BRISBANE, Australia -- Led by Mark Bigelow's continued stellar play and strong performances from its post players, the BYU men's basketball team pulled out an amazing 98-90 come-from-behind win Friday over the Brisbane Bullets of the National Basketball League, Australia's top professional league.
The best of the three teams the Cougars have faced to date on its exhibition tour of Australia, Brisbane utilized its experienced starting unit to control the tempo of the game and take a commanding early lead. After starting the same lineup the prior two games, BYU coach Steve Cleveland put senior guard Luiz Lemes, junior guard Marc Roberts and freshman forward Garner Meads on the floor at the tip with Bigelow and Rafael Araujo.
Brisbane's experience showed in the first half as the Bullets shot 48 percent from the floor and 46 percent on threes while BYU struggled with execution and shot only 24 percent from the floor, including 18 percent from behind the arc. The Cougars trailed by 18 points, 51-33, at the break.
Similar to its comeback win over Utah in 2002, when the Cougars overcame a 21-point second-half deficit, BYU soon turned the momentum. The Cougars aggressively attacked the basket on offense and created opportunities with improved defense. BYU shot 49 percent from the floor and made 22-of-25 free throws in the second half and totaled nine steals to Brisbane's four while holding the Bullets to 31-percent second-half shooting.
Having inserted several reserves in the early going of the second half, Brisbane coach Joey Wright soon returned his regulars as BYU began to erase the Bullets' large lead. But even with its regular seven-man rotation (four players logged 33 minutes or more), Brisbane could not reclaim the momentum the Cougars had taken.
Kevin Woodberry made two of his three steals in the third period and Araujo proved to be a handful down low, running the floor and contributing offensive rebounds to help BYU outscored Brisbane 28-14 in the third to trail by only four points entering the final quarter.
The fourth quarter opened with Brisbane's Daniel Egan hitting a pair of baseline jumpers to widen the Bullets' margin, but some great shooting by Bigelow and strong play in the post garnered the victory for BYU and the vocal support of the several hundred Cougar fans in attendance.
Bigelow led BYU in scoring for the third straight game, making 11-of-13 free throws on his way to 27 points. Araujo added 19 points, nine rebounds and three steals, while Jared Jensen contributed 13 points and nine rebounds and Dan Howard totaled a double-double with 11 points and a team-high 12 rebounds in only 12 minutes of play. Lemes and Terry Nashif each distributed a game-high five assists.
Other BYU scoring included Woodberry with nine points, Lemes, Meads and Ainge with four points, Nashif made a trey and Shoff and Roberts each added a bucket. Bower did not score but had two assists. Each Cougar played at least 11 minutes with Bigelow being the first Cougar to top 30 minutes on the trip with 31.
Three Bullets reached double-digit scoring, led by Derek Rucker's 27 points. Egan was a force with 21 points and 17 rebounds while Ben Castle also recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
BYU, now 2-1 on its trip, will play again Saturday, its fourth game in as many nights. Prior to the game, BYU will put on a clinic for approximately 100 children.