Cougars Fall to Hot-Shooting Rams

FORT COLLINS -- BYU could not contain the hot-shooting Colorado State Rams Thursday, falling 68-54 in Fort Collins. The Rams, the nation's best three-point shooting team, shot 53.8 percent on three-pointers and 58.5 percent from the floor -- the best shooting percentages by a BYU opponent all season.

BYU, meanwhile, made only seven first-half field goals, a season low, but still trailed by only 11, 33-22, at the half. The Cougars out scored the Rams 18-9 to open the second half to cut the Rams' lead to four at 44-40 on two Terrell Lyday free throws with 11:44 remaining. But Colorado State went on a 10-0 run and never looked back.

BYU had trouble finding shots all night, equaling its season low with 16 field goals and setting a new low with only six assists. No Cougar had more than one assist. The Cougars had stretches of 8:18 and 4:14 in the first half without a field goal and 3:28 and 11:11 in the second half for a total of 27:01 minutes without making a bucket in the 40-minute game.

"Colorado State is a team taht plays very well at home and they did so tonight," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "When you shoot 59 percent at home and 57 percent from three, you better win. We never got on a roll of any kind or found the flow offensively."

Lyday led BYU with 20 points and four rebounds while Mekeli Wesley added 11 points, Michael Vranes nine and Marc Roberts a career-best six in seven minutes.BYU shot 38 percent from the floor, including 28.6 percent on threes.

Colorado State had three players score in double figures with Aki Palmer leading the way with 16. He was a deadly 5-6 on three-point attempts. Ceedric Goodwyn added 15 and a game-high six rebounds while Ron Grady scored 12 for CSU.

BYU falls to 16-8 with the loss and into sixth place in the Mountain West Conference at 5-6. Colorado State improves to 16-10 and into a fourth place tie with Wyoming at 6-5. BYU's next opponent is Wyoming in Laramie Saturday at 4 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Brigham Young vs Colorado State
2/24/00 7:07 p.m. at Moby Arena (Fort Collins, Colo.)
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 16-8, 5-6 MWC
                          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  2-9    0-3    7-8    0  2  2   3  11  0  4  1  0  35
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f  2-2    0-0    1-1    0  2  2   3   5  1  0  0  1  20
13 VRANES, Michael..... g  4-8    1-1    0-1    1  2  3   1   9  0  3  0  4  35
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g  5-15   2-7    8-10   0  4  4   4  20  1  6  0  2  37
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g  0-1    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   2   0  1  1  0  1  12
02 RIVERS, Silester....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  3  3   2   0  0  1  0  0   7
04 CHRISTENSEN, Todd...    1-4    1-3    0-0    0  0  0   1   3  1  0  0  1  19
05 ROBERTS, Marc.......    2-2    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   0   6  1  0  0  0   7
10 ALLEN, John.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   5
42 COOPER, Nathan......    0-1    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   4   0  1  1  0  1  16
50 NIELSEN, David......    0-0    0-0    0-0    2  0  2   2   0  0  0  0  0   7
   TEAM................                         3  1  4
   Totals..............   16-42   4-14  18-22   8 15 23  22  54  6 16  1 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  7-21  .333   2nd Half:  9-21  .429   Game:  .381  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-6   .167   2nd Half:  3-8   .375   Game:  .286  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-8   .875   2nd Half: 11-14  .786   Game:  .818     0
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HOME TEAM: Colorado State 16-10, 6-5 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
40 PATIK, Garrett...... f  0-1    0-0    0-2    1  2  3   2   0  2  3  1  0  24
45 GOODWYN, Ceedric.... f  6-12   0-2    3-5    1  5  6   3  15  2  2  1  1  26
03 GRADY, Ron.......... g  6-8    0-0    0-2    0  2  2   4  12  2  2  0  1  27
10 PALMER, Aki......... g  5-6    5-6    1-2    0  3  3   0  16  3  0  0  3  31
32 SIVESIND, John...... g  2-5    2-4    2-2    0  3  3   1   8  0  1  0  0  30
11 BIRLEY, Andy........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  1  16
14 MANSELL, Derrick....    0-0    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   0   2  0  0  0  0   1
23 HARRIS, Shawn.......    1-1    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   2   2  1  2  0  0   9
30 MARTIN, Paul........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
33 GREENE, Brian.......    2-2    0-0    4-4    3  0  3   2   8  0  3  1  2  15
44 FISHER, David.......    2-5    0-0    1-2    0  2  2   1   5  0  0  0  0  14
54 FORD, John..........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   2   0  0  2  0  0   6
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   24-41   7-13  13-21   7 22 29  17  68 10 16  3  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-21  .619   2nd Half: 11-20  .550   Game:  .585  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-6   .500   2nd Half:  4-7   .571   Game:  .538  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-6   .667   2nd Half:  9-15  .600   Game:  .619     3
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Officials: Bobbie Hunt, Ronnie Hernandez, Duane Allen
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Colorado State-None.
Attendance: 4863
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young.................   22   32  -   54
Colorado State................   33   35  -   68