Cougars Respond in Second Half to Defeat Texas Southern

PROVO -- Mekeli Wesley scored 24 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to record his first double-double of the year and lead BYU to a 76-61 win over Texas Southern in its first game of the 1999 Cougar Classic.

After playing the first 20 minutes even, the Cougars turned a 32-32 tie into a 15-point victory by out scoring the Tigers 44-29 in the second stanza. While Wesley received help from his teammates as the Cougars pulled away in the second half, it was Wesley's first half that kept BYU in position to take over the game.

The junior forward made 7-8 field goal attempts and his only free throw attempt on his way to 15 points in the first 20 minutes. Wesley also pulled down seven of his team-high 10 rebounds in the first half. With his nine-point second half, Wesley has scored 24 points or more in five of BYU's six games.

Other top Cougar scorers included Terrell Lyday with 14 points, Todd Christensen with nine and Nathan Cooper with six. Reserve guard David Nielsen also added six points in his three minutes on the floor, making 1-2 field goals and all four free throws. Matt Montague's three-pointer, his only points of the game, opened the scoring in the second half and the Cougars never looked back, building a 35-32 lead into a 49-39 lead at the 10:59 mark on a Silester Rivers free throw.

Steve Hoyer scored 23 points to pace the Tigers while teammate Chris Miller pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. BYU out rebounded Texas Southern 42-31 and shot 45 percent to the Tigers 33 percent.

With the win, BYU improves to 5-1 on the year and will met the 4-2 Weber State Wildcats in the Cougar Classic title game Saturday. Weber State, who defeated nationally ranked Utah earlier this year, advanced to the championship game by beating Western Oregon. Texas Southern falls to 2-4 with the loss and will play Western Oregon in the consolation contest.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Texas Southern vs Brigham Young
12/10/99 7:35 at Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Texas Southern 2-4
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
42 ROWE, Cameron....... f  0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   0
10 GOFF, Terrell....... g  0-2    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  1   3
12 HOYER, Steve........ g  8-13   3-4    4-5    0  2  2   1  23  1  2  1  1  26
14 MILLER, Chris....... g  1-2    1-2    3-4    5  7 12   1   6  2  1  0  3  29
33 TIMMONS, Marquel.... g  2-5    1-2    0-0    1  0  1   0   5  5  1  0  0  18
11 BENNETT, Ricky......    2-9    2-6    0-0    0  2  2   1   6  3  2  0  2  34
15 DYSE, Patrick.......    1-5    0-2    3-4    0  1  1   5   5  0  1  0  1  16
30 BOSTON, Harold......    2-5    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   5   4  0  2  0  1  19
32 UNDERWOOD, Rahmeen..    1-8    0-0    2-2    0  3  3   4   4  2  6  0  1  23
35 ANYANWU, Ifey.......    2-8    0-0    4-6    1  4  5   5   8  1  1  0  0  32
   TEAM................                         2  2  4
   Totals..............   19-57   7-18  16-21   9 22 31  23  61 14 16  1 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-27  .444   2nd Half:  7-30  .233   Game:  .333  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-7   .571   2nd Half:  3-11  .273   Game:  .389  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-6   .667   2nd Half: 12-15  .800   Game:  .762     3
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 5-1
                          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..... g  2-7    0-2    1-2    2  0  2   0   5  6  0  0  2  24
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... g 11-15   0-2    2-2    1  9 10   0  24  2  0  0  1  31
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g  4-9    1-3    5-10   0  2  2   2  14  1  1  0  3  25
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... g  0-1    0-0    1-4    1  4  5   0   1  0  2  0  1  22
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g  1-2    1-1    0-0    0  4  4   1   3  5  3  0  1  27
02 RIVERS, Silester....    1-2    0-0    2-2    3  5  8   3   4  0  2  0  0  15
04 CHRISTENSEN, Todd...    3-8    2-7    1-2    0  0  0   2   9  1  3  0  2  22
05 ROBERTS, Marc.......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  0  0  0   6
10 ALLEN, John.........    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   2  0  0  0  0   0
20 TAGGART, Nick.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
33 SMITH, Morgan.......    0-3    0-1    2-2    1  0  1   0   2  1  0  0  0   0
34 ELLSWORTH, Joe......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
42 COOPER, Nathan......    2-6    1-2    1-2    1  3  4   4   6  3  1  0  0  22
50 NIELSEN, David......    1-2    0-0    4-4    1  1  2   2   6  0  2  0  0   3
   TEAM................                         2  2  4
   Totals..............   26-57   5-18  19-30  12 31 43  15  76 20 14  0 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-28  .464   2nd Half: 13-29  .448   Game:  .456  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-7   .143   2nd Half:  4-11  .364   Game:  .278  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-9   .556   2nd Half: 14-21  .667   Game:  .633     8
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Officials: Steve Welmer, Ronnie Hernandez, Mark Whitehead
Technical fouls: Texas Southern-None. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 6541
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Texas Southern................   32   29  -   61
Brigham Young.................   32   44  -   76