UNLV Defeats BYU in Las Vegas

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 STATISTICS
BYU 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