Balanced Attack Leads BYU over Weber State
OGDEN -- Winning in Ogden for the first time in 10 years, BYU scored 56 second-half points to come from behind and defeat Weber State 84-75 in front of 10,252 in attendance at the Dee Events Center.
The Cougars improved to 8-4 with the win and a perfect 3-0 against instate rivals this season. BYU handed Weber State its first home loss of the year in four games and ended the Wildcats four-game home winning streak against BYU dating back to BYU's last win in 1990. The Wildcats suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time this season with the loss. Weber State, now 5-5 overall, was coming off a loss at Utah State.
BYU trailed at half, 32-28, as its leading scorer, Mekeli Wesley, did not score in the first 20 minutes on four attempts. But Wesley put down 17 second half points to lead a balanced BYU offense that out scored the Wildcats 56-43 in the final 20 minutes. Five Cougars reached double figures for the first time this year. After Wesley's 17 points, Trent Whting had 15, Terrell Lyday 14, and Eric Nielsen and Travis Hansen added 12 apiece.
"I thought we got great offensive execution in the second half," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "Matt (Montague) did what we needed him to do out there and I thought Eric gave us a nice effort for the second straight game."
Montague provided a spark off the bench for the Cougars, adding seven points and a game-high five assists in 18 minutes. With Weber State starting the game with a 10-0 run, BYU had six times gotten to within a possession of equaling the score but had not been able to convert. Montague helped turn the momentum BYU's way when he stole the ball from Wildcat star Jermaine Boyette and fed Hansen for a break-away hammer dunk to finally tie the game at 46 at the 11:58 mark.
BYU did not trail again, and built a lead that reached 12 points thanks to strong free throw shooting. The Cougars went 23-24 from the line in the second half and 30-32 for the game. The Cougars made 24 straight free throws at one point in the game between their only two misses from the line.
Boyette had a career night for Weber State, scoring 36 points with five rebounds and five assists. The quick Wildcat guard went 13-19 from the floor, including 2-3 from three-point range, and was a nearly perfect 8-9 from the line. Center Stephan Bachmann added 13 points while Jake Shoff had a game-high 10 rebounds in a losing effort.
Lyday had a season-high seven rebounds for BYU while playing the entire 40 minutes and having the task of guarding Boyette. Lyday took only one three, a miss, to halt his string of 15 straight games with a made three-pointer, the third longest streak in BYU history. Lyday set the BYU mark at 21 last season.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICSBrigham Young University vs Weber State University
12-28-00 8:00pm at Dee Events Center -- Ogden, Utah
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VISITORS: Brigham Young University 8-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f 5-7 0-0 2-2 1 4 5 4 12 1 3 0 0 34
42 COOPER, Nathan...... f 0-3 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 9
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... c 4-11 1-1 8-8 1 3 4 4 17 2 4 0 1 32
21 WHITING, Trent...... g 4-12 1-3 6-6 0 1 1 2 15 4 1 0 1 33
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g 4-9 0-1 6-6 0 7 7 4 14 0 5 0 1 40
01 KNIGHT, Nate........ 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 6
02 HANSEN, Travis...... 6-7 0-0 0-0 0 5 5 2 12 3 0 1 0 21
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... 1-1 0-0 5-6 0 2 2 2 7 5 2 0 1 18
34 CHRISMAN, Jacob..... 1-1 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 7
TEAM................ 3 1 4
Totals.............. 26-53 2-6 30-32 5 25 30 22 84 15 15 2 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-26 .385 2nd Half: 16-27 .593 Game: .491 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-3 .333 2nd Half: 1-3 .333 Game: .333 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-8 .875 2nd Half: 23-24 .958 Game: .938 1
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HOME TEAM: Weber State University 5-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
14 KING,Damon.......... f 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 3 3 2 0 1 2 1 1 19
40 SHOFF,Jake.......... f 2-5 0-0 3-6 4 6 10 4 7 2 0 0 1 23
35 BACHMANN,Stephan.... c 4-6 0-0 5-6 1 0 1 2 13 2 2 0 0 35
03 BOYETTE,Jermaine.... g 13-19 2-3 8-9 2 3 5 4 36 5 4 0 2 35
43 MORRISON,Stevie..... g 2-9 1-7 0-0 1 2 3 3 5 2 0 0 0 29
11 GATTO,Ivan.......... 0-4 0-3 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 9
13 THURIG,Marc......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
22 HAMILTON,John....... 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 7
23 TEBBS,Quynn......... 0-2 0-1 1-2 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 1 1 8
24 WOODS,Chris......... 2-3 0-0 1-2 1 2 3 2 5 0 3 0 0 18
50 DANLEY,Pat.......... 2-5 0-0 1-2 2 3 5 3 5 0 4 0 0 14
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 26-59 4-19 19-27 12 23 35 23 75 13 16 2 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-35 .400 2nd Half: 12-24 .500 Game: .441 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 .200 2nd Half: 2-9 .222 Game: .211 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-4 .500 2nd Half: 17-23 .739 Game: .704 4
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Officials: Andy Rios, Terry Christman, Bill Gracey
Technical fouls: Brigham Young University-None. Weber State
University-SHOFF,Jake; BENCH.
Attendance: 10252
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Brigham Young University...... 28 56 - 84
Weber State University........ 32 43 - 75
