BYU Extends Home Winning Streak To 39 Games

PROVO,Utah (Dec. 14, 2002) -- BYU extended the nation's longest homecourt winning streak by beating Utah State 66-56 Saturday at the Marriott Center in front of 14,734 fans.

Winning for the 39th straight time in the Marriott Center, the Cougars improved to 7-1 on the season with another second-half comeback while the Aggies dropped to 5-2. BYU has trailed at the half in each of the last three games and five times overall this season but has rallied four times in the final 20 minutes for the win.

Defensive pressure enabled the Cougars to fight back in the second half after trailing 35-31 at the break. The Aggies shot 50 percent in the first 20 minutes but were held to 32 percent in the second half. BYU held the Aggies to 41.2 percent shooting for the night. The Cougars have held all eight of their opponents this year below 42 percent shooting. Utah State also became the first team this year to not connect on a three-pointer against BYU.

The Cougars used a combination of Jared Jensen and Travis Hansen at times to slow down Utah State star Desmond Penigar. The Aggies senior was held to just 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting.

BYU used a balanced attack with four players scoring in double figures, led by Hansen and Mark Bigelow with 13 a piece. Guard Kevin Woodberry scored a new career-high 12 points, including three treys, and dished out a career-best six assists. Rafael Araujo added 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

"The two guys that stand out in my mind were Woodberry and Araujo," said BYU head coach Steve Cleveland. "They were key for us tonight."

Araujo broke down the Aggie zone defense with great passing to get Bigelow open looks. The junior forward scored 10 straight points to give BYU a nine-point lead with just over six minutes to play.

The Cougars held with free throw shooting by guard Ricky Bower, who knocked down 6-for-6 and ended the game with 8 points.

Cardell Butler led the Aggies in scoring with 14 points and Nate Harris added 10.

"I thought we played well for 30 or 31 minutes. Their defense played well and took over," Utah State head coach Stew Morrill said. "They did a nice job taking us out of our offense. We ended up having to settle for the best shot we could get at times."

BYU will host UC Santa Barbara next Saturday at 5 p.m. in Provo.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Utah State University vs BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars
12/14/02 7:00 PM at Brigham Young University
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VISITORS: Utah State University 5-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 PENIGAR, Desmond.... f  3-13   0-2    5-6    2  3  5   3  11  0  1  0  1  24
05 JOHNSON, Toraino.... f  4-5    0-0    0-0    3  1  4   1   8  1  0  0  0  31
11 PUZEY, Mike......... c  0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   4   0  0  2  1  0   9
15 BUTLER, Cardell..... g  7-17   0-3    0-1    1  1  2   1  14  1  1  1  0  31
20 BROWN, Mark......... g  1-8    0-0    0-0    0  3  3   3   2  5  2  0  2  35
01 ROSS, Ronnie........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   2   0  3  1  0  1   9
04 HARRIS, Nate........    3-3    0-0    4-5    2  1  3   3  10  0  3  0  0  23
21 BROWN, Calvin.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  1  1  0  0   5
32 NELSON, Spencer.....    2-3    0-0    5-6    1  8  9   5   9  1  3  0  0  24
44 EVANS, Chad.........    1-1    0-0    0-2    1  0  1   1   2  0  0  0  0   9
   TEAM................                         3     3
   Totals..............   21-51   0-5   14-20  13 19 32  24  56 12 14  2  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-26 50.0%   2nd Half:  8-25 32.0%   Game: 41.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-1   0.0%   2nd Half:  0-4   0.0%   Game:  0.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  9-13 69.2%   2nd Half:  5-7  71.4%   Game: 70.0%    2
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HOME TEAM: BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars 7-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 BIGELOW, Mark....... f  5-10   2-6    1-2    0  4  4   0  13  0  2  1  0  34
52 JENSEN, Jared....... f  1-2    0-0    5-5    1  2  3   4   7  1  1  0  0  22
55 ARAUJO, Rafael...... c  4-7    0-2    2-2    1  6  7   4  10  2  2  1  0  31
02 HANSEN, Travis...... g  4-11   2-4    3-6    1  3  4   3  13  1  2  1  0  35
24 WOODBERRY, Kevin.... g  3-5    3-5    3-6    1  2  3   0  12  6  0  0  1  32
04 LEMES, Luiz.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  0   5
05 SHOFF, Jake.........    1-3    0-0    1-2    1  2  3   2   3  2  2  0  1  17
10 NASHIF, Terry.......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
14 BOWER, Ricky........    1-2    0-1    6-6    0  0  0   0   8  1  2  0  1  13
15 ALLEN, John.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   3   0  0  0  0  0   2
32 JEPSEN, Bart........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   1
40 HOWARD, Dan.........    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   5
   TEAM................                         2     2
   Totals..............   19-42   7-19  21-29   7 21 28  19  66 13 11  3  3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-23 43.5%   2nd Half:  9-19 47.4%   Game: 45.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-12 33.3%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 36.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-10 70.0%   2nd Half: 14-19 73.7%   Game: 72.4%    5
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Officials: Tim Gabutero, Mike Giarratno, Bobby McRoy
Technical fouls: Utah State University-None. BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars-None.
Attendance: 14734
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Utah State University.........   35   21  -   56
BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars.........   31   35  -   66
Points in the paint-USU 20,BY 12. Points off turnovers-USU 16,BY 19.
2nd chance points-USU 18,BY 6. 
Bench points-USU 21,BY 11. Score tied-7 times. Lead changes-9 times.