BYU Hosts Wyoming Thursday in the Marriott Center

PROVO -- BYU, 12-3 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain West Conference, will host Wyoming, 11-6 and 1-1, Thursday at 7:35 p.m. in the Marriott Center. KSL Newsradio 1160 AM will broadcast the game with Greg Wrubell and former Cougar Mark Durrant calling the action. The game is the second half of a double header with the BYU women's basketball team, who plays Colorado State at 5 p.m. Fans attending both games can purchase double-header tickets for $5 (adults) and $4 (students). A double-header meal-deal coupon can also be picked up during the first half of the women's game.

Up Next

After Thursday's game with Wyoming Thursday, the Cougars will prepare to face Colorado State Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised by SportsWest Productions on KSL-TV, channel 5 in Salt Lake City.

Last Time Out

BYU saw its five-game win streak come to an end Saturday with a 56-49 loss to No. 24-ranked Utah in front of 22,580 in the Marriott Center. With Utah holding a 51-49 edge with 6:54 left in the game, both the Cougars and Utes went the next six minutes without scoring before Hanno Mottola's jumper with 54 seconds left gave Utah a four-point margin. A Utah steal on BYU's next possession sealed the Cougars' fate. The Utes' size proved an advantage as the 6-9 Mottola led Utah with 18 points and 6-11 center Nate Althoff added 11. Senior forward Alex Jensen scored nine while making both of his three-point attempts to give the Utes a lift at critical times. Mekeli Wesley scored 21 points, followed by Terrell Lyday with 12, to lead BYU. Wesley also had a game-high seven rebounds. The Cougars shot 40 percent for the game compared to Utah's 43 percent.

Quick Facts

BYU (12-3) vs. Wyoming (11-6)

Thursday, Jan. 20 • Marriott Center (22,700) •Provo, Utah• 7:35 p.m. Mountain

Broadcast Plans

(No TV)

Radio:

Network: Cougar Sports Network

Station: KSL Newsradio 1160 AM

Air Time: 7 p.m. Mountain

Play-by-play: Greg Wrubell

Commentary: Mark Durrant

BYU's Probable Starters

F 25 Eric Nielsen 6-8 210 So. 4.1/3.8

F 15 Mekeli Wesley 6-9 230 Jr. 18.4/ 6.2

G 24 Terrell Lyday 6-3 190 Jr. 17.3/4.1

G 4 Todd Christensen 6-1 185 Jr. 6.3/0.7

G 13 Michael Vranes 6-3 190 So. 8.3/4.4

Wyoming's Probable Starters F 00 LeDarion Jones 6-7 232 Sr. 10.9/3.9

F 44 Marcus Bailey 6-5 185 Fr. 6.8/2.8

C 22 Josh Davis 6-8 230 So. 13.7 8.7/1.3

G 5 Anthony Blakes 6-2 188 Sr. 13.6/5.8

G 10 Chris McMillian 5-10 175 So. 9.9/3.0

BYU Coach: Steve Cleveland

Record at BYU: 33-40 (3rd year)

Overall Div. I record: Same

Wyoming Coach: Steve McClain

Record at Wyoming: 29-16 (2nd year)

Overall Div. I record: same

Series Record: 83-64 BYU

Game Time: 7:35 p.m. Mountain

Scouting Wyoming

Wyoming is 11-6 overall and 1-1 in Mountain West Conference play. The Cowboys are 3-3 on the road with wins at Hawaii Pacific (110-65), Denver (78-60) and Idaho State (89-83) and losses to Indiana (99-80), Oregon State (83-77) and Wichita State (80-71). On Jan. 10 at Wichita State Chris McMillian (So., G) scored a team-high 18 points and recorded two steals in the loss. The Cowboys began conference play with an 88-83 home win vs. New Mexico. It was their third straight home victory over the Lobos. Josh Davis (So., F/C) notched his league-leading seventh double-double of the year with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Anthony Blakes (Sr., G) tallied his third 20-plus scoring game of the season with 20 points and nine rebounds. Wyoming dropped its first home contest of the season and the third consecutive game to border rival Colorado State (77-71) on Saturday. Blakes notched his first double-double of the year (7th career) with 16 points and 10 rebounds. After playing at BYU Thursday, the Cowboys play Utah Saturday. Wyoming has three players averaging double figures, led by center Davis at 13.7, Blakes at 13.6 and LaDarion Jones at 10.9. McMillian adds 9.9 points for the Cowboys. The Cowboys are ranked ninth nationally in scoring offense at 84.6 ppg (2nd in MWC behind UNLV). Wyoming put up an MWC-high for points in a half with 64 vs. Hawai`i Pacific on Nov. 26, during a 110-65 victory. The Cowboys are the only team in the league to have eclipsed 60 points in a half this season. In addition to leading the team in scoring, Davis averages a team-best 8.7 rebounds per game. Wyoming lost one of its key inside players earlier this year when Ugo Udezue (6-8 F/C) went down with an injury after five games. He will be out for the entire season.

Series Notes

This will be the 148th meeting between the two schools. BYU leads the series 83-64. The Cougars and Cowboys did not play last year, being in different WAC divisions. BYU has won six of the last 10 games (4-1 at home) dating back to the 1993-94 season, but Wyoming has won three of the last four meetings. BYU coach Steve Cleveland is 1-1 against Wyoming, with a 60-41 win in Provo and a 77-54 loss at Wyoming in his first season. After Utah (226 games) and Utah State (216 games), BYU has faced Wyoming the third-most times in school history (147 games dating back to 1919).

Recent Meetings

Wyoming won the last meeting, a 77-54 Wyoming win in Laramie, but BYU won the previous outing that year and the last game played in Provo, 60-41. In the win, BYU was led by Ron Selleaze with 16 points while Justin Weidauer had eight rebounds and Brian Dignan seven assists. Mekeli Wesley, the only current Cougar to play in the game, had nine points and three rebounds as a freshman. The Cougars held the Cowboys to a BYU-opponent season low of 16 second-half points and 41 total points in Cleveland's sixth win at BYU. The Cougars also held the Cowboys to opponent season lows of 15 field goals, five assists and 13 percent shooting from behind the three-point line. BYU shot 46 percent from the floor to Wyoming's 32 percent. A crowd of 7,986 attended the game. In Laramie, Selleaze had team-highs of 22 points and seven rebounds in the loss while Dignan added a team-best five assists. Wesley added 12 points and four boards and BYU shot 34 percent from the floor to Wyoming's 51 percent.

Cougars Looking for No. 13

With BYU's next win, the Cougars will surpass last year's win total (12-16). Last year's 12th win came in BYU's 27th game, a 90-74 upset of TCU at the Thomas & Mack Center in the WAC Tournament. This year's 12th win was also earned at the Thomas & Mack Center against UNLV but it came in BYU's 14th game. The last time BYU achieved its 13th win in a season was on Feb. 10, 1996 (an 81-71 win at Wyoming) in the Cougars' 22nd game of the 1995-96 season.

Lyday Nears No. 16

Having made a three-pointer in each of BYU's 15 games this season, Terrell Lyday is only one game away from equaling the BYU record of 16 straight games with a three-point shot set by Andy Toolson in 1990. Lyday has made 45 percent of his three-point attempts, making a team-best 36 treys.

Streaks

BYU had its five-game win streak halted Saturday with its 56-49 loss to Utah. The loss also ended BYU's eight-game home win streak, including one win from last year. All eight wins were by double-digit margins. The Cougars have two five-game win streaks this year and have won 10 of their last 12. BYU has won its last four straight road games. The last time BYU won four straight road games was in 1992-93, when the Cougars has a six-game road streak. BYU's three straight non-conference road wins was a first since the 1991-92 season.

BYU's RPI Ranking Best in MWC

According to CollegeRPI.com rankings computed by Jerry Palm (released Jan. 18) and the Collegiate Basketball News (released Jan. 17), BYU is the highest rated team in the Mountain West Conference in both the Collegerpi.com (36th) and Collegiate Basketball News (39th) rankings. According to CBN, New Mexico has the toughest schedule among Mtn. West team at No. 36. CSU is second at 71th, followed by BYU (73), Utah (117), Air Force (133), SDSU (137), UNLV (156) and Wyoming (162). The Mountain West Conference is rated ninth among the 31 conferences (and five independents) in the country.

School -- CBN/Collegerpi.com

BYU -- 39/36

Utah -- 40/39

Colorado St -- 53/57

UNLV -- 73/69

New Mexico -- 82/87

Wyoming -- 111/110

San Diego St -- 211/210

Air Force -- 258/267

Playing at Home

BYU is 7-1 at home this year, coming off its 56-49 loss Saturday against Utah. The Cougars are averaging 75.6 points per game in the Marriott Center and a 16.6-point margin of victory. BYU is making 50.4 percent of its shots, including 40.2 percent of its three-point attempts, in the Marriott Center this year. The Cougars are pulling down 36.6 rebounds per game to their opponents 33.0. Wesley is scoring a team-best 18.2 points, followed by Terrell Lyday at 14.4, Michael Vranes and Nathan Cooper at 9.2 and Silester Rivers at 8.9.

Numbers on the Road

BYU is 5-2 on the road this year, having more than doubled the number of wins it achieved in the opponent's home arena last year (2-10 in road games last year). The Cougars have won their last four road games and are scoring 72.1 in away games for a 3.7 scoring margin. On the road, BYU is shooting .436, including .442 on threes, and .704 from the free throw line. BYU is being out rebounded 37.6-35.3. Terrell Lyday leads the Cougar scoring effort on the road with a 20.6 average after scoring a career-high 35 at Utah State and 30 at UNLV Monday. Mekeli Wesley averaged 18.6 points and a team-best 5.9 rebounds.

Defense

The Cougars are rank first in the Mountain West Conference in both field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense. They have held their opponents to a collective 37.6 shooting percentage and a 28.9 percentage on three-pointers. The Cougars have held the opposition to below 40 percent shooting in 10 of 15 games this year. In BYU's three losses, Arizona shot .544, South Alabama .490 and Utah .429. BYU is 11-0 when it out shoots its opponent. BYU is holding opponents to 63.1 points per game. While collectively good, individually BYU has had outstanding defensive efforts, including Terrell Lyday helping hold Eddie House of Arizona State (No. 3 scorer in the nation) to a 0-16 night -- the only time House has gone without a field goal in his career.

On the Boards

BYU is pulling down 36.0 rebounds per game while its opponents are grabbing 35.1. The Cougars are 9-0 when they have out rebounded their opponents and 3-3 in games were the opposition totalled more boards. Mekeli Wesley leads BYU with 6.2 rebounds per game, including a team-best 71 defensive boards. Silester Rivers has a team-high 26 offensive rebounds.

Offense

BYU has shot better than 50 percent from the floor in seven games. The Cougars have shot below 40 percent twice -- 36.5 percent in a loss at nationally ranked Arizona and a season-low 29.6 in a win at UC Santa Barbara. The Cougars are shooting 47.0 percent from the floor, including 42.3 percent on threes, and 70.4 percent from the line. Three regular players are shooting better than 50 percent. Silester Rivers is making a team-best 56.5 percent from the floor, Todd Christensen 51.6 and Mekeli Wesley 51.3. Nathan Cooper has made a team-best 81.6 percent from the line. The Cougars score 74 points per game.

Three-Point Range

BYU is tied for second in the nation in three-point percentage in the latest rankings released Jan. 17 (Colorado State is ranked No. 1). The Cougars are shooting 42.3 percent from three point range this year. Four players are shooting 40 percent or better individually, led by Todd Christensen (22-46) who is making 48 percent of his attempts. Terrell Lyday (36-80) has made 45 percent, Mekeli Wesley (12-27) 44 percent and Michael Vranes (18-43) 42 percent. Six players have made a three-pointer, led by Lyday's team-high 36. Nathan Cooper has made six and Matt Montague two. Eric Nielsen (0-2), Silester Rivers (0-1) and the departed Morgan Smith (0-1) are the only other Cougars to attempt a shot from behind the arc. BYU's opponents are shooting 29 percent from three-point range. BYU is making 6.4 threes per game compared to 5.1 by its opponents.

BYU's record when . . .

BYU leads at half 10-0

Opponent leads at half 1-3

Score tied at half 1-0

BYU leads with 5 minutes left 11-1

Opponent leads with 5 min. left 0-2

BYU leads with 1 minute left 11-0

Opponent leads with 1 min. left 1-3

Score tied with 1 minute left 0-0

Game goes into overtime 1-0

BYU out rebounds opponent 9-0

Opponent out rebounds BYU 3-3

BYU and opponent tie in rebounds 0-0

BYU shoots 50 % or better 7-0

Opponent shoots 50 % or better 0-1

BYU out shoots opponent 11-0

Opponent out shoots BYU 1-3

BYU in Mountain West Conference Stats

Team (as of 1-16-00)

Scoring Offense, 3rd (74.0)

Scoring Defense, 3rd (63.4)

Scoring Margin, 2nd (10.6)

Free Throw Percentage, 2nd (70.4)

Field Goal Percentage, 3rd (.470)

Field Goal % Defense, 1st (.376)

3 pt. Percentage, 3rd (.423)

3 pt. % Defense, 1st (.289)

Rebounding Offense, 4th (35.9)

Rebounding Defense, 4th (35.1)

Rebounding Margin, 5th (+ 0.8)

Offensive Rebounds, 7th (9.2)

Defensive Rebounds, 2nd (26.7)

Blocks, 8th (1.9)

Assists, 4th (15.5)

Steals, 4th (8.1)

TO Margin, 4th (1.0)

Asst./TO Ratio, 4th (1.1)

Individual (as of 1-16-00)

Scoring:

Wesley, 2nd, (18.4)

Lyday, 6th (17.3)

Rebounding:

Wesley, 7th (6.2)

Rivers, 14th (4.9)

Field Goal Percentage (min 3 per game):

Wesley, 12th (.513)

Free Throw Percentage:

Cooper, 4th (.816)

Lyday, 8th (.760)

Lyday, 9th (.758)

3 pt. Percentage:

Christensen, 4th (.478)

Lyday, 7th (.450)

Vranes, 10th (.419)

3 pt. FG Made:

Lyday, 4th (2.40)

Christensen, 14th (1.47)

Assists:

Montague, 4th (4.20)

Vranes, 14th (3.07)

Steals:

Lyday, 3rd (2.20)

Wesley, 13th (1.40)

Asst./TO Ratio:

Montague, 5th (1.70)

Vranes, 5th (1.70)

BYU in National Stats (as of 1-17-00)

3 pt. Percentage, T2nd (.423)

Field Goal % Defense, T15th (.376)

Starting Lineups

UCR Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley

SUU Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley

Ariz. Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley

Den. Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley

ASU Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley

TSU Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley

WSU Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley

SCSU Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley

USA Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley

FIU Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Rivers, Wesley

UCSB Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Rivers, Wesley

UCI Montague, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley

USU Christensen, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley

UNLV Christensen, Lyday, Vranes, Nielsen, Wesley

Utah Christensen, Lyday, Vranes, Rivers, Wesley

Mekeli Wesley

Wesley is BYU's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 18.4 ppg and 6.2 rpg. He has been BYU's top scorer in eight games this season and has scored in double figures in 13 of BYU's 15 games. He had game highs of 21 points and seven rebounds against Utah while making 8-16 shots, including two three-pointers. He scored 17 points and had four rebounds at UNLV Monday. He scored 11 points and had a team highs with eight rebounds and three assists at Utah State. He scored 18 points and pulled down six boards against UC Irvine. He had six rebounds and scored a game-high 24 points, 16 in the second half, at UCSB -- the seventh time he has scored 20 or more points. He had eight points and seven rebounds at Florida International. He had a game-high 20 points at South Alabama. He averaged 21 points and nine rebounds to earn MWC Player of the Week honors (Dec. 7-11) and was named the Cougar Classic MVP for the second time in his career (also as freshman). After averaging three rebounds per game in first three contests, he averaged 7.4 over the next eight. He recorded his first double-double of the year (fourth of career) with 24 points and 10 rebounds in win over Texas Southern. He scored a season-high 26 points in back-to-back games this year versus Denver and Arizona State (he scored 31 points twice as a freshman).

Michael Vranes

Vranes is pulling down 4.4 rebounds per game and is third on the team in scoring at 8.3 ppg. He is second on the team with 3.1 assists per game from his shooting guard spot (averaged 2.9 last year as point guard), although he has seen some limited play at point in the last two games. He has made a trey in nine games and has scored in double figures in five games. He is 18-43 (.419) on treys. He was 2-7 for four points and had four rebounds and three assists vs. Utah. He had nine points and four boards at UNLV and had nine points, five rebound and two assists last Saturday at Utah State. He had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists against UC Irvine. Vranes matched a career high with a team-best nine rebounds at UCSB. He also had team-high three assists despite three points on 1-9 shooting. He scored eight of his 12 points in overtime at FIU. He totalled 10 points, six rebounds and a season-high seven assists vs. South Carolina State. He had a season-high 15 points along with five rebounds vs. Weber State.

Terrell Lyday

Lyday averages 17.3 points, second on the team, and team-high 32.9 minutes. He has scored in double figures in 13 of BYU's 15 games and has made a three-pointer in all 15 games this season on his way to a team-high 36 three pointers (36-80, .450). Last year he made more than 100 treys for Fresno City College. He has excelled defensively also, guarding the other team's best perimeter player. He helped hold Arizona State's high scoring Eddie House to a five-point night on 0-16 shooting, the only time House has not scored a field goal in his career. House has the top two scoring games in the nation this year (61 and 46). Lyday in averaging 21 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 2.5 assists in his first two MWC games. Saturday Lyday had 12 points, six rebounds, three steals and three assists vs. Utah. Lyday made 5-10 threes, scored 30 points and had a career-high 11 rebounds and tied a career-best with six steals at UNLV Monday. It was his first double-double of the year. He was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week (Jan. 3-8) after averaged 28.5 points and shooting better than 60 percent from the floor and on threes in two BYU wins. He carried BYU to a win at Utah State with a career-high 35 points, including six three pointers, and scored a game-high 22 points to lead a BYU comeback win over UC Irvine. He had career-best six steals at UCSB, despite an off night scoring (2-11 for eight points and held scoreless in the first half for the first time this year). He scored 26 points at FIU and had 15 points against South Alabama, where he was a perfect 4-4 on three-point attempts. He joined Wesley on the Cougar Classic All-Tournament team Dec. 10-11 and is showing why he was recruited by Coach Steve Cleveland out of Fresno City College to help replace production lost by the LDS Church mission departure of freshman sensation Mark Bigelow (15 ppg last year). He scored 18 points against Arizona and had 17 vs. ASU.

Eric Nielsen

A returned LDS missionary to Russia, Nielsen is averaging 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds. He came off the bench against Utah but has started in all but three games. He averaged 5.4 points (52.8 percent) and 4.0 rebounds in 24.6 minutes as a starter in the first nine games. After scoring 10 and 12 points in first two games, he has not reached double digits in the past 13 outings. He fouled out, playing 14 minutes, scoring two points on one attempt and had one rebound vs. Utah. In foul trouble, he played only 10 minutes at UNLV (2 pts, 4 rebounds). At Utah State he was held scoreless for the first time this year, going 0-3 with four rebounds. He had four points, three rebounds and a season-high three assists against UC Irvine. At UCSB, he equaled a career-best seven rebounds. He was married to BYU All-American volleyball player Anna-Lena Smith Dec. 30 in Mesa, Ariz. He had eight points at South Alabama and at Denver. He scored a season-high 12 points versus Southern Utah and had 10 in the season-opener against UC Riverside.

Todd Christensen

Regarded as the best shooter on the team, Christensen has made 32-62 attempts (.516), including 22-46 (team-best .478) from behind the arc. He averages 6.3 ppg in 17.3 minutes. He is sharing point guard duties after playing shooting guard most of last year. He has started the last three games. He did not score, taking only one shot, vs. Utah. At UNLV, he had eight points, including a clutch three-pointer to put the Cougars up four late in the game. Christensen started at Utah State and scored seven early points to help BYU shot 57 percent in the first half. Christensen scored 13 points, including a four-point play at UCSB. Against UCSB and Florida International he was 9-16 (.562) from the floor, 6-11 (.545) on treys, and 3-3 from the line while averaging 13.5 ppg. He scored all of his 14 points in the first half at FIU (4-5 treys in 11 minutes). He had season-best three assists at South Alabama in 12 minutes. He had a season-high 16 points, including 5-8 threes, vs. South Carolina State. He scored 10 at Denver.

Silester Rivers

Rivers averages 7.8 points (4th on team) and 4.9 rebounds (2nd on team) per game. He has a team-high 26 offensive boards and is shooting a team-best 56.5 percent (FG). He has scored in double figures six times this year and has led the team in rebounds three times (6 vs. UC Riverside, 9 at Denver, 11 at FIU). He started his third game of the year vs. Utah and had five points, four rebounds while guarding the much larger Ute post players. Rivers had three points (3-4 FTs) and five rebounds at UNLV. He had a strong outing Saturday at Utah State, scoring 15 points with some nice post play and pulling down seven rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench. Rivers came off the bench against UC Irvine after starting the two previous games. Despite being weakened by the flu, he contributed five points and six rebounds in 11 minutes. He started his second straight game against UCSB but was 0-2 with four rebounds in 17 minutes. He played a season-high 31 minutes in his first start at Florida International and had double-double 10 points and season-high 11 rebounds. He scored eight points in 12 minutes at South Alabama. He scored game- and season-high 17 points against South Carolina State. Coming off the bench in the first nine games he averaged 8.8 ppg and is 4.3 rebounds, including 10 points versus Arizona State and 14 points in back-to-back games to open the year against UC Riverside and Southern Utah.

Nathan Cooper

He is coming off the bench this year after starting 23 of BYU's 28 games last year. He is averaging 6.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 20.9 minutes. He has made a team-best 31 of 38 free throws (.816). He has made a trey in five games and is only 6-21 from long range. He had five points and three rebounds vs. Utah. He was forced to play the 4 position at UNLV with foul trouble to Eric Nielsen and Silester Rivers. He played 22 minutes and had two points and one rebound. He played 15 minutes at Utah State, scoring one point and adding two boards and two assists. He and Michael Vranes received the coaches game ball for their effort against UC Irvine. Cooper had 14 points and four rebounds in a season-high 31 minutes. He scored BYU's first basket at UCSB five minutes into the contest and sparked an 8-0 run with a steal, forcing a turnover and handing out an assist. He finished with three points and three boards. He had five points, six rebound effort at FIU. He set a career high with seven assists at South Alabama. He scored a season- and team-high 15 points against Weber State, the third time he has reached double figures.

Matt Montague

The only true point guard on the BYU roster, he has team-leading 63 assists (4.2 apg). He is averaging 2.5 points and 2.9 rebounds. He has been plagued by a achilles injury all year. After starting the first 12 games, he has come off the bench in the last three games. He played a season-low seven minutes vs. Utah (1 assist, 3 TO, 1 rebound). He scored a season-best six points and had seven assists at UNLV. At Utah State he played 25 minutes off the bench and had four points and two assists. He was limited to only 10 minutes because of his achilles against UC Irvine and did not record an assist for the first time this year. Montague did not take a shot but made three clutch free throws down the stretch at UCSB. He had two points, four rebounds and eight assists in team- and personal career-high 41 minutes at FIU. He shared team-high five rebounds with Wesley at South Alabama while handing out four assists. He matched his season high with five points vs. South Carolina State and made his second three-pointer of the year (2-6 on the season). After receiving stitches to repair a cut above his eye against ASU, Montague returned and led BYU on a 14-1 run. He dished out a season-high nine assists vs. Weber State and helped hold Wildcat guard Eddie Gill to 2-14 shooting.

Comparing Statistics
                          BYU     Wyo.
SCORING
Points per game         .74.0    84.6
Scoring margin         + 10.9   + 7.3
SHOOTING PERCENTAGES
Field goals              .470    .447
3-pointers               .423    .373
Free throws              .704    .695
REBOUNDING
Rebounds per game       .36.0   .41.0
Rebounding margin       + 0.9   + 2.9
ASSISTS
Assists per game         15.5    17.1
TURNOVERS
Turnovers per game       14.7    15.4
Turnover margin         + 1.0   + 1.3
BLOCKS
Blocks per game           1.9     3.2
STEALS
Steals per game           8.1     7.9
 Brigham Young Combined Team Statistics (as of Jan 18, 2000)
                                           All games
 RECORD:                OVERALL      HOME        AWAY       NEUTRAL
 ALL GAMES...........   (12-3)      (7-1)       (5-2)       (0-0)
 CONFERENCE..........   (1-1)       (0-1)       (1-0)       (0-0)
 NON-CONFERENCE......   (11-2)      (7-0)       (4-2)       (0-0)
  DATE            OPPONENT                       W/L    SCORE  ATTEND
  ------------    --------------------           ---    -----  ------
  11/20/99        CALIFORNIA-RIVERSIDE           W      91-62    7546
  11/24/99        SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY       W      92-64    4518
  12-1-99      at Arizona Wildcats                 L    62-86   14345
  12/4/99      at Denver Pioneers                W      81-58    1507
  12/7/99         ARIZONA STATE                  W      78-67    5867
  12/10/99        TEXAS SOUTHERN                 W      76-61    6541
  12/11/99        WEBER STATE                    W      66-53    9862
  12/18/99        SOUTH CAROLINA STATE           W      76-43    7584
  12-21-99     at South Alabama                    L    63-64    1785
  12/23/99     at Florida International          W  OT  83-75     953
  12-29-99     at UC Santa Barbara Gauchos       W      57-48    2891
  1/5/00          CALIFORNIA, IRVINE             W      77-66    9574
  01-08-00     at Utah State University          W      82-73   10270
 *01/10/00     at UNLV Runnin' Rebels            W      77-75   12597
 *1/15/00         UNIVERSITY OF UTAH               L    49-56   22580
 * denotes conference game
## SUMMARY              GP-GS   Min   FG%  3PT%   FT%  R/G  A/G STL BLK PTS/G
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15-15  31.1  .513  .444  .758  6.2  1.7  21   7  18.4
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... 15-15  32.9  .477  .450  .760  4.1  1.7  33   6  17.3
13 VRANES, Michael..... 15-15  26.4  .402  .419  .486  4.4  3.1  19   1   8.3
02 RIVERS, Silester.... 15-3   18.3  .565  .000  .609  4.9  0.6   9   6   7.8
42 COOPER, Nathan...... 15-0   20.9  .416  .286  .816  3.3  2.1   9   1   6.7
04 CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15-3   17.3  .516  .478  .692  0.7  1.0   8   1   6.3
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... 15-12  21.6  .480  .000  .636  3.8  0.7   8   5   4.1
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15-12  25.4  .310  .333  .750  2.9  4.2  12   0   2.5
40 HOWARD, Dan.........  4-0    4.8 1.000  .000  .000  2.0  0.0   0   0   1.5
50 NIELSEN, David......  6-0    3.3  .200  .000  .857  0.5  0.2   1   0   1.3
05 ROBERTS, Marc.......  7-0    4.6  .400  .000  .833  0.6  0.3   0   1   1.3
33 SMITH, Morgan.......  5-0    2.6  .125  .000 1.000  0.6  0.2   0   0   1.2
10 ALLEN, John.........  6-0    3.7  .667  .000  .667  1.0  0.2   1   0   1.0
34 ELLSWORTH, Joe......  3-0    2.0  .333  .000  .000  1.0  0.0   0   1   0.7
20 TAGGART, Nick.......  3-0    1.7  .000  .000  .000  0.0  0.0   0   0   0.0
   Total............... 15           .470  .423  .704 36.0 15.5 121  29  74.0
   Opponents........... 15           .377  .289  .701 35.1 12.6 104  35  63.4
SCORING              GP   FG-FGA   FG%  3FG-FGA  3PT%   FT-FTA   FT%   PTS PTS/G
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   96-187  .513   12-27   .444   72-95   .758   276 18.4
LYDAY, Terrell...... 15   83-174  .477   36-80   .450   57-75   .760   259 17.3
VRANES, Michael..... 15   45-112  .402   18-43   .419   17-35   .486   125  8.3
RIVERS, Silester.... 15   39-69   .565    0-1    .000   39-64   .609   117  7.8
COOPER, Nathan...... 15   32-77   .416    6-21   .286   31-38   .816   101  6.7
CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15   32-62   .516   22-46   .478    9-13   .692    95  6.3
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15   24-50   .480    0-2    .000   14-22   .636    62  4.1
MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15    9-29   .310    2-6    .333   18-24   .750    38  2.5
HOWARD, Dan.........  4    3-3   1.000    0-0    .000    0-2    .000     6  1.5
NIELSEN, David......  6    1-5    .200    0-0    .000    6-7    .857     8  1.3
ROBERTS, Marc.......  7    2-5    .400    0-0    .000    5-6    .833     9  1.3
SMITH, Morgan.......  5    1-8    .125    0-1    .000    4-4   1.000     6  1.2
ALLEN, John.........  6    2-3    .667    0-0    .000    2-3    .667     6  1.0
ELLSWORTH, Joe......  3    1-3    .333    0-0    .000    0-1    .000     2  0.7
TAGGART, Nick.......  3    0-0    .000    0-0    .000    0-0    .000     0  0.0
Total............... 15  370-787  .470   96-227  .423  274-389  .704  1110 74.0
Opponents........... 15  329-872  .377   77-266  .289  216-308  .701   951 63.4
                                  REBOUNDS
TOTALS               GP   MIN  OFF  DEF  TOT   PF  FO    A   TO  A/TO  HI
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   467   22   71   93   47   0   25   27   0.9  26
LYDAY, Terrell...... 15   493    4   58   62   25   0   26   41   0.6  35
VRANES, Michael..... 15   396   19   47   66   28   1   46   27   1.7  15
RIVERS, Silester.... 15   274   26   48   74   45   0    9   27   0.3  17
COOPER, Nathan...... 15   314   15   34   49   37   1   32   15   2.1  15
CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15   259    0   10   10   29   0   15   14   1.1  16
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15   324   20   37   57   43   2   11   18   0.6  12
MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15   381    4   40   44   20   0   63   37   1.7   6
HOWARD, Dan.........  4    19    3    5    8    4   0    0    2   0.0   6
NIELSEN, David......  6    20    1    2    3    4   0    1    3   0.3   6
ROBERTS, Marc.......  7    32    1    3    4    2   0    2    5   0.4   4
SMITH, Morgan.......  5    13    1    2    3    0   0    1    2   0.5   2
ALLEN, John.........  6    22    0    6    6    2   0    1    1   1.0   2
ELLSWORTH, Joe......  3     6    0    3    3    0   0    0    0   0.0   2
TAGGART, Nick.......  3     5    0    0    0    0   0    0    0   0.0   0
Total............... 15  3025  138  402  540  286   4  232  221   1.0  92
Opponents........... 15  3027  196  331  527  310   -  189  236   0.8  86
 TEAM STATISTICS                    BYU          OPP
 ---------------------------------------------------
 SCORING..................         1110          951
   Points per game........         74.0         63.4
   Scoring margin.........        +10.6            -
 FIELD GOALS-ATT..........      370-787      329-872
   Field goal pct.........         .470         .377
 3 POINT FG-ATT...........       96-227       77-266
   3-point FG pct.........         .423         .289
   3-pt FG made per game..          6.4          5.1
 FREE THROWS-ATT..........      274-389      216-308
   Free throw pct.........         .704         .701
 REBOUNDS.................          540          527
   Rebounds per game......         36.0         35.1
   Rebounding margin......         +0.9            -
 ASSISTS..................          232          189
   Assists per game.......         15.5         12.6
 TURNOVERS................          221          236
   Turnovers per game.....         14.7         15.7
   Turnover margin........         +1.0            -
   Assist/turnover ratio..          1.0          0.8
 STEALS...................          121          104
   Steals per game........          8.1          6.9
 BLOCKS...................           29           35
   Blocks per game........          1.9          2.3
 WINNING STREAK...........            0            -
   Home win streak........            0            -
 ATTENDANCE...............        74072        44348
   Home games-Avg/Game....       8-9259       7-6335
   Neutral site-Avg/Game..            -          0-0
 SCORE BY PERIODS:                1st  2nd   OT    Total
 ------------------------------  ---- ---- ----     ----
 Brigham Young.................   522  574   14  -  1110
 Opponents.....................   438  507    6  -   951
                      Brigham Young Category Leaders (as of Jan 18, 2000)
                                           All games
FG PERCENTAGE         FG ATT   Pct              FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS   G  Att  Att/G
----------------------------------              -----------------------------------
HOWARD, Dan.........   3   3 1.000              WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15  187   12.5
ALLEN, John.........   2   3  .667              LYDAY, Terrell...... 15  174   11.6
RIVERS, Silester....  39  69  .565              VRANES, Michael..... 15  112    7.5
CHRISTENSEN, Todd...  32  62  .516              COOPER, Nathan...... 15   77    5.1
WESLEY, Mekeli......  96 187  .513              RIVERS, Silester.... 15   69    4.6
NIELSEN, Eric.......  24  50  .480
LYDAY, Terrell......  83 174  .477              FIELD GOALS MADE      G Made Made/G
COOPER, Nathan......  32  77  .416              -----------------------------------
VRANES, Michael.....  45 112  .402              WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   96    6.4
ROBERTS, Marc.......   2   5  .400              LYDAY, Terrell...... 15   83    5.5
ELLSWORTH, Joe......   1   3  .333              VRANES, Michael..... 15   45    3.0
MONTAGUE, Matt......   9  29  .310              RIVERS, Silester.... 15   39    2.6
                                                COOPER, Nathan...... 15   32    2.1
                                                CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15   32    2.1
3-POINT PERCENTAGE   3FG ATT   Pct              3-POINT FG ATTEMPTS   G  Att  Att/G
----------------------------------              -----------------------------------
CHRISTENSEN, Todd...  22  46  .478              LYDAY, Terrell...... 15   80    5.3
LYDAY, Terrell......  36  80  .450              CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15   46    3.1
WESLEY, Mekeli......  12  27  .444              VRANES, Michael..... 15   43    2.9
VRANES, Michael.....  18  43  .419              WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   27    1.8
MONTAGUE, Matt......   2   6  .333              COOPER, Nathan...... 15   21    1.4
COOPER, Nathan......   6  21  .286
                                                3-POINT FGS MADE      G Made Made/G
                                                -----------------------------------
                                                LYDAY, Terrell...... 15   36    2.4
                                                CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15   22    1.5
                                                VRANES, Michael..... 15   18    1.2
                                                WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   12    0.8
                                                COOPER, Nathan...... 15    6    0.4
FT PERCENTAGE         FT ATT   Pct              FREE THROW ATTEMPTS   G  Att  Att/G
----------------------------------              -----------------------------------
SMITH, Morgan.......   4   4 1.000              WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   95    6.3
NIELSEN, David......   6   7  .857              LYDAY, Terrell...... 15   75    5.0
ROBERTS, Marc.......   5   6  .833              RIVERS, Silester.... 15   64    4.3
COOPER, Nathan......  31  38  .816              COOPER, Nathan...... 15   38    2.5
LYDAY, Terrell......  57  75  .760              VRANES, Michael..... 15   35    2.3
WESLEY, Mekeli......  72  95  .758
MONTAGUE, Matt......  18  24  .750              FREE THROWS MADE      G Made Made/G
CHRISTENSEN, Todd...   9  13  .692              -----------------------------------
ALLEN, John.........   2   3  .667              WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   72    4.8
NIELSEN, Eric.......  14  22  .636              LYDAY, Terrell...... 15   57    3.8
RIVERS, Silester....  39  64  .609              VRANES, Michael..... 15   17    1.1
VRANES, Michael.....  17  35  .486              RIVERS, Silester.... 15   39    2.6
                                                COOPER, Nathan...... 15   31    2.1
POINTS                G  Pts  Pts/G             POINTS AVERAGE        G  Pts Avg/G
-----------------------------------             ----------------------------------
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15  276   18.4             WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15  276  18.4
LYDAY, Terrell...... 15  259   17.3             LYDAY, Terrell...... 15  259  17.3
VRANES, Michael..... 15  125    8.3             VRANES, Michael..... 15  125   8.3
RIVERS, Silester.... 15  117    7.8             RIVERS, Silester.... 15  117   7.8
COOPER, Nathan...... 15  101    6.7             COOPER, Nathan...... 15  101   6.7
CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15   95    6.3             CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15   95   6.3
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15   62    4.1             NIELSEN, Eric....... 15   62   4.1
MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15   38    2.5             MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15   38   2.5
ROBERTS, Marc.......  7    9    1.3             HOWARD, Dan.........  4    6   1.5
NIELSEN, David......  6    8    1.3             NIELSEN, David......  6    8   1.3
ALLEN, John.........  6    6    1.0             ROBERTS, Marc.......  7    9   1.3
HOWARD, Dan.........  4    6    1.5             SMITH, Morgan.......  5    6   1.2
SMITH, Morgan.......  5    6    1.2
REBOUNDS              G  Reb  Reb/G             ASSISTS               G  No.    A/G
-----------------------------------             -----------------------------------
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   93    6.2             MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15   63    4.2
RIVERS, Silester.... 15   74    4.9             VRANES, Michael..... 15   46    3.1
VRANES, Michael..... 15   66    4.4             COOPER, Nathan...... 15   32    2.1
LYDAY, Terrell...... 15   62    4.1             LYDAY, Terrell...... 15   26    1.7
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15   57    3.8             WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   25    1.7
REBOUND AVERAGE       G  Reb  Avg/G             STEALS                G  No.    S/G
-----------------------------------             -----------------------------------
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   93    6.2             LYDAY, Terrell...... 15   33    2.2
RIVERS, Silester.... 15   74    4.9             WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   21    1.4
VRANES, Michael..... 15   66    4.4             VRANES, Michael..... 15   19    1.3
LYDAY, Terrell...... 15   62    4.1             MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15   12    0.8
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15   57    3.8             COOPER, Nathan...... 15    9    0.6
                                                RIVERS, Silester.... 15    9    0.6
OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS    G  No.  Avg/G             BLOCKED SHOTS         G  No.  Blk/G
-----------------------------------             -----------------------------------
RIVERS, Silester.... 15   26    1.7             WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15    7    0.5
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   22    1.5             RIVERS, Silester.... 15    6    0.4
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15   20    1.3             LYDAY, Terrell...... 15    6    0.4
VRANES, Michael..... 15   19    1.3             NIELSEN, Eric....... 15    5    0.3
COOPER, Nathan...... 15   15    1.0             COOPER, Nathan...... 15    1    0.1
                                                ROBERTS, Marc.......  7    1    0.1
DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS    G  No.  Avg/G             ELLSWORTH, Joe......  3    1    0.3
-----------------------------------             VRANES, Michael..... 15    1    0.1
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   71    4.7             CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15    1    0.1
LYDAY, Terrell...... 15   58    3.9
RIVERS, Silester.... 15   48    3.2             MINUTES               G  No.  Min/G
VRANES, Michael..... 15   47    3.1             -----------------------------------
MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15   40    2.7             LYDAY, Terrell...... 15  493   32.9
                                                WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15  467   31.1
                                                VRANES, Michael..... 15  396   26.4
                                                MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15  381   25.4
                                                NIELSEN, Eric....... 15  324   21.6
FOULS                 G  No.  Per/G             TURNOVERS             G  No.   TO/G
-----------------------------------             -----------------------------------
WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   47    3.1             LYDAY, Terrell...... 15   41    2.7
RIVERS, Silester.... 15   45    3.0             MONTAGUE, Matt...... 15   37    2.5
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15   43    2.9             VRANES, Michael..... 15   27    1.8
COOPER, Nathan...... 15   37    2.5             RIVERS, Silester.... 15   27    1.8
CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 15   29    1.9             WESLEY, Mekeli...... 15   27    1.8
FOULOUTS              G  No.
----------------------------
NIELSEN, Eric....... 15    2
COOPER, Nathan...... 15    1
VRANES, Michael..... 15    1