PROVO -- BYU improved to 2-0 Wednesday with its 92-64 victory over Southern Utah University in the Marriott Center. Junior college transfer Terrell Lyday scored 15 points to lead a balanced Cougar scoring attack that featured six players in double figures.
After two blowout BYU wins in 1992 and 1994 at its annual Cougar Classic, the Cougars and Thunderbirds played even over the first 10 minutes and gave the 4,518 in attendance the impression that the third meeting between the two schools might come down to the buzzer. But the Cougars began to clamp down defensively and penetrate Southern Utah's zone defense to go on a 26-6 run to close the half with a 39-25 advantage. The Cougars kept up the intensity after the break, going on a 12-3 burst to put the game's outcome out of question.
"We did a good job defensively," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "We got four or five consecutive stops and that was the turning point in the game. We worked hard on our defense the past two days and the kids responded. I see improvement from Saturday."
BYU's offensive output also improved from Saturday, by one point, as the Cougars surpassed the 90-point mark for the second straight time after doing it only once in Cleveland's previous two seasons. In addition to Lyday's 15 points, Mekeli Wesley and Silester Rivers scored 14, Michael Vranes 13, Eric Nielsen 12 and Nate Cooper 10.
Nielsen was perfect in his five field goal attempts and is 9-11 on the year as the Cougars continued to shoot well, making 25-43 from the floor for 58 percent. They shot 42 percent from three-point range and 78 percent from the line. Lyday, who made over 100 threes at Fresno City College last year, made two treys for the second straight game while Vranes went 3-3 from behind the arc to remain a perfect 5-5 on the year.
The Cougars' inside attack was also clicking as Rivers and Wesley got to the line 10 and nine times, respectively, each making good on eight of their attempts. Point guard Matt Montague and Nathan Cooper helped get the ball inside with some nice entry passes to total five and three assists, respectively. Nielsen and Lyday each grabbed five rebounds and Rivers four. Rivers sat out most of the second half to mend a sore ankle.
Guard Jeff Monaco, who scored 27 points in 33 minutes while adding four assists, led the Thunderbirds. Tyson Hancock added nine points, but the Cougar defense held Southern Utah to 36 percent shooting on the night. With the loss, Southern Utah falls to 1-2 on the year.
BYU improves to 2-0 for the first time under Cleveland and will take a couple days off for Thanksgiving before starting its preparation for a date with No. 8 Arizona in Tucson Wednesday. The Cougars will stay on the road to face Denver on Dec. 4.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Southern Utah University vs Brigham Young
11/24/99 7:05 at Provo, Utah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Southern Utah University 1-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 HOUSE, Fred......... f 2-5 1-2 0-0 0 4 4 4 5 0 2 0 2 17
35 PUGMIRE, Nate....... f 1-3 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 3 2 2 0 1 21
25 HANCOCK, Tyson...... g 3-8 2-5 1-2 0 1 1 1 9 2 2 0 0 20
32 MONACO, Jeff........ g 8-14 4-8 7-7 2 0 2 2 27 4 7 0 2 33
44 WHEELER, Johbn...... * 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 4 0 0 2 0 0 5
12 EVANS, David........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
22 SANT, Justin........ 1-7 1-5 0-0 0 2 2 1 3 3 2 0 3 23
30 CHANDLER, B.J....... 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 12
33 FAULKNER, Jim....... 2-4 1-1 0-2 1 1 2 3 5 2 2 0 1 16
34 DAY, Ross........... 1-5 1-3 1-1 1 0 1 1 4 1 0 0 0 6
40 WALLIN, Chris....... 1-4 0-1 0-1 1 2 3 5 2 0 0 0 0 7
42 MILES, Aaron........ 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 1 2 1 0 0 1 11
52 BLOOM, Nate......... 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 4 2 0 2 0 0 25
TEAM................ 7 1 8
Totals.............. 21-58 11-26 11-15 15 15 30 31 64 15 21 0 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-22 .409 2nd Half: 12-36 .333 Game: .362 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 .444 2nd Half: 7-17 .412 Game: .423 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 .750 2nd Half: 8-11 .727 Game: .733 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 2-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f 5-5 0-0 2-5 2 3 5 1 12 1 1 1 1 27
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... c 3-5 0-0 8-9 0 2 2 4 14 2 1 0 0 21
13 VRANES, Michael..... g 4-6 3-3 2-2 1 1 2 3 13 0 4 0 1 20
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g 5-9 2-6 3-4 0 5 5 2 15 1 5 1 1 32
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g 1-3 0-0 3-4 0 2 2 2 5 5 3 0 1 28
02 RIVERS, Silester.... 3-6 0-0 8-10 2 2 4 2 14 1 1 0 3 19
04 CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 0-1 0-1 3-4 0 2 2 3 3 0 1 0 1 16
05 ROBERTS, Marc....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 3
10 ALLEN, John......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
20 TAGGART, Nick....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
33 SMITH, Morgan....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1
34 ELLSWORTH, Joe...... 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
40 HOWARD, Dan......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 6
42 COOPER, Nathan...... 2-5 0-2 6-6 0 2 2 1 10 3 1 0 1 21
50 NIELSEN, David...... 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 3
TEAM................ 3 2 5
Totals.............. 25-43 5-12 37-47 8 24 32 20 92 14 19 3 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-21 .524 2nd Half: 14-22 .636 Game: .581 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 .375 2nd Half: 2-4 .500 Game: .417 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 14-17 .824 2nd Half: 23-30 .767 Game: .787 5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: David Hall, Kelly Self, Tim Gabutero
Technical fouls: Southern Utah University-WHEELER, Johbn; HOUSE, Fred.
Brigham Young-CHRISTENSEN, Todd.
Attendance: 4518
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Southern Utah University...... 25 39 - 64
Brigham Young................. 39 53 - 92