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Anonymous
| Posted: 24 Nov 2006 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
Cougars Defend Home Court With Win Over SUU
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PROVO -- The BYU men's basketball team extended its home win streak to 17 games, the seventh-longest active streak in the nation, as the Cougars defeated Southern Utah University, 80-61. Friday night's win brings BYU to 3-1 on the season.
"The first ten minutes we were on attack," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "Defensively we were in a good mind set. We contested many of their shots."
The Cougars began the game hot, scoring on their first five possessions. Sophomore Trent Plaisted had four of those buckets and ended the night with his first double-double of the season and seventh of his career at 19 points and 12 boards. BYU continued with the hot hand hitting 10 of its first 12 shots and extending its lead to 23-6.
"We could no stop Trent Plaisted," said SUU head coach Bill Evans. "He is big and strong. We had no answer for him."
BYU's defensive pressure in the first half was the best it's been all year holding the Thunderbirds to just 23 points on 33 percent shooting. The Cougars also forced 15 turnovers and had six steals in the first half. At half the score was 41-23 in favor of BYU with the 19-point lead being the largest halftime lead the Cougars have had all season.
SUU showed some life at the end of the first half hitting back-to-back three pointers, but BYU came out of the locker room to start the second half hot as senior Austin Ainge hit a deep three. Ainge had a stellar performance and was one of three Cougars in double figures with a season-high 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting while tying his season-high mark in assists with five.
"I think Austin is relaxed when he plays," said Rose. "He's playing at a high level of intensity."
Senior Keena Young provided a big push in the second half scoring eight consecutive points and extending BYU's lead to 58-30 with 13:09 left in the game. Young finished the game with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and is the lone Cougar to score in double figures every game this year.
"Keena Young is a load," said Evans. "I think he is the most improved player on their team. He is a hard guard."
The bench play for the Cougars was key Friday night as they prevented SUU from going on any sort of run. Junior Sam Burgess provided a lift coming off the bench, dishing out a career-high five assists.
"We're further tonight than any other night," said Rose. "We played a lot of people. Hopefully by the time we get back from our next road game we'll have a pretty good idea of the roles on our team."
The Cougars' next game is on the road as they travel to Idaho to face Boise State on Wednesday night. BYU's next home game will be December 6 against San Jose State.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Southern Utah vs BYU Cougars
11/24/06 8:05 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Southern Utah 3-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 GRIEGO, Orlando..... f 4-7 1-1 0-0 1 1 2 2 9 2 2 0 3 31
04 ADEPOJU, Nurudeen... f 3-6 3-5 2-2 1 3 4 2 11 0 4 0 0 28
23 SORENSON, Tate...... f 3-5 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 3 7 0 4 1 1 25
05 BARNES, Steve....... g 3-6 3-6 2-2 1 2 3 0 11 3 6 0 4 31
24 ALLEN, Justin....... g 1-3 0-0 2-4 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 1 0 18
10 MAREK, David........ 1-1 1-1 2-2 0 0 0 1 5 2 0 0 0 9
21 CARSON, Marcus...... 1-3 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 3 2 1 0 0 17
22 COOPER, Swaney...... 2-7 0-0 1-4 4 1 5 1 5 0 3 0 1 14
25 KANIS, Brad......... 0-3 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 1 2 0 1 1 0 10
33 ABRAHAO, Junior..... 1-5 1-4 1-2 1 4 5 4 4 0 1 0 0 17
TEAM................
Totals.............. 19-46 10-18 13-20 9 15 24 16 61 9 22 3 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-21 33.3% 2nd Half: 12-25 48.0% Game: 41.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 7-13 53.8% Game: 55.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-10 60.0% 2nd Half: 7-10 70.0% Game: 65.0% 3
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 3-1
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 7-10 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 3 16 0 1 0 0 21
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... c 9-12 0-0 1-1 7 5 12 4 19 1 3 1 2 27
13 AINGE, Austin....... g 4-5 3-4 0-0 0 1 1 1 11 5 2 0 0 20
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... g 2-5 0-2 0-0 1 2 3 3 4 2 2 0 3 18
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g 3-8 1-4 1-2 4 4 8 1 8 4 2 0 2 32
01 BROADUS, Rashaun.... 1-3 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 1 2 0 0 18
02 ROSE, Mike.......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 9
10 IVANOVIC, Vuk....... 1-4 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 0 8
15 MALAMAN, Fernando... 2-4 0-1 2-2 0 1 1 3 6 1 3 0 3 14
20 BURGESS, Sam........ 2-5 1-3 1-3 2 1 3 2 6 5 1 0 0 21
24 MURDOCK, Ben........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. 1-5 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 7
50 MACGREGOR, Gavin.... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
TEAM................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 33-64 7-20 7-10 17 22 39 21 80 20 18 2 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-30 56.7% 2nd Half: 16-34 47.1% Game: 51.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 35.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 4-6 66.7% Game: 70.0% 2
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Officials: Stanley Reynolds, Eric Curry, Wilson Holland
Technical fouls: Southern Utah-None. BYU Cougars-TEAM.
Attendance: 8859
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Southern Utah................. 23 38 - 61
BYU Cougars................... 41 39 - 80
Points in the paint-SUU 14,BY 38. Points off turnovers-SUU 15,BY 16.
2nd chance points-SUU 9,BY 24. Fast break points-SUU 0,BY 4.
Bench points-SUU 19,BY 22. Score tied-0 times. Lead changes-0 times.
