BYU Comes Up Short 80-69 to Memphis in NIT 2nd Round

MEMPHIS -- The BYU men's basketball team ended its season with an 80-69 loss to the University of Memphis in the second round of the 2002 National Invitation Tournament in Memphis Wednesday night. The Cougars overcame a 20-point first half deficit to twice draw within seven points in the game's final 10 minutes.

"I told our players, 'You're playing on national TV and you get down by 18 or 20, and you came back and battled,'" said BYU head coach Steve Cleveland. "And that's why I'll never forget this team." The Cougars finished the season with an 18-12 record.

Down 49-31 early in the second half, the Cougars fought back with a 23-12 run to draw within seven, 61-54. Travis Hansen led BYU's comeback, scoring nine points during the run after scoring only four points during the entire first half. A minute later, Mark Bigelow got into the act with a dunk, steal and two free throws to help the Cougars again pull within seven, 65-58.

"We made a little run, but I think we just ran out of gas a little bit," said Bigelow. The Cougars and Tigers traded baskets during the last eight minutes of the contest, as BYU never got closer than 10 points after having pulled within seven.

The Cougars were led by Hansen and Bigelow, both with 17 points. Daniel Bobik added 15 points on perfect 5-of-5 shooting, his career-best field goal percentage. Bobik made all four of his three-point attempts en route to his highest point total since the Cal State Northridge game Dec. 27.

At the game's outset, BYU jumped to a quick five-point lead on a Jon Carlisle layup and a Mark Bigelow three-pointer before Memphis roared back with a 22-4 run. Carlisle's lay-in broke the Tigers' run and gave Carlisle six early points in his first start of the season, but Memphis kept coming at the Cougars.

"No matter how many times the coaches told us, we didn't believe how fast they got down the floor," Bigelow said.

Memphis (24-9) extended their lead to 34-13 before the Cougars began to whittle away, outscoring Memphis 9-2 to make the score 36-22 with four minutes left in the half. Short runs by both teams brought the halftime score to 42-29 as the Cougars ended the half hitting six of their last eight shots.

Carlisle, Bobik and Bigelow each had eight first-half points to lead BYU. Montague spent much of the first half on the bench with three fouls while fellow senior Eric Nielsen went scoreless. Nielsen's first field goal came with four minutes left in the contest.

Hansen and Montague each had five assists on the night to lead the Cougars. Montague finished the season with 217 assists, a single-season record. Montague and Nielsen, the only seniors on the team, both played in every game of their four-year careers.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
BYU vs Memphis
3/20/02 6:30 pm at The Pyramid -- Memphis, Tenn.
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VISITORS: BYU 18-12
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 BIGELOW, Mark....... f  5-11   3-5    4-5    0  2  2   2  17  1  2  0  4  33
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f  2-8    0-1    2-4    2  3  5   3   6  3  1  0  1  33
42 CARLISLE, Jon....... c  4-7    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   0   8  0  2  0  0  19
02 HANSEN, Travis...... g  7-16   1-2    2-2    0  3  3   2  17  5  3  0  3  34
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g  1-2    0-0    0-0    0  3  3   4   2  5  6  0  1  23
10 NASHIF, Terry.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  2  0  0   3
20 BOBIK, Daniel.......    5-5    4-4    1-2    0  2  2   2  15  2  2  0  2  18
22 BALDERSON, Jimmy....    0-1    0-1    1-2    0  2  2   0   1  0  0  0  0   8
32 JEPSEN, Bart........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
40 HOWARD, Dan.........    0-1    0-0    1-2    0  1  1   2   1  0  0  0  1  11
52 JENSEN, Jared.......    1-2    0-0    0-0    0  3  3   4   2  0  0  0  1  16
   TEAM................                         3     3
   Totals..............   25-53   8-13  11-17   6 22 28  19  69 16 18  0 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-24 45.8%   2nd Half: 14-29 48.3%   Game: 47.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-6  66.7%   2nd Half:  4-7  57.1%   Game: 61.5%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-6  50.0%   2nd Half:  8-11 72.7%   Game: 64.7%    3
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HOME TEAM: Memphis 24-9
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 McFADGON, Scooter... f  3-6    1-2    0-0    3  2  5   2   7  1  2  0  3  29
04 MASSIE, Chris....... f  5-9    0-0    6-11   1  5  6   3  16  0  2  0  1  30
43 DIARRA, Modibo...... c  0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
01 BURKS, Antonio...... g  7-9    0-0    4-5    0  4  4   0  18  4  3  0  5  38
02 WAGNER, Dajuan...... g  9-19   4-9    2-2    1  3  4   3  24  9  2  0  0  33
11 ERWIN, Duane........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   5
23 RICE, Anthony.......    1-2    1-2    0-0    1  3  4   4   3  1  1  1  1  20
30 BARRON, Earl........    1-4    0-0    2-2    1  1  2   5   4  1  4  2  0  16
45 WISE, Kelly.........    3-7    0-0    2-4    3  4  7   0   8  0  2  3  1  25
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   29-56   6-13  16-24  10 24 34  17  80 16 16  6 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-32 50.0%   2nd Half: 13-24 54.2%   Game: 51.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-8  62.5%   2nd Half:  1-5  20.0%   Game: 46.2%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-9  55.6%   2nd Half: 11-15 73.3%   Game: 66.7%   3,1
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Officials: R-Frank Scagliotta, U1-Bryan Kersey, U2-Emanuel Upton
Technical fouls: BYU-None. Memphis-None.
Attendance: 7201
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
BYU...........................   29   40  -   69
Memphis.......................   42   38  -   80
Owens Corning NIT Second Round.
Points in the paint-BY 26,MEM 34. Points off turnovers-BY 21,MEM 21.
2nd chance points-BY 6,MEM 7. Fast break points-BY 4,MEM 8.
Bench points-BY 19,MEM 15. Score tied-2 times. Lead changes-1 time.