Game 25 - BYU Hosts CSU Monday at 8 p.m.

BYU (8-16, 2-7 MWC) will host the Colorado State Rams(9-13, 1-8 MWC) Monday at 8 p.m. in the Marriott Center. The game is a SportsWest telecast aired on UPN-Z24 in Utah and is available via ESPN FULL COURT. The radio broadcast can be heard on KSL Newsradio 1160 (KSL.com).

UP NEXT FOR THE COUGARS

The Cougars go on the road to face New Mexico and Air Force, playing the Lobos Saturday at 7 p.m. (SportsWest KSL-TV) and the Falcons Monday at 7 p.m. (SportsWest UPN-Z24).

BYU GAME #25 FAST FACTS

BYU COUGARS (8-16 2-7 MWC) vs. COLORADO STATE RAMS (9-13, 1-8 MWC)

MONDAY, FEB. 14, 2005

MARRIOTT CENTER (22,700)

PROVO, UTAH 8:07 p.m. MST

Coaches:

BYU, Steve Cleveland (137-103 in eighth season; same overall)

CSU, Dale Layer (68-74 in sixth season; 235-161 in 15th year overall)

Series:

BYU leads, 77-45 (Rams won the first meeting, 74-67, in Fort Collins earlier this year)

TV:

SportsWest (UPN-Z24 in Utah and available nationally via ESPN FULL COURT with Dave McCann calling play-by-play with Blaine Fowler adding analysis)

Radio:

KSL 1160, BYU Sports Network (Greg Wrubell calls play-by-play with Mark Durrant adding commentary)

Web:

Live audio and live stats are available at byucougars.com/basketball_m/ (see upcoming schedule)

COUGAR QUICK HITS

- BYU (8-16, 2-7 MWC) is 5-7 at home, 2-6 away and 1-3 on a neutral floor. BYU's non-league schedule this season included four Pac-10 opponents and two ACC teams. The Cougars have faced three top-25 teams this season (North Carolina, North Carolina State, Utah).

- BYU looks to avoid a fourth three-game losing skid this season with a victory over CSU Monday.

- Nine of BYU's losses have been single-digit setbacks, including six by five points or less and five defeats of three-points or less. All eight BYU wins have been double-digit victories, including its OT win over UNLV.

- BYU coach Steve Cleveland will pass Frank Arnold (1975-83) and move into fourth place on BYU's all-time victory list with a win against CSU Monday. He tied Arnold with the victory at UNLV.

- BYU coach Steve Cleveland has utilized 15 different starting lineups this season while dealing with injuries and inconsistent play from an inexperienced roster. He has used the same lineup the last five games -- the first time this year the same five players have started even three consecutive games.

- The 10 BYU players averaging double-digit minutes this season include six sophomores, three seniors and one freshman. Only three players -- seniors Mike Hall and Jared Jensen and sophomore Garner Meads -- averaged more than 10 minutes during a prior season as a Cougar. Of BYU's freshmen top-20 signing class, only F/C Chris Miles is currently playing as David Burgess (ankles) and Trent Plaisted (knees) are out while top guard prospect and Arizona Player of the Year Lee Cummard has not been with the team this year after opting to serve an LDS Church mission. After returning early, he will join BYU next season.

- Senior guard Mike Hall leads BYU in scoring at 13.7 ppg. Sophomore point guard Austin Ainge contributes 9.5 ppg while sophomore guard Mike Rose adds 8.9 ppg. Ainge leads BYU with 4.0 assists (3rd in MWC; 4.9 apg in league games is 2nd in MWC). Sophomore transfer Keena Young pulls down a team-best 5.7 rebounds with sophomore center Derek Dawes adding 5.0 rpg.

- BYU shoots .423 from the floor, .361 from three and .731 (No. 2 MWC) from the line while averaging 67.2 ppg. BYU opponents have shot .433 (FG) and .338 (3FG) while scoring 67.9 ppg. BYU opponents hold a slight 35.3 to 35.1 advantage on the boards.

LOOKING AT COLORADO STATE

The Rams return four starters and eight lettermen from last year's 13-16 team that tied for seventh in the MWC with a 4-10 record. This year CSU is 9-13 overall and 1-8 in league play with their only conference win coming in the first meeting between the Rams and the Cougars in Fort Collins. The Rams have lost their last seven games and are 0-10 on the road. CSU is led by senior center Matt Nelson. The 7-foot-1 All-MWC performer ranks sixth in the nation with his 63.2 percent accuracy from the floor while scoring 15.3 points per game. He also adds a team-best 5.5 rebounds. Senior forward Matt Williams, who missed the first game against BYU this year due to injury, is second on the team in scoring with 11.6 ppg and third in rebounds, pulling down an average of 4.2 boards per game. Freshman 7-footer Jason Smith has earned seven starting assignments and is third in scoring (9.9) and second in rebounds (5.3). CSU averages 70 points while allowing 68. The Rams are a good shooting team, making 47 percent of their attempts from the floor overall. CSU shoots .347 from long range and .705 from the line. Ram opponents have shot .395 from the field and .300 on threes. CSU wins the battle of the boards by an average of 35.8 to 33.5.

LAST OUTING - BOGUT LEADS UTES OVER RAMS IN SLC

SALT LAKE CITY - Andrew Bogut scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead No. 15 Utah to its 16th straight victory, 64-50 over Colorado State on Saturday night. Bogut, who also blocked five shots, missed his first two free throws and then made 17 in a row for the Utes (21-3, 9-0 Mountain West), whose winning streak is the second-longest in the nation behind top-ranked Illinois (25-0). Marc Jackson had nine points, and Justin Hawkins added eight for Utah. Matt Williams scored 17 points for the Rams (9-13, 1-8), who lost their seventh straight game overall and 18th straight on the road. Matt Nelson scored in double figures for the 20th straight game, finishing with 12 points before fouling out with 12:29 left. Williams made two free throws to cut Utah's lead to 55-50 with 2:36 left, but Bryant Markson countered with a 3-pointer that sparked a game-closing 9-0 run. The Utes went on a 12-2 run that featured dunks by Bogut, Markson and Richard Chaney to take a 47-30 lead midway through the second half. But Utah stopped getting the ball to Bogut, and the Rams battled back behind all five of their 3-pointers in a 5-minute span. After blocking Nelson's shot, Bogut made a layup and drew Nelson's fifth foul. Bogut leads the nation in double-doubles with 16. Utah has won by an average of 17 points during its streak. The Utes' last loss came against Arizona on Dec. 11. Williams returned to the lineup after missing three games with a sprained knee. Jason Smith, a 7-footer, sat out with a strained hamstring. Colorado State's current losing streak began with a 75-52 loss to Utah on Jan. 17.

COLORADO STATE'S PROJECTED STARTERS

Pos. # Name Wt. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG

F 42 Matt Williams 215 6-6 Sr. 11.6 4.2

C 34 Stuart Creason 260 7-0 Fr. 4.4 3.1

C 54 Matt Nelson 265 7-1 Sr. 15.3 5.5

G 1 Sean Morris 165 5-10 Fr. 6.7 2.7

G 32 Michael Morris 210 6-3 Jr. 7.8 3.5

SERIES NOTES

Monday's game will be the 123rd meeting between the two schools. BYU leads the series 77-45. The Rams hold a 32-26 advantage in Fort Collins while the Cougars own a 50-10 record in Provo. Last year, BYU swept the regular-season series for the second consecutive year, beating the Rams in Fort Collins and again in Provo. CSU has a 3-1 advantage in neutral court games. Before losing at CSU earlier this season, BYU had won the last two games in Fort Collins, ending a six-game losing streak in Moby Arena dating back to 1994. The Cougars have won six of the last nine games overall. BYU has won five straight in Provo since CSU swept the series in 1998, winning in Provo, 55-44, on Jan. 22. The two teams did not meet in 1999. Steve Cleveland is 7-7 against Colorado State with a 5-1 record in Provo, 2-5 mark at Moby Arena and 0-1 neutral court result. The series dates back to 1938.

BYU SERIES RECORD VS. COLORADO STATE

Overall Series Record: BYU leads 77-45

BYU Record in Provo: 50-10

BYU Record in Fort Collins: 26-32

BYU Record at Neutral Sites: 1-3

BYU Record under Steve Cleveland: 7-7

BYU Record in Overtime Games: 4-3* (1-1 Hm, 3-1 Rd, 0-1 Neutral)

*1-0 in 2OT (1971, won 98-92 in Ft. Collins)

Last Overtime Game: 2003, CSU 86, BYU 80

at MWC Tournament in Las Vegas

Longest BYU Win Streak: 9 (two times 1985-89, 1991-94)

Longest CSU Win Streak: 7 (1960-70)

Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 39, 91-52 in 1939

Largest CSU Margin of Victory: 25, 74-49 in 1958

Most Points Scored by BYU: 105 in 1972

Most Points Scored by CSU: 100 in 1996

FIRST MEETING THIS SEASON --LATE SURGE FALLS SHORT AGAINST RAMS

FORT COLLINS -- BYU's Austin Ainge caught fire early and never cooled off in leading the Cougars with a career-high 25 points, but Colorado State's bench lifted the Rams past BYU 74-67 at Moby Arena. CSU's bench overwhelmingly outscored the Cougar bench, 47-8. "We need our bench to score more," BYU head coach Steve Cleveland said. "And we have to make shots on the road if we want to win." Ainge got the Cougars off to a quick start, connecting on a long range three-pointer and two free throws to take a 5-0 lead. BYU's early lead quickly disappeared as the Rams capitalized on Cougar turnovers and a dismal 18.9 percent first-half shooting performance. BYU's leading scorer Mike Hall was held scoreless in the opening period. The Rams ran away with a 10-0 run late in the first half to take a 32-22 lead into the locker room. In the second half, the Cougars jumped on the Rams with a quick 6-0 spurt and continued to crawl back, eventually taking a 43-42 lead at the 11-minute mark. But the Rams regained the lead for good on a lay-up by freshman 7-footer Jason Smith, who scored a career-high 19 points. With under a minute left to play, Ainge brought the Cougars within three on back-to-back three-pointers, but the Rams sharp free-throw shooting gave CSU the victory and continued its unbeaten record at home this season. "It came down to execution on both sides of the floor," Cleveland said. "Chris (Miles) and Jared (Jensen) both played well in the second half offensively and defensively." BYU finished the game shooting 35 percent from the field. Mike Hall contributed 11 points while Jared Jensen scored nine points and equaled a career-high 10 rebounds. Miles added eight points and a career-best seven rebounds while assisting in holding CSU's leading scorer Matt Nelson to just 11 points. BYU is now 0-10 when scoring less than 70 points. At 6-11 overall and 0-2 in the Mountain West Conference, BYU will continue the Front Range road swing on Monday in Laramie when the Cougars and Cowboys tip-off in a nationally televised 10 p.m. (MST) tilt on ESPN.

WHAT COACH STEVE CLEVELAND HAD TO SAY AFTER THE GAME AT CSU THIS YEAR ...

"Sometimes lessons are difficult but there's not other way for this team to get better than to stay in these kind of situations. It did get out of hand in the first half. There were eight or nine baskets within three or four feet that we didn't make. You have to make those shots. When you shoot 18 percent in the first half, that will do you in but the fact is it didn't do us in. I told them after the game you played just well enough to lose."

LAST YEAR IN PROVO -- COUGARS WIN BIG AGAINST CSU, 82-53

PROVO, Utah, (Jan. 17, 2004) -- Rafael Araujo scored 16 points and grabbed nine boards to lead BYU past Colorado State 82-53 Saturday evening at the Marriott Center. BYU used an 18-1 run to build a 19-point lead midway through the first half, and the Cougars didn't look back, extending their lead to 26 points at halftime, BYU's largest lead at the break this season. Coach Steve Cleveland said he was pleased his team came out and played well after the way they played in the last two games. "I didn't care if this was home or away. I wanted to play well," Cleveland said. "I thought we did that. We attacked defensively and got good shots. We played 30 minutes of good basketball, but it got sloppy in the end." The Cougars' run started when freshman Mike Rose was inserted into the game and subsequently hit a three-pointer. Rose would hit two more threes during the stretch, and Mike Hall would add another. "Mike Rose came in and hit some huge shots," Cleveland said. "That's how I plan to play him the rest of the year. He's played well in practice and earned the minutes." Those three-pointers opened up the middle for Araujo, allowing him to get the ball deep in the post and score easily over the Ram defenders. The Cougars didn't let up after halftime, outscoring CSU 18-6 while extending its lead to 31 three different times during the second half. After two poor shooting nights against North Carolina State and San Diego State where the Cougars hit only 40.4 percent of their shots, BYU hit 49.1 percent of its shots against the Rams, including 38.9 percent from three-point range. Besides Araujo, the Cougars had three other players hit double figures, including Luiz Lemes (12), Mark Bigelow (11) and Rose (10).

BYU's LAST OUTING - Cougars Drop Nail-Biter to Wyoming

PROVO -- In another heart-breaker for the Cougars, the Wyoming Cowboys won 59-58 Saturday night in the Marriott Center, sweeping BYU for the first time since the 1996-97 season. Austin Ainge scored his tenth point on two free throws with two seconds left in the game, but could not convert the third to send the game into overtime. "This season has been a test of character for our team," said BYU head coach Steve Cleveland. "We have had a lot of close games, but we just can't get over the hump." The Cougars powered their way through the Cowboys for most of the first half, leading by as many as six points. Later in the half, careless turnovers, missed free throws and an 0-8 shooting performance by team leader Mike Hall allowed the Cowboys to go on a 7-0 run, taking a 28-26 lead with less than 10 seconds to go. But Cougar point guard Austin Ainge pulled up from beyond the arc and knocked down a three-pointer to regain the BYU lead. Despite the Cougars' 29.7 first half shooting mark, compared to the Cowboys 50 percent, BYU went into halftime with a 29-28. The battle continued in the second half, with neither team being able to gain a comfortable lead. The Cougars' largest lead came after a Hall slam dunk and two three-pointers by Jimmy Balderson to give BYU a four-point advantage. That lead diminished quickly for the Cougars due to sharp shooting by Cowboy guard Jay Straight, who finished the game with 23 points. Down the stretch, the Cougars trailed by three with 25 seconds left. The Cougars got one last chance to tie the game, but a Hall three-pointer came up short, giving the ball back to the Cowboys with five seconds left to play. However, on the out-of-bounds play, Hall stole the ball and dished it off to Ainge for a three-pointer to tie the game. Ainge missed the shot but was fouled and left to shoot three free throws to send the game into overtime. Ainge would hit his first two free throws but the Cougars would come up short by one point after a missed third free throw that bounced in and out of the basket. Balderson led BYU with 11 points, his fourth straight game in double-figures. Keena Young pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. The Cougars continued their shooting woes in the second half and ended the game with their lowest shooting percentage this year at 30 percent. The Cougars also finished the game shooting 30.8 percent from the charity stripe.

LINEUP STABILITY, RELATIVELY SPEAKING

BYU has used 15 different lineups this year in 24 games but the Cougars have stayed with the same starting five for the past five games. BYU is 2-3 in those games with wins over New Mexico and at UNLV. This current lineup consists of four sophomores (Austin Ainge, Jimmy Balderson, Keena Young, Derek Dawes) and one senior (Mike Hall).

STREET & SMITH'S NAMES BYU THE No.36 BASKETBALL PROGRAM ALL-TIME

The BYU men's basketball program has been named one of the nation's all-time greatest basketball programs. Street & Smith's has produced a publication (released Jan. 25) recognizing the "100 Greatest College Basketball Programs of All Time," ranking BYU No. 36 on its list. Kentucky is named the No. 1 basketball program, with UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas and Duke completing the top five. Indiana, Louisville, Arkansas, UConn and Cincinnati round out the top 10. Street & Smith's graded each program's basketball history on the basis of NCAA Tournament success, NIT success, national championships, conference regular-season and tournament titles, all-time win-loss percentage, graduation rate, NCAA infractions, NBA first-round draft picks and mascot ferocity. Five Mountain West Conference teams made the list with Utah ranked 11th, UNLV 28th, BYU 36th, Wyoming 42nd and New Mexico 98th. Other in-state schools recognized include Weber State at No. 51 and Utah State at No. 82. Since BYU's first season in 1903, Cougar fans have cheered BYU to 82 winning seasons, 26 conference titles, 21 NCAA invites and 2 NIT titles, while Cougar players have earned 40 All-America and 96 all-conference citations, 43 NBA Draft selections and one National Player of the Year award. BYU entered the season No. 19 all-time in total victories and No. 36 in winning percentage.

SHOOTING BAROMETER

BYU shot a season-low 30 percent from the floor against Wyoming Saturday. With the Cowboys making 48 percent, BYU is now 0-15 this season when being outshot. BYU is 8-1 when the Cougars have the better shooting percentage. BYU is 4-0 when topping 50 percent.

INJURY ISSUES

BYU has had several different injury issues this year. Sophomore forward Garner Meads has missed seven games overall this year due to injury, including the last two games due to a leg injury (three games foot, two games ankle, two leg). Sophomore center Derek Dawes played for a month with a broken thumb and missed most of the three games in January due to a shoulder injury. Freshman center David Burgess had ankle surgery in January and will be out for the season, and freshman forward Trent Plaisted is out indefinitely (knee). Both made limited appearances early in the seasons. Junior transfer Josh Reisman, a 6-1 guard who played in only one game for five minutes, had a second surgery to repair the broken nose he suffered during the summer and won't return. Senior F/C Jared Jensen did not start and played limited minutes vs. Utah State due to food poisoning and junior forward Joshua Burgess has been slowed by back problems. Freshman F/C Chris Miles is the only Cougar post player not to have his play limited during the regular season due to illness or injury.

DAWES NAMED MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK (Jan. 31)

Sophomore center Derek Dawes earned MWC Player of the Week honors last Monday (Jan. 31) for his career night against New Mexico, marking the first award of his career. The 6-foot-11 Dawes set career bests of 14 points, 6-of-7 (.857) shooting, and 4 blocks while tying career marks of 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in the victory. He was also perfect from the free-throw line (2-2) in 32 minutes of action. After his only missed shot of the game, Dawes used his hustle to regain the Cougar possession by stealing a Lobo pass. Dawes' energy and effort in the post led the Cougars to a 68-53 win over the Lobos, their first MWC win of the season. The 14-point, 10-rebound double-double was the first of his career.

CURRENT BYU WIN/LOSS STREAKS ...

At home 0-2

On the road 0-1

On a neutral floor 0-1

At home vs. Nonconference 3-0

At home vs. MWC 0-2

On the road vs. Nonconference 0-2

On the road vs. MWC 0-1

On a neutral floor vs. Nonconference 0-1

On a neutral floor vs. MWC 0-1

at regular season tournament 1-0

at MWC Tournament 0-1

at NCAA Tournament 0-5

at NIT 0-1