Second-Half Runs Carry Cougars Over San Diego

PROVO -- BYU used two second-half runs to beat the University of San Diego Toreros, 64-49, Wednesday at the Marriott Center, extending the nation's longest homecourt winning streak to 38 games.

San Diego controlled most of the very physical, sloppy-played first half. With seconds to play, BYU's John Allen hit a three-pointer, cutting the Torero lead to 28-26 and giving BYU momentum going into the locker room.

BYU increased the defensive pressure to open the second half, causing two immediate turnovers to spark a 9-0 run that included a Kevin Woodberry trey. The burst gave the Cougars the lead at 35-28 with 18:31 to go.

Minutes later, BYU started another run, holding the Toreros scoreless for just over seven minutes. Defense and fast-break points led BYU on an 18-0 run that extended the lead to 56-41. Several of the buckets came from offensive rebounds, and the Cougars finished the game with 14.

"We came out in the first half without any energy, but I was happy with the way we came back in the second half," said BYU head coach Steve Cleveland.

For BYU, four players scored in double figures, led by Travis Hansen with 17 points and seven rebounds. Rafael Araujo scored a career-high 11 points, despite playing just three minutes in the first half because of foul trouble.

Jared Jensen chipped in 11 points and Mark Bigelow added 10. BYU scored 24 points off of 24 San Diego turnovers. The Toreros had no match for Jensen and Araujo inside in the second half as BYU scored 24 points in the paint to San Diego's eight.

"We felt that the game was very winnable, but BYU manhandled us in the second half," said San Diego head coach Brad Holland.

Jason Blair led the Toreros in scoring with 17 points, including 3-for-5 shooting from behind the arc, to go along with a game-high nine rebounds. Jason Keep and Mike McGrain scored seven points each. San Diego drops to 4-3 with the loss.

BYU improves to 6-1 and faces in-state rival Utah State Aggies on Saturday in Provo at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on KSL Channel 5 by SportsWest Productions.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
San Diego vs BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars
12/11/02 07:00 at Brigham Young University
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VISITORS: San Diego 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
03 SMITH, Travis....... *  1-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   3   2  2  4  0  0  17
10 MORRIS, Roy......... *  1-10   0-5    4-4    0  1  1   0   6  0  1  0  0  31
32 BELSER, Corey....... *  0-2    0-1    1-2    1  0  1   4   1  1  1  2  1  27
34 BLAIR, Jason........ *  5-7    3-5    4-4    3  6  9   1  17  0  4  0  2  37
43 KEEP, Jason......... *  2-4    0-0    3-6    1  5  6   4   7  0  4  0  0  23
11 STOCKALPER, Derek...    1-5    0-3    0-0    2  0  2   3   2  1  3  0  0   8
14 DELZELL, Matt.......    1-2    1-1    0-0    1  4  5   2   3  1  2  0  1  13
20 McGRAIN, Mike.......    2-4    0-1    3-5    1  2  3   2   7  2  4  0  1  24
42 LEWIS, Nick.........    1-6    0-2    2-2    0  2  2   3   4  0  1  1  0  20
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   14-42   4-18  17-23  11 21 32  22  49  7 24  3  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-23 39.1%   2nd Half:  5-19 26.3%   Game: 33.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-9  33.3%   2nd Half:  1-9  11.1%   Game: 22.2%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-10 70.0%   2nd Half: 10-13 76.9%   Game: 73.9%    2
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HOME TEAM: BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars 6-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 HANSEN, Travis...... *  7-17   0-4    3-5    3  4  7   2  17  3  4  2  1  30
03 BIGELOW, Mark....... *  3-7    1-2    3-5    3  5  8   2  10  5  2  0  1  31
24 WOODBERRY, Kevin.... *  2-4    1-3    3-6    0  2  2   2   8  0  1  1  4  31
52 JENSEN, Jared....... *  5-8    0-0    1-2    1  3  4   1  11  1  1  1  1  29
55 ARAUJO, Rafael...... *  5-7    0-0    1-2    2  2  4   4  11  2  3  0  2  18
04 LEMES, Luiz.........    0-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  0  0  1   7
05 SHOFF, Jake.........    2-3    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   1   4  0  1  0  1   9
10 NASHIF, Terry.......    0-1    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  1  1  0  0   9
14 BOWER, Ricky........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   3   0  0  0  0  0  13
15 ALLEN, John.........    1-5    1-2    0-0    1  1  2   0   3  0  0  0  0   6
32 JEPSEN, Bart........    0-1    0-1    0-0    1  0  1   1   0  0  1  0  0   8
40 HOWARD, Dan.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   9
   TEAM................                         1  4  5
   Totals..............   25-55   3-12  11-20  14 21 35  17  64 13 14  4 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-27 37.0%   2nd Half: 15-28 53.6%   Game: 45.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-5  40.0%   2nd Half:  1-7  14.3%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-8  50.0%   2nd Half:  7-12 58.3%   Game: 55.0%    4
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Officials: Duane Allen, Roosevelt Brown, Milt Stowe
Technical fouls: San Diego-None. BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars-HANSEN, Travis.
Attendance: 11608
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
San Diego.....................   28   21  -   49
BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars.........   26   38  -   64
Points in the paint-USD 8,BY 24. Points off turnovers-USD 9,BY 28.
2nd chance points-USD 6,BY 14. Fast break points-USD 0,BY 0.
Bench points-USD 16,BY 7. Score tied-7 times. Lead changes-9 times.