Cougars Fall 76-60 to Cowboys in Laramie

LARAMIE -- BYU suffered its sixth conference loss of the season with a 76-60 defeat to the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Poor rebounding and shooting plagued the Cougars throughout the night as they fell for the ninth straight time on the road.

"You just can't give a team that many second chances," BYU head coach Steve Cleveland said. "We fronted the post, but you really have to have a team effort to box those guys out."

BYU's main scoring threats all had solid games for the Cougars. Travis Hansen led BYU with 16 points, followed by 14 points each from Mark Bigelow (6-of-10) and Eric Nielsen (5-of-9). All five Cowboy starters scored in double figures, led by Marcus Bailey's 18 points, as Wyoming played its best game of its last three outings. The Cougar bench out-scored the Pokes' bench, 12-9, but it rebounds made the difference in the game.

Down only 34-29 at the half, BYU out-shot Wyoming in the second half (45 percent to 42 percent) but lost the game on the glass, giving up 27 second-chance points for the game. The Cougars were out-rebounded 50-24 overall and 21-7 on the offensive boards.

The 50 rebounds given up is the highest allowed by the Cougars this season, and the 24 boards grabbed by the Cougars is their third lowest total this sesason. In the two teams' first meeting in Provo this season, the Pokes only grabbed eight offensive rebounds.

"One stat that just sticks out in my mind is the fact that we gave up 21 offensive rebounds," said BYU assistant coach John Wardenburg. "You can't give up 21 offensive rebounds and expect to win the game."

Bigelow started the game with a hot hand, scoring eight of BYU's first 12 points. Eric Nielsen also made key baskets to help the Cougars build a 16-10 lead before Wyoming went on a 9-0 run to go up 17-16 with nine minutes left in the first half.

After both teams traded several baskets, BYU went cold while Wyoming went on a 6-0 run. The Cougars only managed to score two points during a six-minute stretch near the end of the first half. Wyoming was able to make good on several second chance points coming from offensive rebounds. The Cowboys out-rebounded the Cougars 24-14 in the first half on its way to the 34-29 halftime lead.

With the loss, BYU goes to 17-9 overall and 7-7 in conference play while the Pokes are now 19-7 and 10-3, respectively. BYU completes its Mountain West Conference regular season when the Cougars face Colorado State on Saturday. The game will be aired live on KSL-TV at 7 p.m. from Moby Arena in Fort Collins.

"Let's win Saturday and get momentum going into the [MWC] tournament, and that's what we're going to do," Cleveland said.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars vs WYOMING COWBOYS
2/28/02 7:37 p.m. at Arena-Auditorium, Laramie, Wyo.
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VISITORS: BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars 17-9, 7-7
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 BIGELOW, Mark....... f  6-10   1-3    1-1    1  2  3   4  14  1  3  0  0  30
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f  5-9    1-1    3-4    0  3  3   0  14  0  0  1  1  35
52 JENSEN, Jared....... c  0-2    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   2   0  0  1  0  0  12
02 HANSEN, Travis...... g  5-16   1-3    5-7    1  3  4   3  16  0  1  1  0  31
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g  2-6    0-2    0-0    1  0  1   2   4  3  1  0  2  36
10 NASHIF, Terry.......    0-0    0-0    4-4    0  0  0   1   4  0  1  0  1   4
20 BOBIK, Daniel.......    1-2    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   2   2  1  0  0  0  12
22 BALDERSON, Jimmy....    0-2    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  1  0  1  0   7
32 JEPSEN, Bart........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  1  1  0  0   8
40 HOWARD, Dan.........    1-1    0-0    2-3    0  3  3   4   4  0  0  2  1  14
42 CARLISLE, Jon.......    1-3    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   2  0  0  2  0  11
   TEAM................                         3  3  6
   Totals..............   21-51   3-12  15-19   7 17 24  21  60  7  8  7  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-31 38.7%   2nd Half:  9-20 45.0%   Game: 41.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-8  25.0%   2nd Half:  1-4  25.0%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half: 12-15 80.0%   Game: 78.9%    0
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HOME TEAM: WYOMING COWBOYS 19-7, 10-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
22 DAVIS, Josh......... f  4-10   0-0    2-4    4  6 10   2  10  2  0  1  0  30
44 BAILEY, Marcus...... f  5-14   1-2    7-8    0  5  5   2  18  2  2  0  1  34
05 NSONWU-AMADI, Uche.. c  4-7    0-0    2-4    3  3  6   3  10  2  0  4  1  25
01 RICHARDSON, Donta... g  6-13   2-6    2-2    2  6  8   3  16  4  2  0  0  34
03 STRAIGHT, Jason..... g  4-5    1-1    4-4    0  2  2   1  13  4  3  0  1  23
00 MINGO, Ronell.......    0-2    0-0    0-0    1  3  4   4   0  0  0  0  0  11
04 UDEZUE, Ugo.........    0-1    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   3   0  0  0  0  0   9
13 DUNN, Alex..........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
20 ROTTINGHAUS, David..    1-1    0-0    2-2    4  0  4   2   4  1  1  0  0  12
24 CORNER, Paris.......    2-7    0-2    1-2    1  0  1   2   5  0  0  0  1  18
25 RIES, Joe...........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   3
   TEAM................                         5     5
   Totals..............   26-60   4-11  20-26  21 27 48  22  76 15  9  5  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-27 44.4%   2nd Half: 14-33 42.4%   Game: 43.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-7  28.6%   2nd Half:  2-4  50.0%   Game: 36.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  8-12 66.7%   2nd Half: 12-14 85.7%   Game: 76.9%    2
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Officials: Ed Hightower, Verne Harris, Ronnie Hernandez
Technical fouls: BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars-None. WYOMING COWBOYS-None.
Attendance: 11189
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars.........   29   31  -   60
WYOMING COWBOYS...............   34   42  -   76
Points in the paint-BY 21,WY 26. Points off turnovers-BY 12,WY 10.
2nd chance points-BY 7,WY 23. Fast break points-BY 3,WY 2.
Bench points-BY 12,WY 9. Score tied-1 time. Lead changes-8 times.