Cougars Fall to Aztecs in Heartbreaker

PROVO -- BYU's men's basketball team lost to the San Diego State Aztecs 59-57 on the final shot to open Mountain West Conference play Saturday in the Marriott Center.

The Cougars started the game strong with a lot of energy, jumping on the Aztecs with a 10-0 run. Behind quick scoring from senior Mike Hall and aggressive play from freshman Chris Miles, BYU took control of the game early, leading 28-19 after the first period.

However, with turnovers plaguing the Cougars in the second half and almost no offense in critical situations, SDSU clawed their way back to take the lead 42-40 with 10:31 remaining in the game.

"We didn't have a real good offense tonight," BYU head coach Steve Cleveland said. "It's unfortunate that we didn't score more."

BYU closed the gap, but crucial mistakes resulting in turnovers by the Cougars in the waning moments allowed SDSU to capitalize. With one second left and the scored tied at 57, the Aztecs' Chris Walton hit the falling away game-winning shot.

"The players are hurting and if you've never played the game, you won't understand," Cleveland said.

Hall led the Cougars in scoring with 16 points, while Jared Jensen added 10. Five different Cougar players had six or more rebounds; Jensen (7), Hall (6), Mike Rose (6), Austin Ainge (6), and Garner Meads (6), contributing to a season-high total of 47. Until this game, BYU had been 5-0 when leading with five minutes remaining in the game.

"What you'll remember from this game is the mistakes in the last minutes," Cleveland said.

With the loss BYU falls to 5-10 on the season while the Aztecs move to 7-7. BYU next plays Montana State-Billings to finish out non-conference action January 11 at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
San Diego State vs Brigham Young
01/08/05 7:05 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, UT
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VISITORS: San Diego State 7-7, 1-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
20 DAVIS, Trimaine..... f  2-6    0-0    0-0    3  0  3   3   4  0  1  0  0  12
42 SLAUGHTER, Marcus... f  6-17   1-5    4-6    1  5  6   3  17  2  2  0  1  34
50 CAMARA, Mohamed..... c  0-1    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   2   0  0  1  1  1  15
01 HEATH, Brandon...... g  5-16   0-3    1-3    0  2  2   0  11  2  5  0  2  32
11 SMITH, Tyler........ g  0-0    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   0  6  0  0  1  20
00 JOHNSON, Tommy......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  1  0  0  0  10
03 WALTON, Chris.......    6-8    0-2    0-0    3  3  6   1  12  1  1  1  0  30
15 SHARPER, John.......    2-4    1-2    0-0    0  0  0   0   5  1  1  0  1  18
21 THOMAS, Matt........    0-3    0-0    1-2    0  0  0   1   1  1  0  0  1   8
33 MANKER, Chris.......    4-6    0-2    1-1    1  5  6   4   9  3  1  0  1  21
   TEAM................                         2  3  5
   Totals..............   25-62   2-14   7-12  11 22 33  16  59 17 12  2  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  7-31 22.6%   2nd Half: 18-31 58.1%   Game: 40.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-9  11.1%   2nd Half:  1-5  20.0%   Game: 14.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-6  66.7%   2nd Half:  3-6  50.0%   Game: 58.3%    1
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 5-10, 0-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
01 HALL, Mike.......... f  3-12   2-7    8-8    3  3  6   1  16  1  4  0  0  36
52 JENSEN, Jared....... f  3-4    0-0    4-4    4  3  7   1  10  0  1  0  1  31
54 MILES, Chris........ c  4-12   0-0    0-0    3  2  5   2   8  0  1  1  0  25
02 ROSE, Mike.......... g  3-10   1-7    0-0    0  6  6   3   7  2  1  0  0  36
13 AINGE, Austin....... g  4-11   0-3    1-3    1  5  6   1   9  5  5  0  4  38
03 YOUNG, Keena........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
10 NASHIF, Terry.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
20 BURGESS, Sam........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  1  0  0   2
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy....    1-2    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   0   2  0  2  0  0   6
41 MEADS, Garner.......    2-3    0-0    1-2    2  4  6   2   5  0  2  0  0  12
43 DAWES, Derek........    0-2    0-0    0-0    2  1  3   2   0  0  0  0  0   8
   TEAM................                         3  2  5
   Totals..............   20-57   3-19  14-17  18 29 47  13  57  8 17  1  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-33 27.3%   2nd Half: 11-24 45.8%   Game: 35.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-12 25.0%   2nd Half:  0-7   0.0%   Game: 15.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-8  87.5%   2nd Half:  7-9  77.8%   Game: 82.4%    1
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Officials: Scott Thornley, Bill Gracey, Mike Reed
Technical fouls: San Diego State-None. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 12633
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
San Diego State...............   19   40  -   59
Brigham Young.................   28   29  -   57