Senior Derek Dawes finished with a perfect shooting night, going 4-for-4 from the floor. (Photo by Mark Philbrick/BYU Photo)

PROVO -- The Cougars finished preseason play with a 68-49 win over Tulsa Friday night in the Marriot Center, winning their sixth game in a row at home and improving their record to 8-3.

BYU held the Golden Hurricane to only 29 points from the floor in the game as Tulsa's other 20 points came from 87 percent shooting at the free throw line.

"I think the game went pretty much as we had hoped," said BYU Coach Dave Rose. "Tulsa played strong defense at the beginning and guarded well. Defensively, our guys figured things out on the floor without having to talk to the coaches, and that was one thing I was really pleased with tonight."

The Cougars pushed the ball for a 9-2 lead over Tulsa in the first four minutes of the game and held the Golden Hurricane without a field goal in the first nine minutes. Tulsa's only points came from 7-for-8 shooting at the free throw line, keeping the Hurricane within range of the Cougars.

Freshman Trent Plaisted went on a run early on, bringing in eight points for the Cougars in the first nine minutes. Junior Fernando Malaman added another eight points in the first period. Austin Ainge, Derek Dawes, Plaisted and Malaman all scored back-to-back buckets in the first period helping BYU to a 38-21 lead at halftime. Sixteen of BYU's 38 points came off of 16 Tulsa turnovers compared to BYU's four.

Coming out in the second half, the Cougars sent Tulsa to the line for two free points before senior Brock Reichner and Plaisted added four points each for an 8-0 run. BYU's defense held the Golden Hurricane without a field goal for the first five minutes of the second period.

Junior Jimmy Balderson sunk a three-pointer at the 14-minute mark to double Tulsa's score at 50-25. BYU sustained its lead and tenacity with another run, which included a slam dunk by junior Keena Young and a three-pointer by junior Mike Rose.

Late in the second half Tulsa went on an 8-2 run, but it was not enough to catch the Cougars, who held a 19-point advantage over the Golden Hurricane at 61-42. Dawes added another basket followed by a jump shot and a free throw by junior Keena Young to win the game 68-49.

"Give credit to BYU. They were bigger, stronger, more skilled and a good transition team. Coach Rose did a good job," said first-year Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik, who helped coach Michigan State to the NCAA Final Four last year. "I'm proud of our kids; they competed to the end. We came in with some goals to keep BYU in the 60s, which we did, and defend their field goal percentage, which we did. I don't accept the losing, but we checked BYU better than any other team so far. That's what I take from this game."

As a program, Tulsa has averaged 21 wins per season since the 1999-2000 campaign with a .636 winning percentage to rank 35th nationally. Friday, Tulsa finished with 23 turnovers leading to 24 BYU points as the Hurricane fell to 4-7 on the year. Brett McDade was the only Golden Hurricane player in double figures with 11 points.

BYU was led by Plaisted, who brought in 16 points, while Malaman added 10 and Dawes contributed eight. Dawes had a perfect shooting night, going 4-for-4 from the floor in just 14 minutes of play. Young and freshman Lee Cummard brought down six rebounds each to help the Cougars on the boards.

"This was a very good game for the guys to get ready for league play because this is how it's going to be," said Rose of Tulsa's defensive preparation and effort. "It gets a lot more intense."

BYU will start Mountain West Conference play at Air Force Thursday at 9 p.m. MST in a nationally televised game on ESPN2.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Tulsa Golden Hurricane vs BYU Cougars
12-30-05 7:05 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Tulsa Golden Hurricane 4-7,0-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
12 WHEATLEY, Bishop.... f  0-2    0-0    5-6    1  4  5   1   5  1  1  0  0  26
15 CROW, Darold........ f  2-6    1-2    2-2    1  5  6   5   7  1  6  0  0  28
41 RAMSDELL, Charles... f  1-6    1-4    4-4    1  5  6   3   7  0  5  0  0  27
45 MITCHELL, Sam....... c  1-3    0-0    1-2    0  3  3   2   3  0  1  0  0  13
05 McDADE, Brett....... g  2-11   0-4    7-7    0  3  3   3  11  3  6  1  2  34
01 JAMES, Deion........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   5
02 WALLACE, Chris......    1-4    0-2    0-0    0  3  3   0   2  1  1  0  0  24
13 YOUNG, Kyle.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  0   3
22 HANSON, Antonio.....    3-4    1-2    0-0    1  0  1   1   7  2  1  0  1  13
50 PRICE, Anthony......    3-7    0-0    1-2    2  2  4   3   7  0  2  0  1  27
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   13-43   3-14  20-23   8 28 36  19  49  8 23  1  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  5-17 29.4%   2nd Half:  8-26 30.8%   Game: 30.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-6  16.7%   2nd Half:  2-8  25.0%   Game: 21.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-12 83.3%   2nd Half: 10-11 90.9%   Game: 87.0%    2
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 8-3,0-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
15 MALAMAN, Fernando... f  5-9    0-1    0-1    2  1  3   2  10  2  2  2  1  28
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ f  1-5    1-3    2-2    3  3  6   1   5  2  1  0  0  20
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... c  5-10   0-0    6-8    0  2  2   3  16  1  0  2  1  24
01 BROADUS, Rashaun.... g  0-7    0-3    2-2    1  3  4   2   2  2  3  0  1  25
11 REICHNER, Brock..... g  3-7    1-3    0-1    0  3  3   2   7  5  0  1  2  26
02 ROSE, Mike..........    1-5    1-4    0-0    0  1  1   0   3  1  0  0  1  15
03 YOUNG, Keena........    2-2    0-0    1-2    2  4  6   3   5  0  2  0  1  13
04 EMERY, Jackson......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
13 AINGE, Austin.......    2-3    1-2    0-0    0  1  1   3   5  1  1  0  0  15
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy....    2-6    1-2    2-2    0  2  2   2   7  2  1  0  1  17
41 ODJEGBA, Jermaine...    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
43 DAWES, Derek........    4-4    0-0    0-2    1  1  2   2   8  0  0  0  0  14
   TEAM................                            2  2             1
   Totals..............   25-58   5-18  13-20   9 23 32  20  68 16 11  5  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-31 41.9%   2nd Half: 12-27 44.4%   Game: 43.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-10 20.0%   2nd Half:  3-8  37.5%   Game: 27.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-12 83.3%   2nd Half:  3-8  37.5%   Game: 65.0%    3
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Officials: David Hall, Mike Thibodeaux, Mike Eggers
Technical fouls: Tulsa Golden Hurricane-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 9522
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Tulsa Golden Hurricane........   21   28  -   49
BYU Cougars...................   38   30  -   68
Points in the paint-TUL 8,BY 26. Points off turnovers-TUL 10,BY 24.
2nd chance points-TUL 8,BY 9. Fast break points-TUL 2,BY 8.
Bench points-TUL 16,BY 28. Score tied-0 times. Lead changes-0 times.