Marriott Center
500 E University Parkway Provo UT 84604
PROVO -- BYU utilized a stingy defense and a hot hand from senior guard Terrell Lyday to defeat Air Force 62-45 in the Marriott Center Thursday night.
The Falcons began the game missing their first ten field goal attempts as the Cougars scored 15 unanswered points. The Cougar charge was led by Lyday who had 10 points before the Falcons found the bottom of the net. Air Force coach Joe Scott cited the Falcons scoring drought as a reason for the lackluster performance.
"This game was won in the first six minutes," Scott said. "If you want to win a game on the road, you have to go out and take it. We just let them have it in the beginning."
Despite the slow start, the Falcons stayed in the game by playing some defense of their own and by taking advantage of the Cougars' 10 first half turnovers.
"It was evident that our impatience led to too many turnovers," coach Steve Cleveland said. "They were just silly turnovers. Air Force is not an easy team to play against and we can't play like that to win."
The Falcons first half hopes rested on the shoulders of Lamoni Yazzie, as he scored 8 points, including 2 of 3 from the three point line. Air Force fought back into the game early in the second half with a 7-3 run to open the second period, this time led by sophomore center Tom Bellairs. The Falcons closed the gap to just 8 points at 32-24. Scott felt the Falcons' effort was vital to keeping it close.
"I can't question my guys on their effort and their alertness on defense," Scott said. "We're playing pretty good defense. Now, our offense has to get up to where it matches our defense."
The Cougars responded in the second half by posting a 15-5 run of their own, with buckets from Mekeli Wesley, Trent Whiting and Lyday, along with two free throws from junior guard Matt Montague. The run put the Falcons away for the night, with the teams exchanging buckets and fouls for the final ten minutes. Cleveland commented on the Air Force scheme.
"Its hard to get any kind of rhythm or flow against these guys [Air Force]," Cleveland said. "You just never feel comfortable playing that system, at either end of the floor and you don't know what you're going to get."
Lyday led the Cougars with 22 points on 8 for 13 shooting to pace the Cougars. The Cougars other two leading scores, Whiting and Wesley added 11 and 9 respectively. Meanwhile, Bellairs scored a career high 18 points, including 10 for 11 shooting from the free throw line. Yazzie was the only other Falcon in double figures at 11 and shooting 60 percent from behind the arc.
BYU concludes a three-game home stand against Mountain West Conference opponents by facing the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday, Feb. 3. The game is set for a 4 p.m. tipoff.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICSAir Force Academy vs BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars
02/01/01 7:05 at Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Air Force Academy 6-14, 1-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
24 CROFF, Jarvis....... f 1-6 0-2 1-3 1 1 2 2 3 0 2 0 1 20
33 GERLACH, Joel....... f 1-1 1-1 0-0 1 2 3 4 3 1 2 0 3 22
32 BELLAIRS, Tom....... c 4-11 0-2 10-11 4 3 7 3 18 2 5 1 2 39
12 YAZZIE, Lamont...... g 4-10 3-5 0-0 0 2 2 4 11 0 3 0 1 34
22 JENKINS, Vernard.... g 1-6 0-2 3-4 0 2 2 1 5 0 1 0 4 38
02 MANSELL, Selwyn..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 2
10 KUHLE, A.J.......... 0-2 0-1 2-2 0 1 1 1 2 3 0 0 1 26
34 TODD, Robert........ 1-4 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 2 3 1 0 0 0 18
50 PINA, Tysen......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM................
Totals.............. 12-40 5-16 16-20 6 12 18 17 45 7 14 1 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 6-20 .300 2nd Half: 6-20 .300 Game: .300 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 .444 2nd Half: 1-7 .143 Game: .312 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 .500 2nd Half: 15-18 .833 Game: .800 2
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HOME TEAM: BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars 15-6, 4-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... f 2-6 0-3 5-6 2 5 7 1 9 0 4 2 1 29
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 5 0 1 3 2 0 19
21 WHITING, Trent...... g 4-9 3-7 0-0 0 2 2 1 11 4 4 0 2 34
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g 8-13 1-5 5-6 1 1 2 2 22 3 4 0 2 37
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g 1-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 0 2 3 4 2 0 2 27
01 KNIGHT, Nate........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 1
10 ARCHIBALD, Jordan... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
20 BOBIK, Daniel....... 2-2 1-1 1-2 1 2 3 3 6 0 0 0 0 11
23 SHIPPEN, Ty......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
34 CHRISMAN, Jacob..... 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 1 4 1 1 0 0 14
40 HOWARD, Dan......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
42 COOPER, Nathan...... 3-6 0-3 1-2 1 5 6 1 7 1 1 0 1 24
43 DAWES, Derek........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 22-42 5-19 13-17 10 24 34 20 62 14 19 4 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-18 .500 2nd Half: 13-24 .542 Game: .524 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 .333 2nd Half: 2-10 .200 Game: .263 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-9 .889 2nd Half: 5-8 .625 Game: .765 2
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Officials: David Hall, Steve Welmer, Mark Whitehead
Technical fouls: Air Force Academy-None. BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars-None.
Attendance: 16866
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Air Force Academy............. 17 28 - 45
BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars......... 29 33 - 62
Playing three games this week, BYU hosts Air Force (6-13, 1-4) Thursday at 7 p.m. and New Mexico (13-5, 3-2) Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Marriott Center. Coming off a home win Monday over Utah, BYU is 14-6 overall and tied for second in the Mountain West Conference with a 3-2 mark. Thursday's game is televised by KBYU-TV (BYU-TV) and Saturday's is televised on KSL-TV (SportsWest Productions). Both games can be heard on KSL Newsradio 1160 with Greg Wrubell and Mark Durrant calling the action on the Cougar Sports Network.
Game 21 Fast Facts (MWC Game 6)
Brigham Young University Cougars (14-6, 3-2 MWC) vs. Air Force Academy Falcons (6-13, 1-4 MWC)
Thursday, Feb. 1, 2001 • Provo, Utah • Marriott Center (22,700) • 7 p.m. MST
Series:
BYU leads, 35-7
Last Meeting: BYU won in Provo, 73-52 on March 2, 2000
Last Year: Each team won at home
Coaches: BYU, Steve Cleveland (57-54 in fourth year; same overall)
AFA, Joe Scott (6-13 in first year; same overall)
TV:
KBYU, channel 11, and BYU-TV
Play-by-Play - Chris Twitty
Game Analyst - Brett Richins
Radio:
KSL Newsradio 1160 AM (Cougar Sports Network)
Pregame Air Time - 6:30 p.m. MST
Play-by-Play - Greg Wrubell
Game Analyst - Mark Durrant
Game 22 Fast Facts (MWC Game 7)
Brigham Young University Cougars vs. University of New Mexico Lobos (13-5, 3-2 MWC)
Saturday, Feb. 3, 2001 • Provo, Utah • Marriott Center (22,700) • 4 p.m. MST
Series:
BYU leads, 58-46 (.547)
Last Meeting: BYU won 55-43 in the MWC tournament
Last Year: UNM swept the season series
Coaches:
BYU, Steve Cleveland
UNM, Fran Fraschilla (31-19 in second year; 151-78 in eighth year overall)
TV:
SportsWest Productions (KSL, channel 5, in SLC)
Play-by-Play - Tom Kirkland
Game Analyst - Craig Hislop
Radio:
KSL Newsradio 1160 AM (Cougar Sports Network)
Pregame Air Time - 3:30 p.m. MST
Play-by-Play - Greg Wrubell
Game Analyst - Mark Durrant
BYU's Probable Starters:
Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG
F 42 Nathan Cooper 6-6 210 Sr. 4.5 3.8
F 25 Eric Nielsen 6-9 215 Jr. 7.0 4.2
F 15 Mekeli Wesley 6-9 240 Sr. 16.0 5.6
G 24 Terrell Lyday 6-3 195 Sr. 15.4 2.7
G 21 Trent Whiting 6-1 185 Sr. 15.7 2.5
AFA's Probable Starters:
F 24 Jarvis Croff 6-4 190 Sr. 13.2 3.6
F 33 Joel Gerlach 6-6 185 Fr. 6.4 2.2
C 32 Tom Bellairs 6-7 240 So. 7.6 8.2
G 12 Lamoni Yazzie 6-1 180 Jr. 7.7 2.1
G 22 Vernard Jenkins 5-9 181 So. 7.8 2.2
UNM's Probable Starters:
F 4 Wayland White 6-6 205 Sr. 8.9 6.9
C 21 Brian Smith 6-8 245 Sr. 6.0 3.7
G 42 Eric Chatfield 6-3 215 Jr. 16.3 4.6
G 5 Ruben Douglas 6-4 185 So. 15.3 6.2
G 2 Marlon Palmer 6-2 180 So. 10.8 4.4
Scouting Air Force
Air Force (6-13, 1-4 MWC) returns three starters and nine lettermen from last year's 8-20 team. The Falcons are under the direction of first-year coach Joe Scott, who as a 1987 Princeton graduate brings the Tiger's distinct style to Clune Arena. The Falcons are coming off a 46-45 home win over Colorado State Monday. The win ended a 13-game losing skid to the Rams, including six straight in Clune Arena. Including Monday's win over CSU, Air Force has held nine opponents this year under 60 points. The Falcons hold opponents to an average of 62.2 points per game while averaging 57.1. Only three teams, Wake Forest, Long Beach State and Wyoming, have totaled more than 70 points against the Falcons this season. The six Falcon wins include home victories over Central Connecticut (63-56 in OT), Liberty (82-57) and CSU (46-45), neutral court wins over Houston (59-53) and Cornell (63-51) and an away triumph at Denver (51-49). AFA's five division I non-conference wins equals the most in the school's history. The Falcons make nearly 10 threes per game (9.3), which ranks sixth nationally. They are led senior forward Jarvis Croff, a second-team all-conference selection last season. He averages 13.2 points and 3.6 rebounds. Freshman forward Robert Todd adds 11.1 points and 23.1 rebounds off the bench. Sophomore forward Tom Bellairs pulls down 8.2 rebounds per game to lead the Falcons.
Series History
This will be the 43th meeting between the two teams dating back to 1961. BYU leads the series 35-7 (.837). The two teams split the season series last year. BYU won the last game, a 73-52 win in Provo on March 2, 2000. Because of the quadrant alignments of the Western Athletic Conference, this year marks the first time since the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons that BYU and Air Force have played a season series in two consecutive years. The Cougars and Falcons have each won at home the last two seasons they have met (1997-98 and 1999-2000). BYU has won 10 straight in the Marriott Center. Air Force's last win in Provo was a 79-78 victory on Jan. 24, 1989. After that loss in the Marriott Center, BYU proceeded to win the next 14 games in the series before Air Force's home win in 1998. BYU has won eight of the last 10 and 21 of the last 24 meetings. Steve Cleveland is 2-2 against the Falcons.
Air Force Quick Facts:
General Info
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Founded: 1954
Enrollment: 4,100
Nickname: Falcons
Colors: Blue, Silver
Home Arena: Clune Arena (6,002)
Conference: Mountain West
Athletic Director: Col. Randall W. Spetman
Basketball Info
Head Coach: Joe Scott
Alma Mater: Princeton (1987)
Office Phone: (719) 333-3039
Overall Record (Years): 5-13 (1st year)
Record at School (Years): Same
Assistant Coaches: Kyle Smith, Chris Mooney, Maj. Jon Jordan
1999-2000
Overall Record: 8-20
Conf. Record/Finish: 4-10 / 7th
Final Ranking/Post Season Finish: N/A
2000-2001
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 9/6
Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
Returning Starters (last year's stats)
Tom Bellairs, 6-6, 235, So., F (8.2 ppg, 9.2 rpg)
Jarvis Croff, 6-4, 190, Sr., G (17.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
Vernard Jenkins, 5-9, 177, So., G (4.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg)
Media Relations
Basketball Contact: Troy Garnhart
Office: (719) 333-4263
Home: (719) 282-9372
E-mail: troy.garnhart@usafa.af.mil
Fax: (719) 333-4063
Website: www.airforcesports.com
Scouting New Mexico
New Mexico (13-5, 3-2) returns one starter and four lettermen from last year's 18-14 team that advanced to the second round of the NIT tournament. The Lobos are coming off a home loss against conference leader Wyoming Monday (82-78). New Mexico has lost three of its last four games. The Lobos began the stretch with a loss at No. 1 Stanford (75-44) before losing at UNLV (80-72), defeating Colorado State (72-71) at home in overtime and being set back by the Cowboys Monday. In addition to its win over CSU, New Mexico has conference wins over San Diego State and Air Force. Overall, the Lobos are 3-3 on the road this year and 10-2 at home. New Mexico has three players scoring in double figures, led by junior college transfer Eric Chatfield (6-3, Jr., G) at 16.3 points per game. Arizona transfer Ruben Douglas (6-4, So., G) adds 15.3 points in his first season in Albuquerque while returning letterman Marlon Palmer (6-2, So., G) contributes 10.8 points and a team-best 106 assists (5.8 apg). Douglas, who has played in 12 games since becoming eligible on Dec. 21, pulls down 6.2 rebounds per contest, second only to returning starter Wayland White (6-6, Sr., F), who grabs 6.9 boards per game and scores 8.9 points. Tim Lightfoot (6-3, Jr., G) has been adding 9.7 points primarily off the bench for the Lobos. New Mexico averages 71.6 points while allowing 66.1. The Lobos shoot 44.7 percent from the floor, 32.4 percent on threes and 62.5 percent from the line.
Series History
This will be the 105th meeting in the series with BYU holding a 58-46 (.547) advantage in the series dating back to 1951. New Mexico has won 11 of the last 15 outings dating back to the 1993-94 season, including nine of the last 11. BYU won the last meeting, a 55-43 victory at the Mountain West Conference tournament in Las Vegas on March 9, 2000. BYU's win halted four straight Lobo victories as New Mexico had swept the season series last year and in 1998-1999. The four straight Lobo wins came after BYU's last win was in Albuquerque -- an 83-62 upset of the then No. 15-ranked Lobos on Feb. 26, 1998 to end UNM's school-record 41-game home winning streak. BYU leads the series in Provo 34-15 but UNM has won the last five (and six of last seven) in the Marriott Center. BYU's last win in Provo was Jan . 28, 1995 (81-63). BYU coach Steve Cleveland is 2-5 against the Lobos.
New Mexico Quick Facts:
General Info
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Founded: 1889
Enrollment: 24,250
Nickname: Lobos
Colors: Cherry and Silver
Home Arena: The Pit/Bob King Court (18018)
Conference: Mountain West
Athletic Director: Rudy Davalos
Basketball Info
Head Coach: Fran Fraschilla
Alma Mater: Brooklyn College (1980)
Overall Record (Years): 151-78 (8th year)
Record at School (Years): 31-19 (2nd year)
Assistant Coaches: Joe Dooley, Darren Savino, Travis Lyons
1999-2000
Overall Record: 18-14
Conf. Record/Finish: 9-5 / 3rd
Final Ranking/Post Season Finish: 2nd round NIT
2000-2001
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 4/6
Starters Returning/Lost: 1/4
Returning Starters (last year's stats)
Wayland White, F, 6-6, 225, Sr. (9.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg)
Media Relations
Basketball Contact: Greg Remington
Office: (505) 925-5520
Home: (505) 293-5048
E-mail: gregrem@unm.edu
Fax: (505) 925-5529
Website: www.golobos.com
BYU TEAM NOTES
Notables from Monday's BYU Win over Utah
• BYU defeated Utah in consecutive meetings for the first time since the 1993-94 season when the Cougars won four straight, including the first meeting of the 1994-95 season.
• BYU moved to 4-0 for the season versus in-state opponents to claim the Oquirrh Bucket which honors the team with the best record against instate opponents each year. The Cougars have now defeated every team in the state at least once for second consecutive year. BYU ended Utah's string of six straight Oquirrh Bucket triumphs. BYU has won the instate competition eight times since the first Oquirrh Bucket in the 1974-75 season.
• Steve Cleveland is now 10-9 versus in-state opponents, moving above .500 for the first time in his career at BYU. The victory improves his record against Utah to 2-7, which is the only team Coach Cleveland has an in-state losing record.
• The line-up of Whiting, Lyday, Cooper, Nielsen and Wesley is undefeated during the 2000-01 campaign (2-0). The line-up also defeated Weber State on Dec. 28.
• Trent Whiting led the Cougars with 21 on 8-14 shooting from the field and 8-8 from the free throw line. Mekeli Wesley added 16 and Terrell Lyday contributed 14 in the effort.
• In addition to leading BYU with 21 points, Trent Whiting dished out a career-best 8 assists against Utah. Mekeli Wesley made a career-high 4 three pointers, going 4-6 from behind the arc.
• Matt Montague went 1-2 from behind the three point line, it was the first time in 14 games that Montague had made a three pointer. Montague went 6-7 on three pointers in the first 5 games and then fell to 0-7 in the next 14 games.
BYU In the polls (jan. 29)
BYU did not receive any votes in the national polls released Monday. New Mexico received one vote (T43rd) in the AP poll while Wyoming received five votes (33rd) in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll. BYU had received seven votes (32nd) in the prior ESPN/USA Today poll before losing at Wyoming.
sagarin ratings (Jan. 29)
BYU had the second-best rating among MWC teams according to the Jan. 29 Sagarin Ratings. The records below reflect Division I games.
Rk Team Rating Record
56 Wyoming 81.32 13-4
60 BYU 80.85 13-6
66 Utah 80.02 8-8
86 New Mexico 78.77 12-4
99 CSU 77.02 9-6
103 UNLV 76.89 10-8
133 SDSU 76.89 10-7
245 Air Force 64.72 6-13
College RPI ratings (Jan. 29)
BYU has the third-highest RPI rating among MWC teams according to the Jan. 29 CollegeRPI.com ratings computed by Jerry Palm and the Collegiate Basketball News. The Mountain West Conference is rated 10th among the 32 conferences (and five independents) in the country.
Team CBN/CollegeRPI.com
New Mexico 51/48
Utah 52/53
BYU 64/64
Wyoming 66/731
UNLV 92/90
CSU 111/111
SDSU 161/161
Air Force 250/247
BYU In the National Stats (jan. 22)
T5th -- Free Throw Percentage 76.6
T10th -- Home Winning Streak 16 games
BYU Ranks Third Nationally in Free Throw Shooting
BYU is ranked fifth in the nation in free throw percentage in the latest NCAA statistics released Tuesday. The Cougars are shooting 76.6 percent as a team. Eight players are shooting 70 percent or better, with four shooting better than 80 percent (Wesley, Whiting, Bobik, Howard).
Scoring Points
Nine BYU players have had double figures scoring games this season. The regular starters (Wesley, Lyday, Whiting, Nielsen, Hansen) are the only players to reach double figures in BYU's five conference games. Wesley scored the individual season high thus far with his 29 points at Wyoming. Wesley, Terrell Lyday and Trent Whiting are the only three players to earn team-high game scoring honors this year. Wesley carries more of the scoring load on the road, scoring 19.3 ppg while Lyday adds 14.8 and Whiting 13.0. At home, Whiting and Wesley tend to reverse roles with Whiting scoring 18.0 points with Lyday adding 15.9 and Wesley 13.4.
Offense
BYU has topped 50 percent five times this year, all wins, including home wins over San Diego State and UNLV. Four of the five games over 50 percent were in the Marriott Center. The one road game BYU shot over 50 percent was vs. Boise State (53.3 percent) during the Yahoo! Sports Invitational in Hawaii. BYU has scored 40 or more points in the first half in five of the last seven games (except CSU and Utah) while also holding its opponents to less than 30 points in five of seven games (except CSU and Wyoming).
Defense
BYU holds opponents to 63 points and a 40 field goal percentage, including 29 percent on threes. BYU has held its last six opponents at home to under 40 percent shooting and has held half (10 of 20) of its opponents overall under 40 percent shooting. BYU has not allowed an opponent to shoot 40 percent on threes in the last 10 straight games and 17 of 20 games overall. BYU held the MWC's top shooting team, CSU, to 41.7 percent in Moby Arena, nearly nine percentage points below their season average, before allowing Wyoming a 50.9 percentage in Laramie. BYU has also had success shutting down the opponent's top player. BYU held the MWC's leading scorer, Marcus Bailey, to nine points, more than 10 points under his average, at Wyoming. BYU held UNLV center Kaspars Kambala, averaging 18.3 points and 10.3 rebounds entering the game, to two points and three rebounds. Against SDSU, Aztec star forward Randy Holcomb was the only player to reach double figures, but BYU held the two-time MWC Player of the Week winner to 13 points, almost five points below his team-leading season scoring average.
70-Point Mark
Colorado State became the first BYU opponent to score less than 70 points and still win. BYU is 13-1 when holding opponents to less than 70 points. BYU is 1-5 when opponents have scored 70 or more points. Wyoming scored 85 points, the most points given up by the Cougars this season.
On the Boards
BYU was out rebounded 42-26 by Utah Monday. BYU equaled Wyoming in rebounds, 35-35, in the previous game and had out rebounded its opponents in five of the previous six games. CSU out rebounded BYU, 41-33. BYU had 37 rebounds vs. UNLV and grabbed 40 or more rebounds in the four prior games. BYU has totaled 40 or more boards six times this year. The Cougars are averaging 34.0 rebounds per game while out boarding their opponents by a slim 0.2 rebounds per game. Mekeli Wesley pulls down a team-best 5.6 boards per game.
Whiting Adds Third Threat to Cougar Attack
In addition to last year's one-two scoring punch of Mekeli Wesley and Terrell Lyday, BYU has another potent scorer in transfer Trent Whiting. He scored a game-high 21 vs. Utah Monday, had a team-leading 13 at CSU and had a career-high 26 points while going 10-15 from the field and 3-6 on treys vs. UNLV. He had 17 points vs. SDSU. He had his string of consecutive double-digit points games stop at 11 when he scored a season-low 7 points at Wyoming Monday. A transfer from Utah, he has reached double figures in 12 of 13 games since becoming eligible to play on Dec. 16 vs. Utah State. He is second in scoring at 15.7 ppg.
Whiting, Knight Made Strong BYU Debuts
Transfer players Trent Whiting (Utah) and Nate Knight (Kentucky) made their Cougar debuts Dec. 16 vs. Utah State after sitting out the first seven games of the year because of transfer rules. Whiting scored a game-high 22 points on 7-11 shooting, including 4-7 threes, in a team-high 39 minutes in his debut while Knight made a solid contribution with five points and six rebounds in 18 minutes. Neither player had played in a game for more than a year since transferring last fall.
Cleveland's Record
Steve Cleveland is now 57-54 overall in his fourth year, having improved the Cougars in each year since taking over a 1-25 program. With BYU's win over Idaho on Jan. 2 Cleveland went above a .500 winning percentage for the first time since going 1-0 with a win in his first game at San Diego State in 1997. He had evened his winning percentage at .500 twice this year. He went to 50-50 with a win over Boise State in Hawaii before the Cougars suffered back-to-back close defeats to ranked teams. Wins at Weber State and vs. South Alabama brought his record to 52-52 , the last time he was at .500.
Wesley Moving Up Career Charts
Mekeli Wesley has 1,492 career points, ninth on the all-time BYU list. He needs 22 points to pass Kresimir Cosic into eighth place. He has previously passed Andy Toolson vs. South Alabama into 10th place and moved ahead of Jay Cheesman vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi into ninth. Wesley is sixth all-time at BYU in free throw attempts with 546 and seventh in free throws made with 423. He needs to make nine more to move past Mike Smith (431) into sixth place and is 57 attempts from passing Fred Roberts into fifth place.
Trey Lyday
In the last six games Lyday is 14-28 (.500) from three-point range. He is 10-15 (.667) at home in BYU's three MWC wins and is 1-7 (.145) in BYU's two MWC road losses. He went 0-5 at CSU and 1-2 at Wyoming. Lyday's 0-5 night on threes at CSU was only the second game this year in which he has not made a trey but he didn't make his three at Wyoming until the final buzzer. Overall, he makes 50 percent of his threes at home and on the road he connects on 27.1 percent of his attempts (16 percent in true away games). On the year he is shooting 39 percent on threes overall, making a team-leading 39 triples.
Streaks
BYU ended its third two game losing streak of the year with its win vs. Utah Monday. The Cougars also had back-to-back losses on three occasions last season. BYU has not lost more than two consecutive games since losing three straight in February of the 1998-99 season. BYU had its six-game winning streak halted with its loss at CSU last week. The six-game streak was BYU's longest since a seven-game victory string during the 1994-95 season. BYU has reached five straight wins four times under coach Cleveland. Two times last year and twice this season.
Home Court Streak
The Cougars have a 16-game home winning streak dating back to last year when BYU won its final five contests in the Marriott Center. The home court streak is the 10th-longest active home success run in the nation. BYU is 11-0 at home this season. BYU's last home loss was to New Mexico (78-74) on Feb. 17, 2000.
BYU at Home
BYU is 11-0 at home this year after going 14-2 at home last year. The Cougars have a 16-game home winning streak. BYU is shooting 49.5 percent from the floor and 45 percent on threes in the Marriott Center this year. The Cougars are out rebounding their opponents at home 35.8-33.0. BYU is scoring 75.8 points at home while giving up 56 points. BYU has won its 11 home games by an average of 19.8 points. BYU has a high of 100 points (vs. Elon College) and a low of 58 points (vs. Southern Utah).
BYU on the Road
BYU is 3-6 in away and neutral games this year, including a 2-2 neutral court record and a 1-4 away mark. The Cougars away win was at Weber State. BYU is shooting 42.2 percent from the floor, 26.8 percent on threes and 80 percent on free throws away from the Marriott Center. The Cougars are being out rebounded 34.8-31.8. BYU has a 2.7-point scoring deficit on the road while averaging 68.8 points. BYU has a high of 84 points (at Weber State) on the road and a low of 52 points (at ASU). In BYU's five true away games, the Cougars are only shooting 38.5 percent from the floor, including 19.7 percent (13-66) from three-point range.
BYU Owns Nation's Top One-Game Shooting Percentage
BYU's 70.8 percent shooting vs. Elon College is the top single-game shooting percentage in the nation this year. The effort was the best by a BYU team since the 1983 squad set the school record making 73.6 percent vs. St. Mary's.
BYU's record when . . .
BYU leads at half 12-3
Opponent leads at half 2-3
Score tied at half 0-0
BYU leads with 5 minutes left 13-2
Opponent leads with 5 min. left 1-4
BYU leads with 1 minute left 13-0
Opponent leads with 1 min. left 1-6
Score tied with 1 minute left 0-0
Game goes into overtime 0-0
BYU out rebounds opponent 8-0
Opponent out rebounds BYU 5-5
BYU and opponent tie in rebounds 1-1
BYU shoots 50 % or better 5-0
Opponent shoots 50 % or better 0-4
BYU out shoots opponent 14-1
Opponent out shoots BYU 0-5
BYU scores 70 or more 8-3
BYU scores less than 70 6-3
Opponent scores 70 or more 1-5
Opponent scores less than 70 13-1
Trey Barometer
BYU is shooting 44.3 percent (90-203) on threes in its 14 victories this season but is only 19-89 (21.3 percent) from behind the arc in its five losses. BYU has shot 51.8 percent (29-56) on threes in its three home MWC wins and 16.7 percent (4-24) in its two road MWC losses. The following breakdown reflects total individual player three-point field goal percentages during BYU wins and losses:
Player Wins Losses
Terrell Lyday 31-67 (.463) 8-33 (.242)
Trent Whiting 24-50 (.480) 3-22 (.136)
Mekeli Wesley 11-23 (.478) 3-12 (.250)
Nathan Cooper 8-14 (.571) 0-3 (.000)
Daniel Bobik 7-27 (.259) 1-5 (.200)
Travis Hansen 3-8 (.375) 2-7 (.286)
Matt Montague 5-11 (.455) 2-5 (.400)
Training Room News
Hansen Out with Stress Fracture
Travis Hansen will be out for 2-4 weeks with a stress fracture in his right foot. He played with the injury vs. Uah but is very sore and now has some infection in the area.
BYU PLAYER NOTES
Mekeli Wesley (16.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg overall -- 16.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 16 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal in 25 minutes vs. Utah.
• Wesley made a career-best 4 treys vs. Utah in 6 attempts. His game-high for attempts is 7.
• Wesley did not attempt a free throw for only the second game this season Monday against Utah. The other game was at home vs. San Diego State.
• He attempted a career-high 21 field goals while making a season-high 10 baskets at Wyoming. He also had his second-best rebounding effort of the year with 11 boards.
• His double-double at Wyoming was his first this year and the fifth of his career.
• He leads the team with a 16.0 points per game average. Wesley carries more of the scoring load on the road, averaging 19.3 points compared to his 13.1 average at home.
• Wesley has scored in double figures in 17 of BYU's 20 games, including the last five. He has been the Cougars' top scorer or shared the honor in 11 games. Last year he had double figures in 30 of 33 games and led the Cougar in scoring in 17 games.
• He leads the team with 5.6 rebounds per game. He has led the team in rebounds in nine games and has a team-best 32 offensive boards and 80 defensive rebounds.
• He became this year's first repeat winner of the MWC Player of the Week award (Jan. 3) after leading BYU over the holiday two-week, five-game stretch with team bests of 19.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game while shooting 54.2 percent from the floor, 60 percent from behind the three-point arc, and 88.6 percent from the free throw line. He also handed out 1.2 assists per game during the stretch. He earned his first MWC Player of the Week honor this year on Dec. 11.
• He was named to the Yahoo! Sports Invitational All-Tournament Team Dec. 23 while averaging 21.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in three games. He was 22-33 (.667) from the floor and 19-23 (.826) from the line. He also made his only three-point attempt. He had games of 19, 26 and 19 points.
• After starting the year shooting 34.9 percent in the first four games, he shot 60.8 percent over the next seven games and is now shooting 49.1 percent for the year.
• Wesley has 1,492 career points, ninth on the all-time BYU list. He needs 22 points to pass Kresimir Cosic into eighth place. Wesley is sixth all-time at BYU in free throw attempts with 546 and seventh in free throws made with 423. He needs to make nine more to move past Mike Smith (431) into sixth place and is 57 attempts from passing Fred Roberts into fifth place. This year Wesley has team highs of 93 FT makes and 116 attempts and is shooting 80.2 percent from the line.
Terrell Lyday (15.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.4 apg overall -- 16.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.2 apg MWC)
Last Game: 14 points, 2 rebounds in 34 minutes vs. Utah.
• Lyday is third on the team in scoring at 15.4 ppg.
• He was named the MWC Player of the Week Jan. 15 after scoring 24 points in 22 minutes vs. SDSU.
• Lyday and Mekeli Wesley have five 20-plus point games this year.
• Lyday averages 31.9 minutes on the year, second only to Trent Whiting's 34 minutes. They are the only two players to average more than 30 minutes per game.
• Lyday has reached double figures in 17 of 20 games this year. He has reach double figures in 47 of 53 games in his two years at BYU.
• Terrell has made 26-52 (.500) threes in 11 home games but is 4-25 (.160) in five true away games. He is 9-23 (.391) in four neutral court contests. Overall he shoots 39 on threes.
• Including his 2-6 night vs. UTah in BYU's last home game, Lyday has made multiple threes in 11 games this year. He is 14-28 (.500) in his last six games on treys. Last year he made two or more treys in 20 of 33 games.
• He has made a trey in 18 of 20 games this season. At CSU (0-5) he ended a string of five straight games with a three. He had not made a three in his last two road games before making a trey (1-2) at the buzzer at Wyoming. At Weber State he ended a string of 15 straight games with a three dating back to last year. The 15-game streak is third on the BYU all-time list. He set the BYU record with a trey in the first 21 games of last year. He made a three in each of BYU's first 11 games this year.
Trent Whiting (15.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.5 apg -- 16.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.4 apg MWC)
Last Game: Game-high 21 points with 2 rebounds, 2 steals and career-best 8 assists in 36 minutes vs. Utah.
• He is second on the team in scoring at 15.7 ppg. He is averaging 2.75 steals per game over the last four games. He plays a team-high 34 minutes per game. He is shooting 47 percent, 37.5 percent on threes, and 80.4 percent from the line.
• He did not start at Wyoming while blisters on his toe was being attended to but he checked in at the 19:50 mark for Matt Montague, missing only 10 seconds of early action. He tied a career best of 3 steals for the third straight game at Wyoming.
• He failed to reach double figures for the first time this season at Wyoming, ending a string of 11 straight double-digit games. He was 3-8 from the floor and 0-3 on threes for 7 points. He had a team-high 13 points at CSU but was 4-13 from the field, including 1-6 on threes.
• He scored a career-high 26 point vs. UNLV. He was 10-15 from the floor, including 3-6 on threes, vs. UNLV. He has led the Cougars in scoring in three games.
• Starting in his BYU debut, Whiting hit his first three shots and made four of five threes to score 14 first half points. He made several big plays in the game. He nailed a buzzer-beating three from 30-plus range to put BYU up 41-40 to end the half. He later made a critical steal and layup to tie the game with 2:40 remaining and made two free throws in the last minute to tie the score again at 67. He was 7-11 from the floor on the night. With Lyday playing only 26 minutes because of an ankle sprain, Whiting played both guard positions, coming out for only one minute.
Nathan Cooper (4.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg overall -- 3.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 3 points, team-high 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal in 24 minutes vs. Utah.
• Cooper started in place of the injured Travis Hansen vs. Utah.
• He has taken only four shots in the last four games. He went 0-1 vs. Utah.
• He is shooting 50 percent overall this year and is 8-17 on threes (.471). After being last year's top Cougar (.778) from the free throw line, he is shooting 68.2 percent (30-44) from the line this year. He has never averaged less than 74 percent (as a freshman) from the line over the course of a season.
• He is third on the team in rebounding (3.8) and sixth in scoring (4.5).
• Prior to Monday's start vs. Utah he had come off the bench in the prior seven games. He has 11 starts overall, including the first seven games.
Eric Nielsen (7.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg overall -- 7.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 8 points, 1 rebound, 2 blocks in 34 minutes vs. Utah.
• Nielsen is fourth on the team in scoring (7.0) and second in rebounding (4.2). He is averaging 9 points over the last four games.
• He had his sixth double-digit scoring game of the year at Wyoming.
• After not scoring for the first time this year vs. Iowa State, he reached double figures in three straight games for the first time in his career.
• He returned to the starting lineup in the last nine games. He has 17 starts overall.
• Nielsen had his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds vs. South Alabama.
• He is 10-14 (.714) from the floor in the last two games. Nielsen is shooting a team-best 60 percent from the floor. Last year he had the eighth best season field goal percentage in BYU history with a 57.8 percentage. His current 56.0 career percentage ranks third all-time at BYU among starters having made 209-373 field goals.
Travis Hansen (6.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg overall -- 7.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 2 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal in 11 minutes vs. Utah.
• He played sparingly off the bench vs. Utah because of a stress fracture in his right foot. The fracture was discovered Wednesday by a bone scan. He will be out 2-4 weeks. He averaged 9 points and 5.5 rebounds in BYU's two road losses at CSU and Wyoming.
• He had started the last seven games before his injury and has nine total starts. The Cougars are 7-2 (CSU, Wyoming) when Hansen starts and 7-4 in games he came off the bench. He came off the bench in the first seven games of the season before getting his first start.
• Overall, he is fifth on the team in scoring (6.3) and fourth in rebounding (3.2).
• He averaged 8.2 points and 3.7 rebounds during BYU's six-game winning streak.
Nate Knight (3.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg overall -- 1.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 5 rebounds in 11 minutes vs. Utah.
• He is 11-26 (.423) on the year and has made 17-22 (.773) free throws.
• He averages 12.8 minutes as one of the first substitutes off the bench. He has two starts.
• In BYU's last home game vs. UNLV he did not take a shot but played a key role helping guard UNLV center Kaspars Kambala. The UNLV star came in averaging a double-double but was held without a field goal while scoring 2 points and grabbing only 3 rebounds.
Matt Montague (2.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.7 apg overall -- 1.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.2 apg MWC)
Last Game: 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal in 13 minutes vs. Utah.
• Montague made 1-2 threes vs. Utah. He hit his first attempt to end a string of seven straight missed threes over the previous 14 games. He started at Wyoming when Trent Whiting was delayed while having blisters on his foot attended to. Whiting came in after only 10 seconds ran off the clock.
• He did not have an assist for the first time this year at CSU.
• He has a team-best 73 assists (Whiting is next with 33).
• He has taken eight shots in the last five games, three coming vs. Utah Monday.
• He had no rebounds or points for the second time this year in 15 minutes vs. SDSU. He has not scored in 10 games overall.
• He started the first seven games but has come off the bench (except Wyoming) since Trent Whiting made his BYU debut vs. Utah State. He is still fourth in minutes played per game at 22.9 (behind Whiting, Lyday and Wesley).
• He started the year making his first eight shots, including 5-5 on threes, but is 2-19 from the floor in the last 13 games. Overall, he is shooting 42.1 percent from the floor and 43.8 percent from three-point range. He has more than doubled the number of treys (7-16) he made all of last year (3-12).
Daniel Bobik (3.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg overall -- 0.2 ppg, 1.0 rpg MWC)
Last Game: Played one minute vs. Utah.
• He had two steals in only 6 minutes at Wyoming. He has only played limited minutes since playing 15 minutes vs. SDSU. Against SDSU, he went 0-6, including 0-5 on treys. He has not made a field goal since scoring 11 points in 12 minutes vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
• He has played double-digit minutes in seven games this year and is averaging 6.7 points in those games. He has played less than 10 minutes in 10 games and averaged 1.5 points in those games. He has not played in three games.
Jacob Chrisman (3.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg overall -- 1.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 2 points in 6 minutes vs. Utah.
• He did not score for the third time this year while playing only 2 minutes at Wyoming. He has scored in 16 of the 19 games he has played (except SUU, UNLV, Wyoming). He has had a rebound in 16 of 19 games played (except Rice, SUU and Utah).
• Prior to his limited play at Wyoming, he had pulled down 19 boards in the previous four games (4.8 rpg) after totalling only 17 rebounds in the prior 10 games (1.7 rpg) in which he played. He had back-to-back career highs of 6 and 8 rebounds vs. TAMCC and SDSU.
• He did not play for the only time this year vs. ISU.
• He is 24-42 (.571) from the field this year.
Derek Dawes (1.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg overall -- 0.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg MWC)
Last Game: Did not play.
• He played during the critical final minutes of the Wyoming game with Eric Nielsen and Nate Knight having fouled out. He was 0-1 at Wyoming. He has taken nine shots in the last 13 games in which he has played (appeared in 15 of 20 games). He is 7-16 (.438) on the year from the field.
• He averages 2.3 rebounds in 5.6 minutes per game.
Dan Howard (1.2 ppg, 0.8 rpg overall -- 0.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg MWC)
Last Game: 1 rebound in 4 minutes vs. Utah.
• He has played in 10 game overall, including 6 of the last 10 games.
• He is 5-8 from both the floor and 2-2 from the line this year. Last year he was 3-3 from the floor before being forced to redshirt with a knee injury.
Ty Shippen (0.9 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.5 apg overall -- 1.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.0 apg MWC)
Last Game: Did not play.
• He hit the three vs. SDSU that tied the BYU team record for 13 treys in a game.
• He has played 22 minutes in eight games. After averaging 5 minutes in BYU's first two home wins, he has played 12 total minutes since.
Jordan Archibald (0.1 ppg, 0.1 apg overall -- 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg MWC)
Last Game: Played 1 minute vs. Utah.
• He played one minute vs. UNLV and missed his only shot in limited play vs. SDSU. He has played 14 minutes this year, six in the season opener vs. Elon College.
