Cougars Stick for 30 Minutes with Fourth-ranked Arizona

TUCSON -- Fourth-ranked Arizona had a 30-minute battle Wednesday with BYU until it wore down the Cougars to claim an 86-62 victory.

A double-down post defense and some solid play by Mekeli Wesley and Terrell Lyday kept the Cougars in the game until the Wildcat bench and fatigue took a toll on BYU. Wesley scored 24 points, while Lyday had 18 points before a sellout crowd of 14,345. The loss was the first for BYU, who is now 2-1 after its first road game, while Arizona is 5-0 and 3-0 at home.

In the late-night Fox TV matchup, Coach Lute Olson secured his 400th victory in 17 years at Arizona as the Wildcats won their 35th consecutive game in the McKale Center--the fourth-longest current winning streak in the NCAA. Arizona is also number one in the latest USA Today Saragin ratings, while BYU was a respectable 42nd out of 319 teams.

"The key for us was that we had guys come off the bench and play with emotion," said Olson. "Rick (Anderson) gave us a great performance on the boards. He made things happen offensively, and he really helped us with both offensive and defensive boards."

Anderson scored 16 points in as many minutes, while teammate Michael Wright scored 19 and had a game-high 10 rebounds.

"Our lack of a front line hurt us," said BYU Coach Steve Cleveland. "They wore us down and we were only good for 30 minutes. They are very good. He (Lute Olson) can go to his bench and they don't miss a beat. We were just spent."

The Cougars led from the start of the game until just under eight minutes left in the half when Richard Jefferson's three-pointer broke a 19-all deadlock. One of the sparks in the first half was back-to-back dunks by Lyday which gave BYU an 18-10 lead. With Wesley and Michael Vranes getting in early foul trouble, the Wildcats took a 38-29 halftime lead.

Nathan Cooper got in foul trouble for the Cougars in the second half. A technical foul on Olson with five minutes gone in the second half helped the Cougars get back in the game at 48-41 after Wesley hit a pair of free throws. The Cougars then closed the gap to 48-46.

"This is one of the best ways to gauge our team and use it as a measuring stick," said Wesley. "They wore us down mentally and we started making mistakes. We were really prepared, so you have to give a lot of credit to Coach (Heath) Schroyer."

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Brigham Young Cougars vs Arizona Wildcats
12-1-99 9 p.m. at McKale Center - Tucson, Ariz.
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VISITORS: Brigham Young Cougars 2-1
                          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..... f  2-7    2-5    0-0    0  3  3   3   6  1  1  0  1  23
25 Nielsen, Eric....... f  0-2    0-0    2-2    1  3  4   4   2  0  1  0  0  32
15 Wesley, Mekeli...... c  8-17   1-2    7-10   2  2  4   3  24  1  2  0  4  32
24 Lyday, Terrell...... g  6-16   1-5    5-6    1  1  2   2  18  2  2  0  2  32
31 Montague, Matt...... g  1-3    0-1    0-0    1  2  3   1   2  5  4  0  1  32
02 Rivers, Silester....    1-2    0-0    3-4    1  1  2   1   5  0  2  0  0  12
04 Christensen, Todd...    1-2    1-2    0-0    0  0  0   2   3  1  1  0  0  15
40 Howard, Dan.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  1  0  0   3
42 Cooper, Nathan......    0-3    0-1    2-2    0  3  3   5   2  1  2  1  0  19
   TEAM................                         1  1  2             1
   Totals..............   19-52   5-16  19-24   7 17 24  22  62 11 17  1  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-27 37.0%   2nd Half:  9-25 36.0%   Game: 36.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-9  22.2%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 31.2%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-8  87.5%   2nd Half: 12-16 75.0%   Game: 79.2%   3,1
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HOME TEAM: Arizona Wildcats 5-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
21 Wright, Michael..... f  7-9    0-0    5-6    4  6 10   0  19  2  5  0  1  27
44 Jefferson, Richard.. f  4-6    1-2    1-2    0  1  1   2  10  4  1  1  0  22
03 Woods, Loren........ c  2-6    0-0    5-6    1  3  4   2   9  1  3  1  0  18
00 Arenas, Gilbert..... g  2-7    0-2    0-0    1  3  4   2   4  4  2  0  1  21
22 Gardner, Jason...... g  3-6    3-5    2-3    0  2  2   2  11  2  3  0  5  34
04 Walton, Luke........    4-6    0-0    0-1    1  4  5   2   8  2  0  0  1  22
12 Pastner, Josh.......    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   3  0  1  0  0   1
15 Ash, John...........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
23 Frazier, Lamont.....    1-4    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   0   2  1  1  0  0  13
30 Wessel, Justin......    1-4    0-0    0-0    1  3  4   1   2  1  0  0  0  12
35 Anderson, Rick......    5-7    2-4    4-4    3  4  7   1  16  1  1  0  1  16
54 Javtokas, Robertas..    1-1    0-0    0-2    1  0  1   4   2  0  0  1  0  12
   TEAM................                            1  1             1
   Totals..............   31-57   7-14  17-24  13 28 41  16  86 18 18  3  9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-24 54.2%   2nd Half: 18-33 54.5%   Game: 54.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-7  71.4%   2nd Half:  2-7  28.6%   Game: 50.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-8  87.5%   2nd Half: 10-16 62.5%   Game: 70.8%    2
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Officials: Bob Sitov, Billy Gianquinto, Tim Gabutero
Technical fouls: Brigham Young Cougars-None. Arizona Wildcats-BENCH.
Attendance: 14345
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young Cougars.........   29   33  -   62
Arizona Wildcats..............   38   48  -   86
Technical Foul: Arizona Bench 2nd Half at 15:31