Cougars Defeat Gauchos 67-53

PROVO -- Mekeli Wesley recorded his fifth career double-double and had career highs of five blocks and 12 rebounds as BYU posted a 67-53 victory over UC Santa Barbara in the Marriott Center Saturday. BYU improved to 2-0 on the year with the win while the Gauchos fell to 0-3.

The Cougars got off to a slow start in a tightly officiated game. The two teams were whistled for 12 fouls in the first five minutes of play. Terrell Lyday put BYU on the board first, sinking two-of-three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt. The Cougars used a 12-2 run midway through the first half to open up a 25-12 lead. BYU went into the locker room with a seven-point lead, up 31-24 at halftime.

In the second half, UCSB cut the BYU lead to three points, 42-39, behind a six point spurt from guard B.J. Ward.

But a solid defensive effort by the Cougars stifled the UCSB offense, holding the Gauchos under 30 percent shooting (.294) on the night. Santa Barbara coach Bob Williams recognized the BYU effort as one of the major factors in the game.

"Twenty-two turnovers and seven assists pretty much sums up the game," Williams said. "Their defense, and our lack of handling it, pretty much did us in."

BYU coach Steve Cleveland also gave his team credit for their effort on the defensive end of the floor.

"Defensively we were really solid," Cleveland said. "When you can hold a team under 30 percent shooting, and you keep their three-point shooting under 21 percent, you know you're doing something right."

Lyday took over the game when it got close and finished the night shooting 4-9 from behind the arc, en route to a game-high 21 points. Sophomore forward Mark Hull kept the Gauchos in the game with a career-high 21 points of his own.

Wesley contributed 11 points with his career-best 12 re bounds and five blocks while Matt Montague and Travis Hansen added nine and eight points, respectively, for BYU. Montague made all four of his field goal attempts and is now perfect on all six attempts he has taken in the first two games. He has already equaled the number of three-pointers he made all of last year, making his third trey of the year in the first half.

BYU shot 43 percent for the game, including 43.8 percent on three-point shots. The Cougars made 16-25 free throws (.640).

BYU will take its first road trip of the season next week when it plays at San Francisco Thursday and Arizona State Saturday.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Santa Barbara vs Brigham Young University
11-25-00 7:05 at Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Santa Barbara 0-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
30 HULL, Mark.......... f  4-13   1-7   12-13   1  2  3   2  21  1  1  0  1  35
40 VUKOVICH, Mike...... f  3-9    0-0    2-5    3  5  8   5   8  0  2  1  1  27
50 JORDANI, Juliano.... f  0-4    0-1    0-0    1  1  2   5   0  0  2  0  0  12
03 BRYANT, LaRon....... g  1-4    1-3    0-1    1  1  2   4   3  0  1  0  3  24
35 WARD, B.J........... g  3-7    0-0    4-4    2  5  7   0  10  1  5  0  1  29
05 ATAKO, Jacoby.......    0-2    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   2   0  4  3  0  0  25
15 OLIVER, Chrismen....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   0
32 COOK, Casey.........    2-8    1-2    2-2    0  3  3   4   7  0  6  0  1  20
41 JONES, Nick.........    2-4    0-1    0-0    2  1  3   1   4  1  2  0  1  16
55 TODD, J.J...........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  3  3   2   0  0  0  0  1  12
   TEAM................                         4  2  6
   Totals..............   15-51   3-14  20-25  14 26 40  25  53  7 22  1  9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  6-24  .250   2nd Half:  9-27  .333   Game:  .294  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-7   .143   2nd Half:  2-7   .286   Game:  .214  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 11-13  .846   2nd Half:  9-12  .750   Game:  .800     1
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young University 2-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... f  3-12   0-1    5-7    1 11 12   3  11  2  0  5  0  38
25 NEILSEN, Eric....... f  1-1    0-0    1-1    1  1  2   4   3  0  1  0  0  12
42 COOPER, Nathan...... f  2-4    1-1    1-2    2  4  6   3   6  1  4  1  0  28
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g  6-15   4-9    5-7    0  0  0   4  21  2  4  0  1  30
31 MONTAGUE. Matt...... g  4-4    1-1    0-1    0  3  3   1   9  7  3  0  1  33
02 HANSEN, Travis......    3-7    1-1    1-2    1  2  3   2   8  1  0  1  2  18
20 BOBIK, Daniel.......    0-3    0-3    2-3    0  1  1   0   2  1  1  0  0   9
23 SHIPPEN, Ty.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   2
34 CHRISMAN, Jacob.....    2-3    0-0    0-1    1  0  1   3   4  0  3  0  1  23
43 DAWES, Derek........    1-2    0-0    1-1    2  2  4   1   3  0  0  1  0   7
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   22-51   7-16  16-25   9 25 34  21  67 14 17  8  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-25  .360   2nd Half: 13-26  .500   Game:  .431  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-9   .333   2nd Half:  4-7   .571   Game:  .438  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-15  .667   2nd Half:  6-10  .600   Game:  .640     4
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Officials: Larry Stubing,. Larry Spaulding, Jimmie Flores
Technical fouls: Santa Barbara-None. Brigham Young University-None.
Attendance: 8268
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Santa Barbara.................   24   29  -   53
Brigham Young University......   31   36  -   67