Balanced Offense, Stingy Defense Key in BYU's 68-47 Win Over CSU

PROVO -- Four Cougars scored in double figures and BYU held Colorado State to a season-low shooting night in a 68-47 win in the Marriott Center Saturday. It was the first time in the last four games that any BYU players other than the team's top two scorers, Mekeli Wesley and Terrell Lyday, have reached double-digit scoring.

Eric Nielsen, who was averaging 3.9 points and had not scored in double figures in the previous 14 games, made 4-5 shots, including his first three-pointer of the year, to score 10 points. He scored five points during a 16-5 run in the first half that gave BYU a 24-11 early advantage. Wesley, BYU's leading scorer, contributed 13 points in only 21 minutes while Lyday scored a game-high 15 and Michael Vranes added 11.

Colorado State closed the gap before half with its leading scorer, Ceedric Goodwyn, scoring seven of his team-high 14 points to bring the Rams to within five, 34-29, at the break. Goodwyn reached double figures for the 17 straight game but for the third time this year, all CSU losses, he was the only Ram to reach double digits.

Vranes scored five of his 11 points as the Cougars went on a 12-4 run to open the second half and take a 46-33 lead. Colorado State got within 10 at 48-38 but the Cougars went on another run that included Nielsen's three-pointer, scoring 14 of the next 16 points to put the game out of reach. After Goodwyn scored at the 12:42 mark, Colorado State didn't score another field goal.

BYU shot 50 percent from the floor to CSU's 32.6 percent, a season low. Neither team shot well from three-point range despite coming in as two of the top three teams in the nation in three-point percentage. The Rams entered the game as the leading three-point shooting team but managed only four treys in 21 attempts for a season-low 19 percent while BYU, third in the nation, made 4-16 for 25 percent.

Lyday was the one exception, making 3-5 treys and setting a new BYU record by making a three-pointer in his 17th straight game. The previous record he shared with Andy Toolson, who made a trey in 16 straight games in 1990.

The Cougars rebounded well, out boarding the Rams 40-28. BYU is 10-0 on the year when out rebounding the opposition. The win improves BYU to 9-1 at home this year, equaling the nine wins it had last year in the Marriott Center when it recorded a 9-5 home mark. Overall, BYU is 14-3 and is tied for second with a 3-1 Mountain West Conference record.

Colorado State falls to 11-6 overall and 1-2 in the conference. BYU will begin the first of four straight road games next week at Air Force Thursday and New Mexico Saturday.

Post-Game Coaches Quotes:

Colorado State Head Coach Ritchie McKay:

"My hat is off to BYU. They were much better prepared than we were. We had seven days to prepare and they came in better prepared. Certainly BYU deserves all the credit. We just got out-played."

"I don't see a lot of positives on the stat sheet. We were very much out-played."

"BYU deserves the win. (BYU head coach) Steve Cleveland has done a great job building this program. I think BYU is an excellent representative of the Mountain West Conference."

Brigham Young Head Coach Steve Cleveland:

"Everyone contributed tonight and I thought we did a good job on the boards, as well as defensively. "

"Eric Nielsen had a very good night. Eric is very capable. He can face up and hit that little fifteen-footer. It's hard to gain confidence in Conference games. You don't want to be experimenting. Usually you want to get that done in the preseason. I have never told him not to shoot the basketball. But tonight he was on a roll with 10 points and six rebounds. That is a good night for Eric. There's nobody I'm happier for tonight than for Eric Nielsen. It's tough for him because he has been in Russia for two years, eating bread and potatoes, lost 50 pounds and to live what he has been through."

"Eric is a kid who has no personal agenda. He doesn't care if he scores one point, or what happens. He just wants to help the team."

"I thought our defensive preparation, the one day we had, was really, really well executed. I guess I can't complain about having only one day to prepare."

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Colorado State vs BYU
1/22/00 7:05 at Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Colorado State 11-6, 1-2
                          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  1-3    0-2    0-0    1  3  4   2   2  3  0  0  1  16
45 GOODWYN, Ceedric.... f  6-13   1-3    1-4    0  3  3   0  14  0  2  0  1  29
54 FORD, John.......... c  2-4    0-0    1-3    1  0  1   2   5  0  0  0  2  10
10 PALMER, Aki......... g  1-4    1-4    0-1    0  2  2   2   3  0  3  0  1  21
32 SIVESIND, John...... g  2-6    1-5    0-2    0  3  3   2   5  1  3  0  2  31
03 GRADY, Ron..........    0-2    0-1    2-2    0  3  3   3   2  0  2  0  0  18
11 BIRLEY, Andy........    2-8    1-5    2-3    0  0  0   1   7  1  1  0  0  23
14 MANSELL, Derrick....    0-2    0-0    2-2    1  1  2   2   2  2  1  0  0  18
30 MARTIN, Paul........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
33 GREENE, Brian.......    0-1    0-0    3-4    2  2  4   3   3  0  1  2  0  18
44 FISHER, David.......    1-3    0-1    2-3    2  1  3   2   4  0  3  0  0  13
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   15-46   4-21  13-24   7 21 28  19  47  7 16  2  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-23  .391   2nd Half:  6-23  .261   Game:  .326  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-8   .375   2nd Half:  1-13  .077   Game:  .190  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  8-13  .615   2nd Half:  5-11  .455   Game:  .542     3
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HOME TEAM: BYU 14-3, 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
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... f  5-7    0-1    3-4    0  5  5   4  13  0  5  0  2  21
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f  4-5    1-1    1-2    3  3  6   3  10  2  0  1  3  33
04 CHRISTENSEN, Todd... g  0-3    0-3    0-0    0  2  2   3   0  3  3  0  1  21
13 VRANES, Michael..... g  4-9    0-3    3-3    0  7  7   4  11  1  3  0  0  30
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g  5-11   3-5    2-3    0  2  2   1  15  0  0  0  2  29
02 RIVERS, Silester....    4-8    0-0    1-2    1  1  2   3   9  1  2  1  2  16
05 ROBERTS, Marc.......    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   2  1  1  0  0   3
10 ALLEN, John.........    0-2    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  1  0  0   2
20 TAGGART, Nick.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
31 MONTAGUE, Matt......    1-2    0-1    0-0    0  5  5   0   2  5  1  0  1  23
34 ELLSWORTH, Joe......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  1   2
42 COOPER, Nathan......    1-2    0-1    2-2    1  4  5   0   4  2  1  0  0  16
50 NIELSEN, David......    0-0    0-0    2-2    1  0  1   0   2  0  0  0  0   3
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   25-50   4-16  14-18   8 32 40  20  68 15 17  2 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-24  .542   2nd Half: 12-26  .462   Game:  .500  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-5   .400   2nd Half:  2-11  .182   Game:  .250  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-8   .750   2nd Half:  8-10  .800   Game:  .778     0
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Officials: Larry Stubing, Shawn Lehigh, Verne Harris
Technical fouls: Colorado State-None. BYU-None.
Attendance: 13182
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Colorado State................   29   18  -   47
BYU...........................   34   34  -   68