Cougars Buck The Broncos

PROVO -- A combo attack by shooting guards Mike Hall and Mike Rose delivered for the Cougars their first Division I win this year with a 90-77 victory over the Boise State Broncos, improving BYU's record to 2-5 for the year. Hall finished with 21 points to lead all Cougar scorers. Hall also grabbed a career-high nine rebounds and dished out five assists. Rose's stifling shooting performance closely followed with 19 points, 18 of which were from beyond the arc.

"This was a big win for this team," Cleveland said. "Mike Hall played a complete game that gave us a great spark."

Three other Cougars scored in double figures with Austin Ainge scoring 14 points and adding five assists while Jared Jensen scored 13 points. Keena Young added 11 points and 8 rebounds on continual hustle plays that ignited the Cougars throughout the game.

Early in the first half, the Broncos came out on fire against the Cougars, shooting over 80 percent from the field to keep the score close. The Broncos would soon cool down while the Cougars heated up mid-way through the first period. Ainge, who connected on two long three-pointers followed by a Hall trey, sparked the Cougars on a 13-0 run, giving them a 35-19 lead. The Broncos refused to give up as they fought back to only trail 31-39 at the half.

Boise State came out hot in the second half, led by Franco Harris who hit three consecutive shots from beyond the arc to bring Boise State to within one. Rose would match Harris' hot hand by connecting on four of his own long bombs from beyond the arc to help the Cougars pull away. The Cougars connected on 11-21 (52.4 percent) three-point attempts to give BYU over 50 percent efficiency from beyond the arc in back-to-back games. On the defensive end, Hall shut down the Broncos leading scorer, Jermaine Blackburn, who was held to nine points.

"I think Mike Hall did a wonderful job defending Blackburn," Cleveland said. "Because of the way they run, it's tough for our post players to keep up which puts a lot of pressure on our guards."

The Broncos were carried by McNeal Thompson who had a game-high 22 points, shooting 5-10 from the three.

The Cougars will make their annual Delta Center this weekend visit where they will face the Washington State Cougars this Saturday at 4 p.m. BYU comes home to the Marriott Center in a rematch against Utah State, December 18 at 7 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Boise State University vs Brigham Young
12/08/04 7:05 p.m. at Provo, UT
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VISITORS: Boise State University 4-3, 0-0 WAC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
21 BLACKBURN, Jermaine. f  4-14   0-4    1-3    4  2  6   3   9  4  3  0  0  35
25 BANKS, Tezarray..... f  2-4    0-0    1-2    0  4  4   2   5  0  0  0  0  19
45 ELLIS, Jason........ f  9-16   0-0    2-4    5  5 10   4  20  2  4  1  0  26
05 KARL, Coby.......... g  4-11   2-7    0-1    1  1  2   4  10  7  2  2  1  33
35 HARRIS, Franco...... g  4-9    4-8    0-0    0  3  3   2  12  2  3  0  0  27
04 ROBINSON, Seth......    0-2    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   0  0  0  0  0   9
11 THOMPSON, McNeal....    6-14   4-9    3-3    2  0  2   2  19  1  0  0  1  27
12 LLOYD, Kareem.......    1-3    0-0    0-0    0  5  5   2   2  1  2  0  0  15
44 GAINOUS, Kenney.....    0-1    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   2   0  0  0  0  0   9
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   30-74  10-28   7-13  14 25 39  22  77 17 14  3  2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-29 44.8%   2nd Half: 17-45 37.8%   Game: 40.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-12 41.7%   2nd Half:  5-16 31.3%   Game: 35.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  0-2   0.0%   2nd Half:  7-11 63.6%   Game: 53.8%    1
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 2-5, 0-0 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
41 MEADS, Garner....... f  1-1    0-0    2-2    0  3  3   4   4  2  1  0  0  14
52 JENSEN, Jared....... c  3-9    0-0    7-8    2  3  5   1  13  1  0  0  2  25
01 HALL, Mike.......... g  7-12   2-3    5-6    2  7  9   2  21  5  1  0  0  38
10 NASHIF, Terry....... g  0-2    0-1    1-2    0  1  1   0   1  0  1  0  0  17
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... g  1-6    1-4    0-0    0  2  2   0   3  1  0  0  0  18
02 ROSE, Mike..........    6-9    6-9    1-2    0  3  3   1  19  1  3  0  0  23
03 YOUNG, Keena........    4-6    0-0    3-4    3  5  8   2  11  0  2  1  1  20
13 AINGE, Austin.......    4-8    2-4    4-6    0  5  5   3  14  5  3  0  1  25
43 DAWES, Derek........    1-3    0-0    0-1    0  3  3   2   2  0  2  1  0  14
54 MILES, Chris........    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   2  0  2  2  1   6
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   28-57  11-21  23-31   8 35 43  16  90 15 15  4  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-29 44.8%   2nd Half: 15-28 53.6%   Game: 49.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  7-12 58.3%   2nd Half:  4-9  44.4%   Game: 52.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-8  75.0%   2nd Half: 17-23 73.9%   Game: 74.2%    4
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Officials: Scott Thornley, Mark Whitehead, Eddie Jackson
Technical fouls: Boise State University-None. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 8619
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Boise State University........   31   46  -   77
Brigham Young.................   39   51  -   90