Aztecs Trip Up Cougars

SAN -- A heroic effort by senior Mike Hall was not enough to lift the Cougars past the Aztecs as BYU fell 66-58 in Cox Arena Monday night. Cougar guard Mike Hall delivered a career-high 24 points, including 4-4 shooting from beyond the arc and Jimmy Balderson added 14 points, hitting BYU's four other three-pointers in the game.

"Mike and Jimmy carried us throughout the entire ball game," said BYU head coach Steve Cleveland. "They were the reason we even had a chance to win this game."

It was a shaky start for both the Cougars and the Aztecs in the first half. Fortunately for BYU, Keena Young's eight first-half points and astounding play by Hall kept the Cougars on top until the eight-minute mark when the Aztecs made a run to overtake the Cougars and head into halftime with a 33-26 advantage.

Early turnovers led to another rocky start for the Cougars in the second half, allowing the Aztecs to extend their lead to 12 points. BYU crawled back with a 13-0 run to take a 40-39 lead at the 14 minute mark, but the Cougar advantage was quickly taken away by the Aztecs. Hot shooting from beyond the arc by BYU kept the game within reach, but the Cougars could not recover from costly turnovers and missed free throws down the stretch.

The Cougars shot 46 percent from the field, 40 percent from beyond the arc and 57 percent from the free throw line. The Cougars were also outscored in the paint by the Aztecs, 14-34.

"We got hurt on the boards significantly," said Cleveland. "What really killed us in this game was San Diego State's 14 offensive rebounds."

BYU has now dropped its sixth game in MWC play and is currently tied for sixth in the league standings with a 2-6 record. The Cougars return home for two games when they match up against Wyoming and Colorado State. The Cougars and Cowboys will meet Saturday at 7 p.m. while tipoff for BYU-CSU is set for Monday at 8 p.m. Both games will be televised by SportsWest Productions.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
BRIGHAM YOUNG vs SAN DIEGO STATE
02-07-05 7:07 pm PST at Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl (San Diego, CA)
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VISITORS: BRIGHAM YOUNG 8-15 (2-6 MWC)
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 YOUNG, Keena........ f  4-7    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   8  0  2  0  0  27
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... f  4-9    4-7    2-5    0  1  1   5  14  1  4  0  0  33
43 DAWES, Derek........ c  1-1    0-0    0-0    2  3  5   5   2  1  2  2  1  20
01 HALL, Mike.......... g  8-12   4-4    4-6    0  4  4   1  24  2  3  1  0  37
13 AINGE, Austin....... g  2-7    0-4    0-0    0  2  2   0   4  3  2  0  1  29
02 ROSE, Mike..........    1-6    0-4    0-0    0  1  1   0   2  1  0  0  0  13
10 NASHIF, Terry.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
20 BURGESS, Sam........    0-2    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  1   4
52 JENSEN, Jared.......    1-2    0-0    1-1    2  2  4   1   3  0  0  0  0  16
54 MILES, Chris........    0-0    0-0    1-2    3  1  4   3   1  3  1  2  0  18
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   21-46   8-20   8-14   7 17 24  16  58 11 14  5  3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-21 47.6%   2nd Half: 11-25 44.0%   Game: 45.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-8  37.5%   2nd Half:  5-12 41.7%   Game: 40.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-5  60.0%   2nd Half:  5-9  55.6%   Game: 57.1%   3,1
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HOME TEAM: SAN DIEGO STATE 10-11 (4-4 MWC)
                          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  6-11   0-0    0-2    5  3  8   1  12  2  2  0  1  24
42 SLAUGHTER, Marcus... f  7-14   0-0    2-3    2  9 11   4  16  1  5  2  0  40
50 CAMARA, Mohamed..... c  0-0    0-0    0-1    2  1  3   1   0  1  2  0  0  21
01 HEATH, Brandon...... g  3-12   0-6    7-8    0  0  0   1  13  2  1  0  1  34
15 SHARPER, John....... g  2-4    1-3    0-0    0  0  0   0   5  0  0  0  2  24
00 JOHNSON, Tommy......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  0  0  0   2
11 SMITH, Tyler........    4-5    3-4    1-2    2  2  4   2  12  2  1  0  0  25
21 THOMAS, Matt........    3-7    0-0    2-2    1  2  3   2   8  2  0  1  3  24
33 MANKER, Chris.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   0  2  2  0  0   6
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   25-53   4-13  12-18  14 18 32  13  66 13 13  3  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-27 44.4%   2nd Half: 13-26 50.0%   Game: 47.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-9  33.3%   2nd Half:  1-4  25.0%   Game: 30.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-8  75.0%   2nd Half:  6-10 60.0%   Game: 66.7%   2,3
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Officials: David Hall, Bill Kennedy, Michael Irving
Technical fouls: BRIGHAM YOUNG-None. SAN DIEGO STATE-None.
Attendance: 6387
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
BRIGHAM YOUNG.................   26   32  -   58
SAN DIEGO STATE...............   33   33  -   66
ID-295593
Points in the paint-BY 14,SD 34. Points off turnovers-BY 21,SD 14.
2nd chance points-BY 9,SD 16. Fast break points-BY 4,SD 4.
Bench points-BY 6,SD 20. Score tied-1 time. Lead changes-3 times.