BYU Suffers First Loss Thursday at USF

SAN -- BYU suffered its first loss of the year Thursday as the University of San Francisco Dons handed the Cougars an 80-70 defeat at War Memorial Gym.

Entering the game with two home wins that resulted in part from the team's 56.6 percent field goal percentage and 46.7 percent three-point percentage, the Cougars found it tougher to find the mark in their first road game of the year. Shooting 38.9 percent from the floor, BYU made only 3 of 19 (.158) three-point attempts, including a 1-9 night from BYU's top shooter Terrell Lyday.

The Cougars trailed at halftime 38-34 and maintained a close deficit with the Dons until the closing moments but were never able to take the advantage. BYU got within a single point on three occasions but the Dons always had an answer, usually delivered by guard Ali Thomas who went 4-5 on threes while equaling his career high of 25 points. In all five Don players scored in double figures, contributing to a team field goal percentage of 51.2 percent and a three-point clip of 66.7.

"San Francisco made big shots at critical times - give them credit," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "They dictated the flow of the game and we were in foul trouble early. We had a lot of wide open threes but we didn't hit them. It's hard to win on the road when you miss that many shots."

BYU was led by Mekeli Wesley with a season-high 20 points, followed by Lyday with 16 and Matt Montague with a personal season-best 12 points. Montague hit his firs two three-pointers before finally missing his first shot of the season. He is now 10-12 overall and 5-6 on threes this year.

BYU fell to 2-1 with the loss while USF improved to 3-3. BYU will play at Arizona State Saturday.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Brigham Young vs Univ. of San Francisco
11/30/00 7:00 PM at San Francisco, CA  - War Memorial Gym
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Brigham Young 2-1
                          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    0-0    0  2  2   5   4  0  0  0  0   8
42 COOPER, Nathan...... f  2-3    0-0    0-2    3  2  5   3   4  3  0  0  1  31
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... c  4-11   0-3   12-12   5  0  5   4  20  2  2  0  1  32
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g  4-17   1-9    7-7    0  0  0   0  16  1  2  1  0  39
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g  4-6    2-3    2-2    1  1  2   3  12  6  2  0  0  34
02 HANSEN, Travis......    0-6    0-2    0-0    1  2  3   1   0  1  0  0  1  11
20 BOBIK, Daniel.......    1-2    0-1    0-0    0  2  2   1   2  2  1  0  0  12
34 CHRISMAN, Jacob.....    3-6    0-1    1-2    3  1  4   5   7  0  3  0  1  15
40 HOWARD, Dan.........    1-1    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   5   4  0  0  1  0  12
43 DAWES, Derek........    0-0    0-0    1-2    1  0  1   2   1  0  0  0  0   6
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   21-54   3-19  25-29  15 12 27  29  70 15 10  2  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-25  .400   2nd Half: 11-29  .379   Game:  .389  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-10  .200   2nd Half:  1-9   .111   Game:  .158  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 12-14  .857   2nd Half: 13-15  .867   Game:  .862     2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Univ. of San Francisco 3-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 TUCKER, Darrell..... f  5-11   0-0    6-6    3  6  9   2  16  1  5  0  0  33
30 LEE, James.......... f  3-8    0-1    8-11   3  2  5   3  14  4  3  0  2  38
35 BREWER, Hondre...... c  3-5    0-0    5-8    1  4  5   5  11  1  1  3  1  30
13 STALLWORTH, Shamell. g  0-1    0-0    1-2    1  2  3   3   1  1  2  1  1  26
32 THOMAS, Ali......... g  7-12   4-5    7-7    0  1  1   3  25  2  2  0  2  39
01 AKINSETE, Tayo......    3-3    2-2    2-2    2  3  5   5  10  0  1  0  0  14
44 TARBAT, Nick........    0-1    0-1    3-4    0  1  1   1   3  1  0  0  0  16
52 BROWN, Eugene.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  0   4
   TEAM................
   Totals..............   21-41   6-9   32-40  10 20 30  23  80 10 14  4  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-24  .417   2nd Half: 11-17  .647   Game:  .512  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-6   .667   2nd Half:  2-3   .667   Game:  .667  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 14-18  .778   2nd Half: 18-22  .818   Game:  .800     6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Rich Ballesteros, Mark Reischling, Mike Eggers
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Univ. of San Francisco-None.
Attendance: 3312
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young.................   34   36  -   70
Univ. of San Francisco........   38   42  -   80