Cougars Face Rival Utes for Third Time in 1999

Next Game: After a first-round upset of 19-9 TCU in the first round of the WAC Tournament, BYU's men's basketball team prepares for its third meeting with in-state rival Utah Thursday at 3:30 p.m. MST. The game will be televised by KSL TV Channel 5 and broadcast on KSL Newsradio 1160.

BYU-UTAH on Television:

Network: KSL TV Ch. 5

Air Time: 3:30 p.m. MST

Play-by-Play: Dave McCann

Color: Tom Kirkland

BYU-UTAH on Radio:

Network: KSL Newsradio 1160 AM

Air Time: 3:00 p.m. MST

Play-by-Play: Greg Wrubell

Color: Mark Durrant

Cougars Upset TCU: Nathan Cooper scored a career-high 24 points Tuesday to help the Cougars defeat fourth seeded TCU, 90-74. It was BYU's first WAC Tournament win since the 1994 tournament at the Delta Center. Cooper led a strong Cougar contingent of scorers as Mark Bigelow added 20 points, Michael Vranes 19 and Mekeli Wesley 17. Silester Rivers pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds while Wesley continued his strong rebounding with eight. As a team, BYU's 13 three pointers was just two off the WAC tournament record of 15 threes set by Colorado State in 1997.

Utah Series Notes: The Cougars have a 113-111 series record against the Utes. Utah won the previous two meetings this year (75-54 in Salt Lake City on Jan. 9 and 71-46 in Provo on Feb. 6) and have won the last nine in a row. BYU's last win was a 64-57 victory at the Marriott Center in 1995. BYU beat the Utes the last time they met in the WAC Tournament a 96-65 win at the Delta Center in 1994.

Bigelow Continues Strong Play: Named WAC Pacific Division Freshman of the Year and to the All-WAC second team, Mark Bigelow continued his solid play in his first WAC Tournament game. He tallied 20 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in 34 minutes. He continues to shoot well (6-11, 4-7 on threes). He is averaging nearly 21 points in the last five games.

High Points: Mark Bigelow has consistently been a top scorer for BYU this year, leading the team with a 15.0 average. Winning, however, has come when Bigelow has been complemented in the scoring column by his teammates. BYU is 2-11 in games when Bigelow is the leading scorer and 10-4 when a teammate has been the high scorer.

Miscellaneous Notes: Lee Nailon's 33-point effort Tuesday was the most points scored against the Cougars this year...BYU's starting lineup of Cooper, Rivers, Bigelow, Wesley, and Vranes is 4-4 this year (0-1 vs. Utah)...BYU is 11-3 when it leads at half, 11-0 when leading with five minutes remaining, 10-0 when leading with one-minute to go and 10-4 when it shoots a better field goal percentage than its opponent...BYU has not played an opponent three times in one year since facing Tulsa three times last year (1-2)...this year BYU has increased its win total (9 to 12), improved its wins at home (4 to 9) and won in the WAC Tournament (lost first round last year)...BYU is 1-0 on neutral floor this year with its win over TCU.