ALBUQUERQUE -- BYU shot its second consecutive 13-over-par 301 to drop to 20th place heading into Saturday's final round of the 2002 NCAA West Regional.
True Freshman Ron Harvey Jr. continues to lead the Cougars after shooting a three-over 75. Harvey is tied for 29th place individually while teammate and fellow freshman Greg Machtaler, who was even par in the second round, is tied for 47th.
Senior Manuel Merizalde was tied for 36th after the first round, but struggled in the second round shooting a seven-over 79 and falling to 87th place. Kyle Wight shot three-over 75 in the second round and is tied with Merizalde at nine-over par.
The top 10 finishers of the 2002 West Regional advance to next week's NCAA Championships in Columbus, Ohio. With BYU 13 strokes behind 10th place Pepperdine, the Cougars must face a daunting challenge in order to hope to advance.
"We need to play some amazing golf on Saturday for us to have any hope," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "We've just kind of dug ourselves in a hole."
Although BYU didn't earn a berth to the Championships last season, the Cougars finished 2nd at the West Regional in 2000 and 7th at the NCAA Championships in 1999. The Cougars have qualified for the NCAA Championships five times since 1990 and have 18 top-10 finishes at the championships since 1969.
Fellow Mountain West Conference member UNLV leads the 27-team field by one stroke over Fresno State. The Cougars have beat both of these teams in different tournaments during the season.
The third and final round will take place Saturday at the University of New Mexico Championship Course.
SECOND ROUND TEAM SCORING
1. UNLV +6 290-292--582
2. Fresno State +7 290-293--583
3. Washington +8 291-293--584
T4. Arizona +4 292-293--585
T4. San Diego State +9 289-296--585
T6. UCLA +8 296-292--588
T6. Texas +12 285-303--588
T6. Minnesota +12 290-298--588
T6. New Mexico +12 293-295--588
T10. Pepperdine +13 292-297--589
T10. Pacific +13 294-295--589
T12. Nevada +16 299-293--592
T12. Oregon +16 300-292--592
14. Ohio State +17 295-298--593
15. California +18 308-286--594
16. Texas Tech +19 298-297--595
17. USC +21 294-297--595
18. Washington State +22 302-296--598
19. Stanford +24 303-297--600
20. BYU +26 301-301--602
21. Arizona State +30 304-302--606
22. Illinois State +31 301-306--607
23. Colorado State +34 314-296--610
24. UC-Irvine +37 307-306--613
25. Detroit Mercy +38 302-312--614
26. IUPUI +50 315-311--626
27. Central Conn. St +53 313-316--629
BYU INDIVIDUAL SCORES
T29. Ron Harvey Jr. +3 72-75--147
T47. Greg Machtaler +5 77-72--149
T87. Manuel Merizalde +9 74-79--153
T87. Kyle Wight +9 78-75--153
T126. Devin Heid +14 78-80--158