Wesley Strong but Wyoming Pulls Out Comeback Win over BYU

LARAMIE -- Suffering its second straight road loss, BYU led for nearly the entire game but could not hold off a late Wyoming rally as the Cowboys came from behind to defeat the Cougars 85-78 Monday at Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyo.

Thanks to the outstanding play of forward Mekeli Wesley, the Cougars took control of the game and built a lead that reached as many as 18 points in the first half. The Cowboys tried to guard Wesley without double-teaming and paid the price. Wesley had his best scoring half of the season, pouring in 19 points to help the Cougars enter the break with a 48-34 advantage.

BYU maintained a double-digit lead for most of the first 10 minutes of the second half and had an eight-point edge with 7:58 remaining at 67-59. But Wyoming out scored BYU 15-6 over the next four minutes to take its first lead since early in the first half at 74-73. The Cougars trailed by four at 79-75 with less than a minute remaining but could get no closer as Wyoming made the big shots to earn the come-from-behind win.

Wesley scored 10 second half points despite the Cowboys changing its defensive strategy to double and triple team him inside. Wesley finished the night with a season-high 29 points and 11 rebounds to lead BYU while Eric Nielsen added 12 and Terrell Lyday 11. Trent Whiting failed to score in double figures for the first time this year, totaling seven points, all in the first half. Whiting did equal his career best of 3 steals for the third consecutive game.

Four Cowboys scored in double figures, led by center Uche Nsonwu-Amadi with 21. BYU held Marcus Bailey, the top scorer in the Mountain West Conference, to nine points. Wyoming shot 50.9 percent from the floor compared to the Cougars 42.9 percent.

BYU falls to 13-6 overall and 2-2 in the Mountain West Conference while Wyoming improves to 12-4 and 3-1. BYU will now have a week to prepare to host instate rival Utah in an ESPN Big Monday 10 p.m. start.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
BRIGHAM YOUNG vs WYOMING
1/22/01 7:00 p.m. at Laramie, Wyo.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: BRIGHAM YOUNG 13-6 (2-2)
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 HANSEN, Travis...... f  2-9    0-0    4-6    2  5  7   2   8  2  2  0  2  27
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... f 10-21   2-3    7-9    3  8 11   4  29  2  4  1  0  36
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f  6-8    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   5  12  1  2  0  1  17
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g  2-6    1-2    6-7    0  1  1   4  11  1  1  1  0  30
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g  0-1    0-0    2-2    0  3  3   1   2  1  0  0  1  11
21 WHITING, Trent...... *  3-8    0-3    1-3    1  1  2   3   7  1  3  1  3  37
01 KNIGHT, Nate........    1-2    0-0    3-4    1  3  4   5   5  0  0  0  1  19
20 BOBIK, Daniel.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  1  0  2   6
34 CHRISMAN, Jacob.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  1  1  0  0   2
42 COOPER, Nathan......    0-0    0-0    4-5    0  1  1   2   4  0  0  0  0   9
43 DAWES, Derek........    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   6
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   24-56   3-8   27-36   8 27 35  27  78 10 14  3 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-30  .500   2nd Half:  9-26  .346   Game:  .429  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-5   .200   2nd Half:  2-3   .667   Game:  .375  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 17-19  .895   2nd Half: 10-17  .588   Game:  .750     6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: WYOMING 12-4 (3-1)
                          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  6-14   0-3    6-10   5 10 15   3  18  3  1  4  2  34
44 BAILEY, Marcus...... f  2-7    0-1    5-6    0  3  3   4   9  8  1  0  5  33
05 NSONWU-AMADI, Uche.. c  7-11   0-0    7-10   2  6  8   2  21  0  3  2  2  30
10 McMILLIAN, Chris.... g  4-6    2-2    0-0    0  2  2   4  10  2  1  0  0  32
20 ROTTINGHAUS, David.. g  0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  1  3  0  0   9
00 MINGO, Ronell.......    2-2    0-0    1-2    0  1  1   3   5  1  1  0  0   8
04 UDEZUE, Ugo.........    1-1    0-0    0-1    0  1  1   2   2  0  0  0  0   5
14 McFALL, Brett.......    5-9    3-6    5-6    0  2  2   2  18  4  2  0  0  33
24 CORNER, Paris.......    1-4    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   2   2  0  1  0  0  14
25 RIES, Joe...........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   28-55   5-14  24-35   8 27 35  23  85 19 13  6  9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-30  .433   2nd Half: 15-25  .600   Game:  .509  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-7   .143   2nd Half:  4-7   .571   Game:  .357  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-11  .636   2nd Half: 17-24  .708   Game:  .686     3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Scott Thornley, Mark Whitehead, Ronnie Hernandez
Technical fouls: BRIGHAM YOUNG-None. WYOMING-None.
Attendance: 10008
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
BRIGHAM YOUNG.................   48   30  -   78
WYOMING.......................   34   51  -   85