Cougars Keep it Rolling With 84-70 Win Over Matadors

PROVO -- Coming off their huge upset over Stanford, the BYU Cougars did just enough to beat Cal State Northridge 84-70. The victory extended BYU's win streak to six games, tying the longest in head coach Steve Cleveland's tenure, and extended their home-winning streak to 26 games, a BYU record.

Mark Bigelow had a game high 27 points for the Cougars. Bigelow had 17 in the first half, matching the output of the rest of the team for the first 20 minutes. But while Bigelow led the Cougars, Cleveland was not impressed with BYU's overall play.

"Mark was pretty solid all night long, but we were just inconsistent," Cleveland said. "Maybe their minds were still in Las Vegas or on Christmas, but it was apparent to me that this was not the same basketball team that played nine games."

BYU now has an 8-2 record, matching its start from the 1999-2000 season. In that season, the Cougars went on to start 12-2. BYU controlled the game throughout, holding a double-digit lead for most of the second half. BYU used a 10-0 run early in both halves to take commanding leads, but the Matadors kept the game close enough to keep most of BYU's starters in the game.

"I credit Northridge," Cleveleand said. "Northridge came in out-manned and undersized, but played harder than we did for a full 40 minutes.

Daniel Bobik played another strong offensive game, tying his career high with 17 points. He also hit all eight of his free throw attempts to give him 20 consecutive makes from the free throw line. Freshman Jared Jensen recorded his first double-double of his collegiate career. He tied his career high of 10 rebounds and poured in 13 points to give the Cougars a great inside presence.

The Cougars held the Matadors to only 24 points in the first half and took a 10-point lead into the locker room as both teams struggled from the floor. It was a different story in the next half though, as both teams lit up the scoreboard. BYU held a slight edge in the second half, 50-46.

"In the second half, we just didn't guard and that was disappointing to me," Cleveland said.

Eric Nielsen, who had a career-high 29 points in the win over Stanford, only scored five points while taking only seven shots. Matt Montague, playing with a broken nose, chipped in with a season-high seven rebounds, six points and four assists.

"We will really have to have a good practice tomorrow to get regrouped and refocused," Cleveland said.

BYU will play the last game of the calendar year Saturday at 4 p.m. against Southern Utah. The Cougars look to extend both their six-game overall and 26-game home winning streaks.

GAME NOTES

- BYU now has a six-game winning streak, tying the longest streak in the coach Cleveland era. BYU had a six-game winning streak last season as well.

- Mark Bigelow had 17 points in the first half, his most in the first half this season. He also had 17 points in the second half of the Arizona State game, in which he scored 31 points. He finished this game with 27 points.

- The BYU home winning streak now stands at 26 games, a home winning streak record. The previous record was 24 games.

- BYU's 8-2 start is its best since the 1999-2000 season. In that season, the Cougars started out 12-2.

- Cal State Northridge played without two regular players. Both Matadors were sitting out one-game suspensions.

- Daniel Bobik has now made 20 straight free throws. The all-time BYU record is 32, by Michael Smith. Bobik hasn't missed a free throw since the Arizona State game. He also tied his career high in points with 17. Bobik has scored in double digits the last three games, 17 against Idaho, 10 against Stanford and now 17 again.

- Freshman Jared Jensen pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds. He also had 10 rebounds against Creighton. Together with 13 points, Jensen completed his first double-double of the season.

- Matt Montague tied his season high in rebounds with seven. He also had seven in the upset victory over Stanford.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Cal State Northridge vs BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars
12/27/01 7:05 at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Cal State Northridge 2-8
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
10 BENJAMIN, Lionel.... f  3-7    0-0    2-5    2  7  9   0   8  1  4  0  1  29
31 BOYLAN, Ian......... f  0-7    0-4    0-0    0  2  2   1   0  1  1  0  0  22
44 READ, Dan........... c  3-5    1-1    0-0    0  1  1   5   7  1  2  0  0  26
05 ESTAVAN, Ed......... g  5-13   4-11   2-2    0  1  1   4  16  6  0  0  1  33
12 CARR, Markus........ g  8-13   0-3    4-5    0  2  2   4  20  3  2  0  2  28
03 SCOTT, Michael......    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   2  0  0  0  1   1
20 FRAZIER, Joseph.....    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   2  0  0  0  1   4
21 WELCH, Jermar.......    1-4    0-0    2-3    2  4  6   3   4  0  2  0  0  23
23 JOHNSON, Tony.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
25 MYVETT, Gene........    1-3    0-0    1-2    1  1  2   4   3  1  0  0  1  15
33 SLAUGHTER, Curtis...    3-5    2-3    0-0    1  3  4   1   8  1  4  0  1  17
   TEAM................                         1  4  5
   Totals..............   26-59   7-22  11-17   7 25 32  24  70 14 15  0  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-27 33.3%   2nd Half: 17-32 53.1%   Game: 44.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-12 25.0%   2nd Half:  4-10 40.0%   Game: 31.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half:  8-13 61.5%   Game: 64.7%    3
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HOME TEAM: BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars 8-2
                          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 10-20   4-10   3-4    0  2  2   0  27  1  2  0  0  35
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f  2-7    0-0    1-1    0  6  6   3   5  0  0  0  0  34
52 JENSEN, Jared....... c  5-6    0-0    3-4    6  4 10   4  13  1  1  1  2  25
02 HANSEN, Travis...... g  2-8    0-2    7-8    1  3  4   3  11  1  1  0  0  26
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g  2-4    0-1    2-3    0  7  7   1   6  4  3  0  2  35
04 PINEGAR, Jesse......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
10 NASHIF, Terry.......    0-1    0-1    3-6    0  2  2   0   3  1  1  0  1   5
20 BOBIK, Daniel.......    4-9    1-4    8-8    1  3  4   1  17  4  4  0  3  23
22 BALDERSON, Jimmy....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   5
32 JEPSEN, Bart........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
40 HOWARD, Dan.........    0-0    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   2   2  0  0  0  0   3
42 CARLISLE, Jon.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   1   0  0  0  0  0   3
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   25-55   5-18  29-36  10 29 39  16  84 12 12  1  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-31 41.9%   2nd Half: 12-24 50.0%   Game: 45.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-11 36.4%   2nd Half:  1-7  14.3%   Game: 27.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-6  66.7%   2nd Half: 25-30 83.3%   Game: 80.6%    2
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Officials: Mark Reischling, Ronnie Hernandez, Kelly Self
Technical fouls: Cal State Northridge-None. BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars-None.
Attendance: 8632
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Cal State Northridge..........   24   46  -   70
BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars.........   34   50  -   84