Cougars Fall Short on the Road

BOISE -- Austin Ainge sparked a huge second-half comeback with a season-high 14 points, all in the second half, but it was not enough as BYU fell in a heartbreaker to Boise State, 72-68, Wednesday night in Boise. With the loss, BYU drops to 3-2 overall on the year while the Broncos improve to 2-3.

"This was a frustrating loss," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "I didn't recognize our team at times in the first half. We never found our team until about 15 minutes left in the game."

After being down by 15 points at halftime and as many as 24 points early in the second half, the Cougars scored 43 points in the final 20 minutes of play and had a chance to take the lead with 20 seconds left before BSU sealed the game with a good defensive stop.

BYU started the game with a 12-11 advantage with 13:51 to go in the first half. The Broncos took advantage of hot shooting and BYU foul trouble to go on a 12-2 run and take a 23-14 lead. Cougar Jonathan Tavernari hit a three-pointer to stop the run and cut the lead to 23-17. However, Trent Plaisted picked up his third personal foul with four minutes left in the half, and BSU's hot hand continued, allowing the Broncoes to take a 40-25 advantage at halftime.

"We were hurt by Trent (Plaisted) picking up that third foul," Rose said. "Those fouls are things we have been working with him on."

The Broncos shot 50 percent from behind the arc and 52 percent from the field while outrebounding BYU 22-11 in the first half.

"Boise State is a tough team to guard," Rose said. "All their players are skilled. They can all put the ball on the floor and put it in the hole."

BSU's solid shooting continued in the early stages of the second half. A 7-0 run increased the Broncos' lead to 47-25 with 17:56 left to play, which they extended to 55-31 a short time later.

BYU then came alive with 10-0 run behind a pair of three-point buckets from Rashaun Broadus and Lee Cummard to cut the lead to 55-41 with 11:53 left. BSU's Reggie Larry finally hit a three-pointer of his own to end the run.

Ainge hit a pair of big thee-point shots to get the Cougars back to within 12 at 63-51. Cummard then hit a three-pointer from the corner to cut the lead to 65-56 with 3:40 to go.

"Austin (Ainge) has a huge heart," Rose said. "He is a competitor and a winner."

As the Cougars continuted to claw their way back, Jimmy Balderson hit a pair of free throws after being fouled to cut the deficit to seven. Ainge was fouled on a three-point attempt with just under 2:30 left and hit all three free-throw attempts to cut the Bronco lead to 65-61.

Ainge then hit a three-pointer as he hit the floor to cut it to two at 70-68 with one minute to play. After a Karl miss, BYU had a chance to tie or take the lead as Ainge drove the lane through two BSU defenders and spun before trying to dish to Plaisted. However, the Broncos got a hand in the lane and stole the ball away. The Cougars were then forced to foul Eric Lane, who hit a pair of free throws to seal the BSU win.

The Broncos' Coby Karl led all scorers with a game-high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds. Balderson led three Cougars in double figures with a team-best 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. Young and Ainge each added 14 points with Ainge also contributing four rebounds and two assists. Cummard chipped in nine points and five rebounds. Young has now scored in double figures in every game this season.

BYU will look to rebound Saturday night with an in-state battle at Weber State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
BYU vs BOISE STATE
11/29/06 7:06 pm at Taco Bell Arena (Boise, ID)
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VISITORS: BYU 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 YOUNG, Keena........ f  7-13   0-0    0-1    1  3  4   1  14  3  3  0  1  33
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... f  3-9    0-0    2-2    1  3  4   4   8  1  0  0  0  27
13 AINGE, Austin....... g  3-4    3-4    5-5    0  4  4   2  14  2  2  0  0  25
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... g  5-8    3-5    2-2    0  3  3   2  15  1  2  0  1  27
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g  3-7    3-5    0-0    1  4  5   5   9  1  0  0  1  34
01 BROADUS, Rashaun....    2-4    1-2    0-0    0  2  2   3   5  1  1  0  0  20
02 ROSE, Mike..........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
10 IVANOVIC, Vuk.......    0-2    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  0   8
15 MALAMAN, Fernando...    0-2    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   0   0  1  1  0  0   6
20 BURGESS, Sam........    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   1   0  0  2  0  0   9
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan.    1-5    1-4    0-0    0  1  1   1   3  0  0  0  0   7
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   24-55  11-21   9-10   6 24 30  20  68 10 11  0  3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-28 35.7%   2nd Half: 14-27 51.9%   Game: 43.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-13 38.5%   2nd Half:  6-8  75.0%   Game: 52.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  0-1   0.0%   2nd Half:  9-9  100 %   Game: 90.0%    0
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HOME TEAM: BOISE STATE 2-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
20 Tiedeman, Tyler..... f  3-8    2-5    0-0    0  2  2   0   8  4  1  1  0  27
22 Nelson, Matt........ f  7-10   0-0    1-2    1  6  7   4  15  1  2  0  2  30
24 Larry, Reggie....... f  5-7    1-1    1-2    2  6  8   1  12  0  2  1  0  28
03 Lane, Eric.......... g  2-6    1-4    5-8    2  2  4   0  10  2  2  1  1  32
05 Karl, Coby.......... g  6-13   3-6    3-5    2  5  7   1  18  4  1  0  1  35
02 Wilson, Kenny.......    1-1    1-1    2-2    0  0  0   0   5  0  1  0  0   9
04 Robinson, Seth......    1-5    0-1    0-0    1  0  1   1   2  1  0  1  0  10
11 Thomas, Anthony.....    1-2    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   2  1  0  0  1   5
15 Bauscher, Matt......    0-1    0-1    0-2    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  1  15
50 Cunningham, Kurt....    0-1    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   2   0  0  0  0  0   9
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   26-54   8-20  12-21   9 25 34  11  72 13  9  4  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-29 51.7%   2nd Half: 11-25 44.0%   Game: 48.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-10 50.0%   2nd Half:  3-10 30.0%   Game: 40.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-8  62.5%   2nd Half:  7-13 53.8%   Game: 57.1%   4,1
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Officials: Randy McCall, Larry Spaulding, Shawn Lehigh
Technical fouls: BYU-None. BOISE STATE-None.
Attendance: 5505
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
BYU...........................   25   43  -   68
BOISE STATE...................   40   32  -   72
Points in the paint-BY 20,BOISE 32. Points off turnovers-BY 7,BOISE 13.
2nd chance points-BY 5,BOISE 8. Fast break points-BY 2,BOISE 2.
Bench points-BY 8,BOISE 9. Score tied-4 times. Lead changes-3 times.