Cougars Cruise to 72-50 Win at San Diego State

SAN -- Breaking a two-game losing skid, BYU cruised to a 72-50 road win over San Diego State Thursday in Cox Arena.

The Cougars and Aztecs battled back and forth over the game's first 12 minutes before the Cougars went on a 17-5 run to turn a 21-20 Aztec lead into an 11-point BYU advantage at 37-26 entering the break. After shooting 52 percent in the first half, the Cougars just got better during the final 20 minutes, making 56 percent of their second-half attempts and increasing their lead to as many as 29 points.

Four Cougars scored in double figures for BYU, led by Mekeli Wesley with a game-high 15 points and nine rebounds. Terrell Lyday and Michael Vranes added 12 points and Todd Christensen scored 11. After only hitting four three-pointers in the last two games, both road losses, the Cougars made 7-13 treys against the Aztecs with Christensen connecting on 3-4 attempts. Lyday went 1-3 to extend his BYU record for consecutive games with a three-pointer to 20.

"We were prepared defensively and able to do a good job on (Myron) Epps," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "And we shot the ball pretty well tonight."

Epps, who was averaging a league-best 22 points in Mountain West Conference games, was held to three points in 32 minutes of action. Marcelo Correa led the Aztecs with 13 points and six rebounds. The Aztecs shot 34 percent from the floor and made only 2-15 three-point attempts. The Cougar shot 54 percent from the field and from the three-point line.

BYU also got solid efforts from Eric Nielsen, who scored nine points and had a team-best three assists, and Nathan Cooper, who added six points. David Nielsen came off the bench to score four points in the late going.

With the win, BYU improves to 15-5 overall and 4-3 in the MWC. The Aztecs fall to 5-14 and 0-6.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Brigham Young vs San Diego State
2-3-00 8:00 pm at Cox Arena
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Brigham Young 15-5 (4-3)
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
13 Vranes, Michael..... f  5-10   2-3    0-1    3  3  6   2  12  2  3  0  0  27
25 Nielsen, Eric....... f  2-4    0-0    5-6    1  3  4   5   9  3  1  1  2  25
15 Wesley, Mekeli...... c  6-11   1-2    2-2    3  6  9   3  15  1  2  1  2  25
24 Lyday, Terrell...... g  4-10   1-3    3-4    0  5  5   2  12  1  2  0  3  32
31 Montague, Matt...... g  0-2    0-1    0-0    1  1  2   0   0  2  1  0  2  20
02 Rivers, Silester....    1-1    0-0    1-3    1  1  2   5   3  0  2  1  0  13
04 Christensen, Todd...    4-6    3-4    0-0    0  1  1   0  11  1  0  0  0  23
05 Roberts, Marc.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  1  0  0   4
10 Allen, John.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  1  0  0   7
20 Taggart, Nick.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  1  0  0   4
42 Cooper, Nathan......    3-4    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   1   6  1  2  0  1  15
50 Nielsen, David......    2-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   4  0  2  0  1   5
   TEAM................                            1  1
   Totals..............   27-50   7-13  11-16  10 24 34  21  72 12 18  3 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-25  .520   2nd Half: 14-25  .560   Game:  .540  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-6   .667   2nd Half:  3-7   .429   Game:  .538  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-10  .700   2nd Half:  4-6   .667   Game:  .688     3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: San Diego State 5-14 (0-6)
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
32 Marion, Michael..... f  4-11   0-2    1-2    2  0  2   2   9  1  2  1  3  22
33 Epps, Myron......... f  1-4    0-1    1-2    1  3  4   3   3  0  4  0  0  32
42 Correa, Marcelo..... c  5-11   0-1    3-5    3  3  6   3  13  1  3  1  2  32
04 Wilson, Donte....... g  1-2    1-1    2-2    0  2  2   3   5  3  0  0  0  23
05 Jackson, Bradley.... g  2-4    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   4  1  2  0  1  25
11 Abramowitz, David...    0-8    0-5    2-2    0  0  0   0   2  3  1  0  2  18
21 Berokoff, Jeffrey...    2-5    1-4    0-0    1  1  2   2   5  0  2  0  0  17
25 Small, Walter.......    0-2    0-1    1-2    2  0  2   0   1  0  0  0  0   5
34 Okotie, Vincent.....    2-5    0-0    1-2    0  2  2   1   5  1  2  0  2  16
52 Mann, Joe...........    1-1    0-0    1-2    1  1  2   1   3  0  1  0  0  10
   TEAM................                         3  1  4
   Totals..............   18-53   2-15  12-19  13 15 28  16  50 10 17  2 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-26  .385   2nd Half:  8-27  .296   Game:  .340  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-8   .250   2nd Half:  0-7   .000   Game:  .133  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-7   .571   2nd Half:  8-12  .667   Game:  .632     5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: David Hall, Scott Thornley, Bobby Hunt
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. San Diego State-None.
Attendance: 3658
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young.................   37   35  -   72
San Diego State...............   26   24  -   50