). BYU guard Terrell Lyday had one of his best games as a Cougar in the season opener last year in Las Vegas, scoring 30 points with a career-best 11 rebounds and six steals.
UNLV Quick Facts:
General Info
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Founded: 1957
Enrollment: 23,000
Nickname: Runnin' Rebels
Colors: Scarlet and Gray
Home Arena: Thomas & Mack Center
Conference: Mountain West
Athletic Director: Charles Cavagnaro
Basketball Info
Head Coach: Max Good
Overall Record (Years): 10-5 (1st)
Record at School (Years): 10-5 (1st)
Assistant Coaches: Dave Rice, Charles Cunningham, Bill Wuczynski
1999-2000
Overall Record: 23-8
Conf. Record/Finish: 10-4/Tie 1st
Final Ranking/Post Season Finish: Lost to Tulsa in NCAA First Round
2000-2001
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 9/3
Starters Returning/Lost: 4/1
Returning Starters (last year's stats)
Trevor Diggs,6-3, 185, Sr., G (15.1 ppg, 3.2 apg)
Kaspars Kambala, 6-9, 250, Sr., F/C 11.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
Donovan Stewart, 6-4, 210, Sr., F (18.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg)
Dalron Johnson, 6-9, 205, So., F (4.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg)
Media Relations
Basketball Contact: Andy Grossman
Office: 702-895-3995
Home: 702-260-7369
Fax: 702-895-0989
Pressrow: 702-895-4600
Website: www.unlvrebels.com
BYU Runs Past UNLV, 91-63, on ESPN Big Monday
PROVO -- In a game that saw four different Cougars score in double figures, including a season-high 26 points from Trent Whiting, BYU enjoyed its biggest win ever over the UNLV, 91-63, in a late Monday night nationally televised game at the Marriott Center. Hot shooting combined with tough defense helped the Cougars to the win over last year's Mountain West Conference Champions. BYU shot over 50 percent from behind the three-point line for the second game in a row, going 6 for 11. BYU also shot 56 percent from the field and 85 percent from the free throw line. On defense, the Cougars held UNLV's top scorer, Kaspars Kambala, to two points, more than 16 below his season average. Dalron Johnson had 24 points for the Rebels and Sylvester Dotson added 12. "It was the best basketball we've played here in four years against a quality team," said BYU coach Steve Cleveland. "Tonight, Las Vegas did not play well, but I'd like to think we had a lot to do with that. We defended and executed well and I really like the flow in the last seven games. Our defense was the best since we've been here." In addition to Whiting's 26, Terrell Lyday scored 23, including 3 for 3 from three-point land and a couple of thrilling dunks. Mekeli Wesley and Eric Nielsen were the other Cougars in double figures, scoring 14 and 12, respectively. "Trent's play tonight was phenomenal," said Cleveland. "But everybody stepped up and it brought us a lot of confidence. We had the energy tonight and we also had the luxury of playing at home. We also had the luxury of having a great crowd, that was really important." BYU set the tone early, starting the game on a 10-0 run, before the Runnin' Rebels came back and scored five in a row. But, that was as close as UNLV would get as the Cougars came back and to score 45 first-half points and go up by 19 points at the break.
BYU Now .500 or Better Against All MWC Teams
With BYU's win over UNLV earlier this season, BYU evened its series with the Rebels at 5-5. BYU now has a .500 winning percentage or better against all seven Mountain West Conference opponents. After defeating Utah last week, BYU has a winning record against the other six MWC teams. BYU has a chance to move its record vs. UNLV above .500 Saturday. UNLV is the team BYU has played the least among conference opponents with 10 prior meetings. Utah is the team BYU has played the most (229 games -- BYU leads 115-114).
Wesley Leads Cougars to Three Key Wins
Mekeli Wesley was the catalyst in three BYU wins last week, which propelled the Cougars into second place in the Mountain West standings at 5-2. 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.
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 Saturday vs. New Mexico after pulling down six boards the first two games of the week. He averaged 4.7 points and 6.7 rebounds last week while getting two starts in place of the injured Travis Hansen.
Current Lineup Yet to Feel Defeat
With the stress fracture injury to Travis Hansen, Steve Cleveland started the line-up of Whiting, Lyday, Cooper, Nielsen and Wesley against Utah and New Mexico this past week. That lineup is undefeated during the 2000-01 campaign (3-0), having also started in BYU's win at Weber State on Dec. 28.
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. Nine players are shooting 70 percent or better, with four shooting better than 80 percent (Wesley, 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 BYU's seven 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 19.3 ppg while Lyday adds 14.8 and Whiting 13.0. 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 nine games (except CSU, Utah, AFA, UNM) while also holding its opponents to less than 30 points in seven of nine games (except CSU and Wyoming).
Defense
BYU holds opponents to 61.5 points (19th nationally) and a 39.6 field goal percentage (T-18th nationally), including 29.1 percent on threes. BYU has held its last eight opponents at home to under 40 percent shooting and has 12 of 22 opponents overall under 40 percent shooting. BYU has not allowed an opponent to shoot 40 percent on threes in the last 12 straight games and 19 of 22 games overall. 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. 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 15-1 when holding opponents to less than 70 points. BYU is 1-5 when opponents have scored 70 or more points. Colorado State became the first BYU opponent 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 pulls down one more rebound per game than its opponent. BYU had 37 rebounds vs. UNLV while the Rebels grabbed 31. BYU has totaled 40 or more boards six times this year. The Cougars are averaging 33.7 rebounds per game. 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 last week, had a team-leading 13 at CSU 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 15 games since becoming eligible to play on Dec. 16 vs. Utah State. He had nine points vs. New Mexico Saturday. He is third in scoring at 14.9 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.
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 14-3
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 1-4
BYU leads with 1 minute left 15-0
Opponent leads with 1 min. left 1-6
Score tied with 1 minute left 0-0
Game goes into overtime 0-0
BYU out rebounds opponent 9-0
Opponent out rebounds BYU 6-5
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 0-5
BYU scores 70 or more 8-3
BYU scores less than 70 8-3
Opponent scores 70 or more 1-5
Opponent scores less than 70 15-1
Trey Barometer
BYU is shooting 42.7 percent (100-234) on threes in its 16 victories this season but is only 19-89 (21.3 percent) from behind the arc in its five losses. BYU has shot 44.8 percent (39-87) on threes in its five home MWC wins and 16.7 percent (4-24) in its two 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) 8-33 (.242)
Trent Whiting* 27-58 (.466) 3-22 (.136)
Mekeli Wesley 15-32 (.469) 3-12 (.250)
Nathan Cooper 8-18 (.444) 0-3 (.000)
Daniel Bobik 8-30 (.267) 1-5 (.200)
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 Starting Lineup Record
Whiting, Lyday, Hansen, Nielsen, Wesley 7-2
Montague, Lyday, Cooper, Nielsen, Wesley 5-1
Whiting, Lyday, Cooper, Nielsen, Wesley 3-0
Whiting, Lyday, Cooper, Wesley, Knight 0-2
Montague, Whiting, Lyday, Nielsen, Wesley 1-0
Montague, Lyday, Cooper, Wesley, Dawes 0-1
Cleveland's Record
Steve Cleveland is now 59-54 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 Saturday 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 to give him 1,522 career points and 435 made free throws. Wesley is also sixth all-time at BYU in free throw attempts with 561. He needs to make 33 more free throws to move into 5th place past Fred Roberts and is also 42 attempts shy of Roberts. He needs to score 131 points to pass Fred's younger brother Kenneth Roberts into seventh place on the scoring list.
Trey Lyday
In the last eight games Lyday is 16-35 (.457) from three-point range. He is 12-22 (.545) at home in BYU's five MWC wins and is 1-7 (.145) in BYU's two MWC road losses. He went 0-5 at CSU and 1-2 at Wyoming. 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 38.3 percent on threes, making a team-leading 41 triples.
Streaks
BYU has a three-game winning streak entering its game at UNLV Saturday. BYU ended its third two game losing streak of the year with its win vs. Utah last week. 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 3-6 in away and neutral games this year, including a 2-2 neutral court record and a 1-4 away mark. The Cougars away win was at Weber State. BYU is shooting 42.2 percent from the floor, 26.8 percent on threes and 80 percent on free throws away from the Marriott Center. The Cougars are being out rebounded 34.8-31.8. BYU has a 2.7-point scoring deficit on the road while averaging 68.8 points. BYU has a high of 84 points (at Weber State) on the road and a low of 52 points (at ASU). In BYU's five true away games, the Cougars are only shooting 38.5 percent from the floor, including 19.7 percent (13-66) from three-point range.
Wesley Earns Second MWC Player of the Week Award
COLORADO SPRINGS -- BYU senior forward Mekeli Wesley was named the Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week Jan. 3 after leading the Cougars (10-4) to a 3-2 record over the prior two weeks. This is the second player of the week honor for Wesley this season and third weekly MWC award of his career. Wesley, a Provo, Utah (Provo HS) product, averaged 19.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, shot 54.2 percent (32-of-59) from the field and 88.6 percent (31-of-35) in five games. He was named to the Yahoo! Sports Invitational All-Tournament team after averaging 21.3 points and 5.7 rebounds, while shooting 22-of-33 (.667) from the floor and 19-of-23 (.82.6) from the line in three contests. Wesley scored 19 points and had a team-high seven rebounds in 23 minutes in the 83-67 win over Boise State. He tallied 26 points and pulled down four rebounds in the 77-71 loss to Iowa State. In the third place game, a 70-67 loss to then 13th-ranked Southern California, Wesley notched 19 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes. In the final two games of the month, Wesley continued to lead the Cougars in scoring with 17 points in each of the victories over Weber State (84-75) and South Alabama (64-42). He was also a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line in the two games.
Wesley Named to All-Tourney Team, Earns MWC Player of the Week Award
BYU senior forward Mekeli Wesley was named to the Yahoo! Sports Invitational All-Tournament Team Dec. 23 while averaging 21.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in three games. He was named the Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week Dec. 11 after leading the Cougars to a pair of victories over Rice and Florida International. Wesley, a Provo, Utah (Provo HS) product, averaged 18.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and shot 60 percent (15-of-25) from the field in the two games that week. In the 78-50 victory over Florida International, he shot 50 percent (7-for-14) from the field and shared game-high scoring honors with 16 points. Wesley also grabbed four rebounds and had two steals vs. the Golden Panthers. On Saturday, he went 8-for-11 from the floor, including 2-for-2 from 3-point range, and led the Cougars with 21 points in the 59-49 win at Rice. Wesley also pulled down four rebounds and had two blocks. This is Wesley's first MWC player of the week honor of this season and the second of his career.
Lyday Named MWC Player of the Week
COLORADO SPRINGS -- BYU senior guard Terrell Lyday was named the Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week Jan. 15 after leading the Cougars (12-4) to a 79-59 victory in their conference opener vs. San Diego State. This is the first player of the week honor for Lyday this season and second of his career. Lyday shot 69.2 (9-for-13) percent from the floor and hit 5-of-6 3-pointers (83.3 percent) in just 22 minutes of action for a game-high 24 points. He also dished out two assists, had a career-high two blocked shots and one steal. Lyday has made multiple treys in nine games this season and has scored in double figures in 13 of 16 contests. He also set a new career high with the 69.2 field goal percentage, while the 24 points vs. SDSU was one point shy of his season high of 25 vs. Boise State. Lyday becomes the second Cougar to earn the award this season, joining Mekeli Wesley, who has been recognized twice this year.
BYU Owns Nation's Top One-Game Shooting Percentage
BYU's 70.8 percent shooting vs. Elon College is the top single-game shooting percentage in the nation this year. The effort was the best by a BYU team since the 1983 squad set the school record making 73.6 percent vs. St. Mary's.
Training Room News
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.
Knight Working Through Back Troubles
Transfer senior forward Nate Knight has been limited in his ability to participate in practices fully because of a lingering back injury. He has played with the condition throughout the season and is not expected to miss any games.
Vranes out for the Year
Two-year starting guard Michael Vranes will miss the entire season after a foot injury required two fall surgeries. Vranes played both the point and wing for the Cougars and was the third leading scorer last season and the team's best defender on the perimeter. In January, Vranes underwent a third surgery in Houston from a specialist, Dr. Baxter. Dr. Baxter was able to diagnose the problem. A full recovery is considered possible, which would allow Vranes to return for his senior season next year. His status, however, won't be known for some time pending the recovery process.
Injuries Played Role in Three Players Decision to Redshirt the 2000-01 Season
BYU Head Basketball Coach Steve Cleveland announced Nov. 17 that three players on this year's team - Garner Meads, Jesse Pinegar and Bart Jepsen - plan to redshirt during the 2000-01 season. Meads and Pinegar are both freshmen members of last year's top-20 recruiting class while Jepsen is a sophomore who returned from an LDS Church mission this summer. All three players have experienced injuries that have factored into the decision to redshirt. Meads, a McDonald's High School All-American forward, has had multiple injuries impede his ability to practice. A knee surgery limited his basketball until late summer and a lung injury sustained in only the team's fifth practice has kept the 6-foot-8 forward from any physical activity for the past month. "After meeting with Garner and his family we have determined it is in his best interest to redshirt this season," Cleveland said. "He has not been able to condition because of his lung injury and has also missed nearly all of our practices. He plans to leave on his mission in February, which means he will not enroll in school for the Winter semester." Pinegar, who was a high school teammate of Meads' at Salt Lake City's Brighton High School, suffered a stress fracture in his left foot last week and has a sesmoid (inflamed bone) problem on his right foot. While he will be able to condition and lift weights, the 6-foot-9 forward will not be able to jump and practice for 4-6 weeks. A 6-foot-9 forward, Jepsen has planned on redshirting this year since returning from his mission this summer. While serving his two-year mission, he sustained a broken leg.
Meads Receives Mission Call
McDonald's High School All-American forward Garner Meads has received his mission call to serve a 2-year LDS Church mission in Edmonton, Alberta. Meads decided to redshirt this season after a lung injury kept him from being able to practice until the season began. He will leave this semester and is not currently enrolled in school. He will return to the team in the winter of 2003 to resume the final half of his redshirt year before taking the court for the 2003-04 season.
Mekeli Wesley (16.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg overall -- 15.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 21 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block in 38 minutes vs. UNM.
• He leads the team in scoring (16.0) and rebounding (5.6). Wesley carries more of the scoring load on the road, averaging 19.3 points compared to his 13.6 average at home.
• 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.
• 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 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 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 (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 and surpassed BYU Hall of Fame member Kresimir Cosic into eighth place on the all-time BYU scoring list.
• With his game-high 21 points vs. New Mexico, Wesley has led BYU in scoring 12 times this year. It was his 18th (of 22) 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 did not attempt a free throw for only the second game this season Monday 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 first this year and the fifth 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 49.1 percent for the year.
• Wesley has 1,522 career points, eighth on the all-time BYU list. He needs to score 131 points to pass Kenneth Roberts into seventh place on the scoring list. Wesley has made 435 free throws, sixth on BYU's career charts. He is also sixth all-time in free throw attempts with 561. He needs to make 33 more free throws to move into 5th place past Fred Roberts and is also 42 attempts shy of Roberts.
Terrell Lyday (15.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.5 apg overall -- 17.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.7 apg MWC)
Last Game: 19 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals in 38 minutes vs. New Mexico.
• Lyday is second on the team in scoring at 15.9 ppg. He has scored 349 points this year to Mekeli Wesley's 351.
• Lyday averaged 18.3 points in the three games last week.
• 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.
• With Lyday's 19 points vs. New Mexico, Lyday has reached double figures in nine straight games and 19 of 22 overall this year. He has reach double figures in 49 of 55 games in his two years at BYU.
• In the last eight games Lyday is 16-35 (.457) from three-point range. He is 12-22 (.545) at home in BYU's five MWC wins and is 1-7 (.145) in BYU's two MWC road losses. He has made a trey in all but two games this season. Overall, he is shooting 38.3 percent on threes, making a team-leading 41 triples.
• He was named the MWC Player of the Week Jan. 15 after scoring 24 points in 22 minutes vs. SDSU.
• Lyday averages 32.4 minutes on the year, second only to Trent Whiting's 33.7 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 4-25 (.160) in five true away games. He is 9-23 (.391) in four neutral court contests. Overall he shoots 38.3 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 20 of 22 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 (14.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.5 apg -- 14.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.1 apg MWC)
Last Game: 9 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals in 29 minutes vs. UNM.
• Whiting averaged 13.7 points and 2.3 rebounds last week.
• Trent Whiting 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, and only 1.0 assists per game in the two 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 14.9 ppg. He is averaging 2.67 steals per game over the last six games. He plays a team-high 33.7 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 scored nine points vs. New Mexico.
• 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 (4.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg overall -- 4.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 4 points, season-high 8 rebounds, 2 steals in season-high 31 minutes vs UNM.
• Cooper had a game-high and season-best 8 rebounds vs. New Mexico after pulling down six boards the first two games last week. He averaged 4.7 points and 6.7 rebounds last week while getting two starts with Travis Hansen being out with a stress fracture
• After taking only four shots over four games, he was 4-8 in the last two games.
• He is shooting 50 percent overall this year and is 8-21 on threes (.381). After being last year's top Cougar (.778) from the free throw line, he is shooting 68.8 percent (33-48) 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 (4.0) and sixth in scoring (4.6).
• Prior to his start vs. Utah he had come off the bench in the prior seven games. He has 12 starts overall, including the first seven games.
Eric Nielsen (6.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg overall -- 6.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block in 23 minutes vs. UNM.
• 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 11 games. He has 19 starts overall.
• Nielsen had his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds vs. South Alabama.
• He is 12-17 (.706) from the floor in the four games. Nielsen is shooting a team-best 60.2 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 56.1 career percentage ranks third all-time at BYU among starters having made 211-376 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 two 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.
Matt Montague (2.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 3.6 apg overall -- 1.4 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 1.7 apg MWC)
Last Game: 2 assists in 9 minutes vs. UNM.
• 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 first time this year at CSU.
• He has a team-best 79 assists (Whiting is next with 38).
• He has taken 10 shots in the last seven games. He was 2-5 last week.
• He had no rebounds or points for the second time this year in 15 minutes vs. SDSU. He has not scored in 11 games overall.
• 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 still fourth in minutes played per game at 22.4 (behind Whiting, Lyday and Wesley).
• He started the year making his first eight shots, including 5-5 on threes, but is 3-21 from the floor in the last 15 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 (3.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg overall -- 2.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal in 17 minutes vs. UNM.
• He has played double-digit minutes the last two games with Hansen out with an injury. He averaged 5.5 points and 3 rebounds in those two games (vs. AFA and UNM).
• 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 nine games this year and is averaging 6.4 points in those games. He has played less than 10 minutes in 10 games and averaged 1.5 points in those games. He has not played in three games.
Jacob Chrisman (3.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg overall -- 2.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 1 point, 1 rebound in 5 minutes vs. UNM.
• He did not score for the third time this year while playing only 2 minutes at Wyoming. He has scored in 18 of the 21 games he has played (except SUU, UNLV, Wyoming). He has had a rebound in 18 of 21 games played (except Rice, SUU and Utah).
• 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 had 4 points and 3 rebounds and 1 assist vs. AFA last week in 14 minutes.
• He did not play for the only time this year vs. ISU.
• He is 26-44 (.591) from the field this year.
Derek Dawes (1.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg overall -- 0.5 ppg, 1.0 rpg MWC)
Last Game: Did not play.
• He had 2 rebounds in one minute vs. AFA last week. He played during the critical final minutes of the Wyoming game with Eric Nielsen and Nate Knight having fouled out. He was 0-1 at Wyoming.
• He has taken 10 shots in the last 14 games in which he has played (appeared in 16 of 22 games). He is 7-17 (.412) 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 12 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.
Nate Knight (2.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg overall -- 1.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 2 points 1 rebound, 1 block, season-high 2 steals in 10 minutes vs. UNM.
• He is 12-28 (.429) on the year and has made 17-22 (.773) free throws.
• He averages 11.8 minutes as one of the first substitutes off the bench. He has two starts.
• 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.
