Poor Shooting, Turnovers Doom Cougars in Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- The UNLV Runnin' Rebels didn't show any love to BYU Valentine's night in Las Vegas, handing the Cougars their first conference road loss of the season 61-54.

BYU played well defensively and out-rebounded UNLV 47-31 on the night, but its 23 turnovers were the most since the team lost at Creighton 74-64 earlier this season. BYU held UNLV to 40 percent shooting in their own gym, including 25 percent from behind the three-point arc.

"Turnovers and missed shots are a bad combination; you can't do that on the road and expect to win," said BYU head coach Steve Cleveland.

The Cougars' poor shooting and a season-high-equaling 23 turnovers led to their lowest scoring output of the season. BYU shot a season-low 34.5 percent as a team from the field and 25 percent from the three-point line.

Marcus Banks and Dalron Johnson led UNLV with 19 points apiece. Johnson did most of his scoring before intermission, while Banks took over in the second half.

Travis Hansen led BYU with 18 points. The only other Cougar in double figures was Jared Jensen with 12 points.

Cleveland said the team looked tired, having played their third game in seven days.

"We haven't practiced very much this week, and obviously it caught with us tonight," Cleveland said.

The game was tied at 27 after one half, and featured six lead changes and six ties. UNLV scored first in the second half, and never trailed the rest of the game. The Rebels pushed the lead to 16 in the second half before the Cougars cut it to seven to end the game.

Junior forward Mark Bigelow was held scoreless in the first half, and finished the game with only four points, on 1-14 shooting (0-6 three pointers). Bigelow came in shooting 45 percent from the floor and 51 percent on threes in league games, and 44 percent on field goals and 48 percent on threes overall.

The loss drops BYU to 6-2 in conference play and 17-6 overall. The Cougars return to Provo to host San Diego State Monday at 9 p.m. in the Marriott Center. The game will be televised by SportsWest on KJZZ-TV.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
BYU vs UNLV
02/14/03  7:30 PM at Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nev.
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VISITORS: BYU 17-6, 6-2 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 BIGELOW, Mark....... f  1-14   0-6    2-2    3  3  6   3   4  5  4  1  1  36
52 JENSEN, Jared....... f  5-9    0-0    2-3    4  2  6   3  12  0  0  0  0  32
55 ARAUJO, Rafael...... c  2-3    0-0    2-3    3  7 10   3   6  0  5  0  0  23
02 HANSEN, Travis...... g  6-15   1-5    5-6    3  2  5   3  18  3  4  1  1  39
24 WOODBERRY, Kevin.... g  3-8    3-5    0-1    0  3  3   2   9  1  5  1  1  29
04 LEMES, Luiz.........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
05 SHOFF, Jake.........    0-1    0-0    0-0    1  4  5   1   0  1  0  0  1  17
10 NASHIF, Terry.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   2   0  3  3  0  0  13
14 BOWER, Ricky........    0-2    0-2    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  1  0  0   4
15 ALLEN, John.........    2-2    1-1    0-0    2  2  4   1   5  0  0  0  0   5
   TEAM................                         1  5  6             1
   Totals..............   19-55   5-20  11-15  17 30 47  19  54 13 23  3  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-29 37.9%   2nd Half:  8-26 30.8%   Game: 34.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-11 27.3%   2nd Half:  2-9  22.2%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-3  66.7%   2nd Half:  9-12 75.0%   Game: 73.3%    2
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HOME TEAM: UNLV 15-7, 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
10 JOHNSON, Dalron..... f  6-12   1-2    6-7    2  2  4   5  19  2  3  0  0  37
34 PETERS, James....... f  2-7    0-0    1-2    2  1  3   4   5  1  2  0  3  36
55 EDWARDS, JK......... c  4-7    0-0    1-3    3  7 10   5   9  2  2  2  3  26
03 BANKS, Marcus....... g  6-14   2-5    5-7    0  2  2   1  19  5  2  1  3  40
05 LEWIS, Jermaine..... g  2-11   0-6    0-0    0  5  5   1   4  0  2  0  2  38
01 HUNTER, Demetrius...    0-2    0-2    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   7
12 TURNER, Ernest......    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   3  0  0  0  0   2
14 PEARSON, Omari......    1-1    0-0    0-1    2  2  4   0   2  1  0  0  0  14
24 BIGBY, Lamar........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
   TEAM................                         1  2  3             1
   Totals..............   22-55   4-16  13-20  10 21 31  16  61 11 12  3 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-24 41.7%   2nd Half: 12-31 38.7%   Game: 40.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-8  25.0%   2nd Half:  2-8  25.0%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-8  62.5%   2nd Half:  8-12 66.7%   Game: 65.0%    0
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Officials: Scott Thornley, Mark Whitehead, Shawn Lehigh
Technical fouls: BYU-None. UNLV-PETERS, James.
Attendance: 13414
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
BYU...........................   27   27  -   54
UNLV..........................   27   34  -   61
Statistics provided by Jim Shaffer & crew (702) 896-5677 statman@winning.com
Points in the paint-BY 22,LV 30. Points off turnovers-BY 6,LV 22.
2nd chance points-BY 11,LV 11. Fast break points-BY 2,LV 4.
Bench points-BY 5,LV 5. Score tied-7 times. Lead changes-6 times.