MALIBU -- For the third time this year, BYU suffered a tough road loss in a game it could have won as the Cougars fell in overtime Saturday at Pepperdine, 82-79.
BYU finished its non-league play with a 10-3 record and now prepares for its Mountain West Conference opener Saturday at home vs. San Diego State. Pepperdine improved to 7-6 on the year with the win.
BYU guard Travis Hansen played a remarkable game against the Waves, scoring 30 points and grabbing 17 rebounds to lead the Cougars. Hansen's recorded his team-leading third double-double of the year. His 17 rebounds are the most since Brett Applegate totaled 17 in December 1983.
"Travis just competed like a lion," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "He played with a great deal of heart." Hansen set career highs in seven different statistical categories before fouling out on a controversial foul call with only three seconds remaining in overtime.
With BYU trailing by three with only three seconds remaining in overtime, Hansen was whistled for an offensive foul as he swept the ball while preparing to get off a game-tying three point attempt. Pepperdine's Terrance Johnson missed both free throws on the other end, but the Cougars could only get off a desperation three-quarter court heave by Matt Montague as time expired.
The game went to overtime at 69-69 after reserve guard Jimmy Balderson hit a three-pointer from the corner during his only minute on the floor during the 45-minute game. Balderson made the trey with 12 seconds left in regulation. BYU had a chance to win the game after forcing a Pepperdine turnover with four seconds left but was unable to get off an attempt.
The Cougars got off to a sluggish start to begin the game, falling behind 14-6 after the first 10 minutes. But BYU out scored the Waves 28-12, including a 10-0 run, to close out the half with a 36-24 advantage.
Returning the favor, Pepperdine scored the first 10 points of the second half to claim the lead as BYU went cold from the floor, missing its first nine field goal attempts and both free throws before Hansen finally connected on a jumper to tie the game at 36. The rest of the game was for the most part a back-and-forth battle as the two teams traded leads through 10 second-half ties.
BYU seemed ready to take the momentum with some good defense, but the Waves were able keep the tide from turning thanks to 25 free throw attempts in the second half.
"It was unfortunate the number of touch fouls that were called," Cleveland said. "Free throws is the whole reason they were able to stay in the game. The game certainly wasn't called very consistently."
After Johnson made a trey to put the Waves up 51-48 with 8:42 on the clock, Pepperdine went nearly seven minutes without a field goal. The Waves stayed in the game, thanks to nine successes from the charity stripe, until reserve Craig Lewis, who had just entered the game for the first time, made a three to give the Waves the lead again at 63-61 with just over two minutes left in regulation.
Pepperdine led by five points with just under a minute remaining before BYU staged a quick comeback started by Hansen and finished by Balderson when he connected from long range to send the game to overtime.
"We don't have a lot of margin for error, especially playing a good team on the road," Cleveland said. "It's disappointing to lose a game like this but this game isn't as important as our conference season coming up. I'm not disappointed in our 10-3 start. We have grown up as a team, gotten better, and learned how to compete in hostile situations."
Three Cougars joined Hansen in double figures, with Mark Bigelow scoring 14 points, Matt Montague a season-high 12 points and Eric Nielsen adding 10. Montague also dished out a game-high eight assists and had two steals with only one turnover despite regular full-court pressure by the Waves. He played a career high 45 minutes.
Even though five Pepperdine players scored in double figures, led by Jimmy Miggins with 19, the player of the game for the Waves was Lewis, who scored 12 points in only nine minutes, including three NBA-length treys.
BYU opens MWC play Saturday in Provo vs. San Diego State. The game starts at 4 p.m. in the Marriott Center.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Brigham Young vs Pepperdine
1/5/02 5:00 p.m. at Firestone Fieldhouse; Malibu, California
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 10-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 BIGELOW, Mark....... f 3-12 1-5 7-8 0 2 2 4 14 1 1 0 0 33
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f 5-11 0-1 0-2 3 0 3 4 10 0 4 0 0 41
52 JENSEN, Jared....... c 0-4 0-0 0-0 3 2 5 1 0 0 2 0 0 29
02 HANSEN, Travis...... g 10-19 0-1 10-10 2 15 17 5 30 2 3 0 1 42
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g 3-8 1-2 5-8 1 5 6 2 12 8 1 0 2 45
10 NASHIF, Terry....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0+
20 BOBIK, Daniel....... 3-9 2-5 0-0 0 2 2 5 8 0 3 2 1 25
22 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 1
32 JEPSEN, Bart........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
42 CARLISLE, Jon....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 5 2 0 0 0 0 8
TEAM................ 5 1 6
Totals.............. 26-66 5-15 22-28 15 29 44 28 79 11 15 2 4 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-24 50.0% 2nd Half: 10-33 30.3% OT: 4-9 44.4% Game: 39.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% OT: 0-2 0.0% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-9 88.9% 2nd Half: 12-17 70.6% OT: 2-2 100 % Game: 78.6% 5
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HOME TEAM: Pepperdine 7-6
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
32 MIGGINS, Jimmy...... f 6-17 0-1 7-8 2 8 10 3 19 2 6 0 1 41
34 BRAZZLE, Boomer..... f 2-5 1-2 0-1 2 4 6 5 5 1 2 1 3 21
55 SUITT, Cedric....... c 2-4 0-0 4-7 2 8 10 3 8 2 0 5 0 37
01 MONTGOMERY, Devin... g 4-7 2-2 1-1 1 0 1 4 11 3 4 0 2 43
20 JOHNSON, Terrance... g 5-17 3-13 1-5 3 3 6 1 14 1 0 0 0 45
11 LEWIS, Craig........ 3-3 3-3 3-4 0 0 0 1 12 0 0 0 0 9
21 TURNER, Robert...... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
22 MCGOWAN, Glen....... 5-11 0-3 3-10 3 1 4 5 13 0 3 0 0 22
23 COLBERT, Gary....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 2
25 WESTPHAL, Mike...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM................ 4 2 6
Totals.............. 27-65 9-25 19-36 17 26 43 24 82 9 17 6 6 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-27 37.0% 2nd Half: 12-28 42.9% OT: 5-10 50.0% Game: 41.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% OT: 3-5 60.0% Game: 36.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 15-25 60.0% OT: 0-4 0.0% Game: 52.8% 8
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Officials: David Libbey, Tom Wood and Bruce Hicks
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Pepperdine-None.
Attendance: 3378
Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total
Brigham Young................. 34 35 10 - 79
Pepperdine.................... 26 43 13 - 82