PROVO -- BYU used a huge first-half run to build a lead it would not relinquish, beating the Idaho State Bengals 77-58 Saturday at the Marriott Center.
With the win the Cougars improved to 11-4 and extended the nation's longest homecourt winning streak to 43 games. Idaho State dropped to 6-6 entering its Big Sky schedule.
After trailing 20-17 at the 10:41 mark in the first half, BYU outscored the Bengals 17-3 the rest of the way to take a 34-23 lead into the locker room.
The Bengals opened the second half fighting to get back in the game, but the Cougars used their second best field goal shooting percentage of the season (58 percent) to seal the game.
"We played well for about 10 minutes," said Idaho State head coach Doug Oliver. "They were just too big and too strong and they wore us down."
BYU big man Rafael Araujo turned in his fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He also led BYU with four steals -- two of which ended in breakaway, rim-rocking jams at the other end.
"Araujo is the most improved player on this team and as he continues to improve we will become a better team," said BYU head coach Steve Cleveland.
Travis Hansen scored 16 points, including a three-point play on a jam and foul shot that brought the crowd of 16,078 to its feet. Ricky Bower nailed four treys off the bench and ended the game with 13 points, a new career-high.
Jeremy Brown led the Bengals with 13 points, including two three-pointers. Orem native Scott Henry added 10.
Idaho State shot 52 percent in the second half and 43.4 percent for the game, but BYU's size was too much as the Cougars out rebounded the Bengals 43-19.
BYU will begin Mountain West Conference play by hosting the Rebels of UNLV Thursday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on KJZZ-TV by Sportswest Productions.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Idaho State vs BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars
1/11/03 7:05 p.m. at Provo, UT
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VISITORS: Idaho State
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
31 HENRY, Scott........ f 4-6 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 0 10 1 2 0 2 35
34 KIRKLAND, Rashad.... f 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 3 4 1 1 0 2 23
10 BROOKS, Alvin....... g 4-8 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 2 9 3 1 0 0 24
23 POOLE, Marquis...... g 3-7 0-1 1-2 1 1 2 3 7 4 1 0 0 27
30 SCHROEDER, David.... g 0-4 0-3 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 28
03 JACKSON, Dion....... 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 0 2 4 1 0 1 9
05 LEWIS, Arzelle...... 3-6 2-4 0-0 0 0 0 1 8 0 0 0 3 13
15 DUNHAM, Bruce....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3
32 BROWN, Jeremy....... 5-13 2-5 1-4 2 1 3 2 13 0 2 0 0 15
42 SMITH, Jesse........ 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 10
44 MUNYAGI, Ray........ 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 2 2 3 2 0 1 0 1 13
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 23-53 5-16 7-13 8 11 19 15 58 16 12 0 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-28 35.7% 2nd Half: 13-25 52.0% Game: 43.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 22.2% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 31.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 6-11 54.5% Game: 53.8% 0
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HOME TEAM: BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars
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 3-5 2-2 1-2 1 3 4 1 9 3 1 1 1 31
52 JENSEN, Jared....... f 2-4 0-0 1-2 4 3 7 0 5 1 1 1 0 31
55 ARAUJO, Rafael...... c 8-12 0-0 1-2 3 7 10 4 17 1 3 0 4 30
02 HANSEN, Travis...... g 6-9 1-2 3-4 1 1 2 1 16 0 3 0 0 27
10 NASHIF, Terry....... g 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 3 3 1 3 3 1 0 0 27
05 SHOFF, Jake......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 6
12 ROBERTS, Marc....... 0-3 0-2 3-4 0 0 0 3 3 2 4 0 1 14
14 BOWER, Ricky........ 4-7 4-7 1-2 0 1 1 0 13 0 2 0 1 10
15 ALLEN, John......... 1-1 1-1 2-2 1 0 1 1 5 1 0 0 0 5
24 WOODBERRY, Kevin.... 2-5 0-1 0-0 1 3 4 2 4 2 2 0 1 14
32 JEPSEN, Bart........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2
40 HOWARD, Dan......... 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 2 0 1 0 0 3
TEAM................ 3 3 6
Totals.............. 28-48 9-16 12-18 16 27 43 14 77 13 19 3 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-18 55.6% 2nd Half: 18-30 60.0% Game: 58.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 5-9 55.6% Game: 56.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-14 71.4% 2nd Half: 2-4 50.0% Game: 66.7% 0
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Officials: Greg Burks, Tim Giabutero, Ron Zetcher
Technical fouls: Idaho State-None. BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars-None.
Attendance: 16078
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Idaho State................... 23 35 - 58
BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars......... 34 43 - 77
Points in the paint-IDAHOST 18,BY 32. Points off turnovers-IDAHOST 17,BY 15.
2nd chance points-IDAHOST 2,BY 20. Fast break points-IDAHOST 2,BY 8.
Bench points-IDAHOST 27,BY 27. Score tied-2 times. Lead changes-2 times.