Wesley Leads BYU to Win over Arizona State

PROVO, Utah -- Mekeli Wesley matched his season high with 26 points while adding a season-best nine rebounds to lead BYU to a 78-67 win over Arizona State Tuesday in the Marriott Center.

The win, BYU's fourth on the year against only one loss, was the first win for third-year coach Steve Cleveland against a Pac-10 foe. The Cougars had played nine Pac-10 games since Cleveland took over a BYU program that was just 1-25 in 1996-97.

Joining Wesley in double figures for BYU were Terrell Lyday and Silester Rivers with 17 and 10 points, respectively. As a team, BYU shot 50 percent from the floor for the fourth time this year -- all Cougar wins. The Cougar also made half of their 12 three-point attempts, with Lyday making a game-high three treys while Michael Vranes added two. Vranes is shooting 60 percent from behind the arc this year.

Arizona State's top gun Eddie House was held without a single field goal for the first time in his stellar career. House took 16 shots without a make but did score five points from the free throw line.

"Terrell (Lyday) just did a great job contesting Eddie House's shots," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "Mike (Vranes) did a great job guarding him too."

BYU led at half, 33-31, in a closely contested first 20 minutes. The Cougars maintained a lead until ASU went on a run and took a five-point lead at 51-46 after a Justin Allen three-pointer. BYU tied the score at 56 on a Silester Rivers jumper at the 9:11 mark and never looked back, pushing the lead to 65-56 before letting the Sun Devils get their next basket.

Arizona State was led by Awvee Story (22 points) and Shawn Redhage (12 points). With the loss, the Sun Devils fall to 4-3 on the year. BYU's 4-1 start is its best in seven years. The Cougars will stay home to host Texas Southern and either Weber State or Western Oregon in the annual Cougar Classic.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Arizona State vs Brigham Young
12/7/99 7:05 at Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Arizona State 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
11 STOREY, Awvee....... f  9-13   0-1    4-6    5  2  7   5  22  2  1  0  0  34
42 REDHAGE, Shawn...... f  4-6    0-0    4-6    2  2  4   3  12  4  1  1  0  29
01 MASON, Alton........ g  1-2    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   4   2  3  2  0  0  18
05 HOUSE, Eddie........ g  0-16   0-4    5-6    1  4  5   1   5  3  1  0  2  36
52 PREWITT, Chad....... *  2-3    0-0    2-3    1  1  2   5   6  0  2  0  1  14
02 KNIGHT, Donnell.....    1-4    0-1    0-1    1  1  2   2   2  1  0  0  0  12
03 DODD, Kyle..........    2-5    1-3    0-0    0  1  1   0   5  0  1  0  0  22
04 SMITH, Tommy........    0-2    0-0    2-2    0  1  1   4   2  0  1  0  0   9
15 SHELL, Tanner.......    1-5    0-2    0-0    0  0  0   4   2  1  1  0  0  11
24 ALLEN, Justin.......    3-6    2-5    1-2    2  3  5   2   9  0  1  0  1  15
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   23-62   3-16  18-26  14 17 31  30  67 14 11  1  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-31  .387   2nd Half: 11-31  .355   Game:  .371  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-6   .167   2nd Half:  2-10  .200   Game:  .188  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-8   .750   2nd Half: 12-18  .667   Game:  .692    3,1
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 4-1
                          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  6-15   0-1   14-18   4  5  9   4  26  4  2  0  2  28
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f  1-2    0-1    0-0    2  1  3   4   2  1  2  2  1  26
13 VRANES, Michael..... g  2-5    2-3    2-4    1  5  6   5   8  2  2  0  0  25
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g  6-12   3-5    2-2    0  4  4   2  17  1  2  0  1  37
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g  1-1    0-0    3-4    0  4  4   1   5  2  4  0  1  29
02 RIVERS, Silester....    4-5    0-0    2-4    1  2  3   3  10  0  1  0  0  25
04 CHRISTENSEN, Todd...    1-1    1-1    1-2    0  1  1   0   4  0  0  0  0  12
42 COOPER, Nathan......    2-5    0-1    2-2    1  2  3   3   6  1  0  0  0  18
   TEAM................                            6  6
   Totals..............   23-46   6-12  26-36   9 30 39  22  78 11 13  2  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-23  .435   2nd Half: 13-23  .565   Game:  .500  DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-7   .286   2nd Half:  4-5   .800   Game:  .500  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 11-14  .786   2nd Half: 15-22  .682   Game:  .722     6
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Officials: Stanley Reynolds, Lonnie Dixon, Bob Staffen
Technical fouls: Arizona State-None. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 5867
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Arizona State.................   31   36  -   67
Brigham Young.................   33   45  -   78