Lyday-led Cougars Upset UNLV in Mountain West Conference Opener

LAS VEGAS (Jan. 8 2000) -- Terrell Lyday scored 30 points, grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds and tied a career high with six steals to lead BYU to a 77-75 upset win over UNLV Monday in the Mountain West Conference opener at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

The win is BYU's fifth straight and its 10th in the last 11 games. The Cougars are now 5-2 on the road after going 2-10 last season. "This was a character win for this team," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "The kids showed a lot of courage. UNLV has a solid team -- they are one of the top three or four in the conference."

Lyday, who was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week Monday afternoon for his play last week, score 30 points for the second straight game, making 10-17 shots, including 5-10 from three-point range, and all five free throws. Saturday Lyday scored a career-best 35 at Utah State.

Lyday was not only impressive offensively but also was a force on the defensive end, coming up with six steals and causing other turnovers with his pressure defense. Ten of his 11 rebounds came on the defensive glass.

Mekeli Wesley scored 17 points to aid Lyday in the scoring column while Michael Vranes added nine and Todd Christensen eight. Christensen, who started his second straight game at the point in place of Matt Montague, hit a big three with 3:04 left in the game to extend BYU's lead to four at 70-66. Montague played 24 minutes off the bench and dished out a team-high seven assists while scoring a season-best six points. He hit two driving layups after penetrating the defense and made two clutch free throws with less than a minute to keep the Cougars in front.

"The thing I was most proud of was when UNLV came back we kept our composure," Cleveland said.

The Rebels tied the score at 60 with six minutes remaining but Wesley responded with a three and Silester Rivers made two free throws to give BYU a five-point advantage. When UNLV came back and took the lead 66-65 at the 3:44 mark on a Kaspars Kambala put-back inside, the Rebels had their first lead since a 5-0 beginning and had the 12,597 fans in attendance rocking. The Cougars didn't fold, however, as Silester Rivers found Wesley open for a layup before Christensen pulled up for three with three minutes to go.

The Cougars led at the half 42-32. BYU shot 48 percent to the Rebels' 39 and made 10-19 three pointers. With the win, BYU improves to 12-2 overall and 1-0 in the Mountain West Conference. UNLV falls to 9-4 and 0-1.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Brigham Young vs UNLV Runnin' Rebels
01/10/00 07:35 PM at Las Vegas, Nevada
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 12-2
                          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  5-11   1-1    6-8    1  3  4   4  17  1  4  1  2  36
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f  0-1    0-0    2-2    2  2  4   4   2  0  3  0  0  10
13 VRANES, Michael..... g  3-7    2-5    1-4    0  4  4   2   9  1  1  0  3  29
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g 10-17   5-10   5-5    1 10 11   1  30  2  5  1  6  38
4  CHRISTENSEN, Todd... g  3-6    2-2    0-0    0  2  2   2   8  2  1  0  0  20
2  RIVERS, Silester....    0-3    0-0    3-4    2  3  5   3   3  1  6  1  0  20
31 MONTAGUE, Matt......    2-2    0-0    2-3    0  3  3   4   6  7  4  0  1  24
42 COOPER, Nathan......    1-2    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   4   2  1  1  0  1  22
50 NIELSEN, David......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
   TEAM................                         1     1
   Totals..............   24-50  10-19  19-26   7 28 35  24  77 15 25  3 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-22  .545   2nd Half: 12-28  .429   Game:  .480  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-9   .444   2nd Half:  6-10  .600   Game:  .526  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  9-12  .750   2nd Half: 10-14  .714   Game:  .731     3
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HOME TEAM: UNLV Runnin' Rebels 9-4
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
10 JOHNSON, Dalron..... f  8-16   0-1    0-1    4  3  7   2  16  1  2  2  2  31
14 STEWART, Donovan.... f  2-7    0-1    0-1    2  3  5   5   4  3  2  0  1  23
34 KAMBALA, Kaspars.... c  2-8    0-0    4-6    1  7  8   4   8  0  4  0  0  21
03 DIGGS, Trevor....... g  5-12   4-7    6-6    0  1  1   1  20  2  3  0  4  38
11 DICKEL, Mark........ g  4-7    3-6    6-6    0  2  2   2  17 10  3  0  4  38
01 POPOOLA, Chris......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
05 BROTHERSON, Danny...    0-3    0-0    5-6    0  1  1   4   5  0  2  0  0  20
13 DOTSON, Sylvester...    2-6    0-0    1-1    3  4  7   2   5  0  2  0  0  17
20 RICHARDSON, Chris...    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  3  0  0   9
33 EPPS, Issiah........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   23-59   7-15  22-27  11 23 34  21  75 16 21  2 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-37  .270   2nd Half: 13-22  .591   Game:  .390  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-6   .167   2nd Half:  6-9   .667   Game:  .467  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 11-11 1.000   2nd Half: 11-16  .688   Game:  .815     2
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Officials: Tom O'Neill, Verne Harris, Jim Danner
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. UNLV Runnin' Rebels-None.
Attendance: 12597
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young.................   42   35  -   77
UNLV Runnin' Rebels...........   32   43  -   75