PROVO -- Senior captains Mike Hall and Jared Jensen stepped up to the challenge in facing the No. 13 ranked N.C. State Wolfpack, but the Cougars fell short in a hard-fought battle, losing 61-72 in the Marriott Center. Hall, who was held to five points in the first half, finished the game with 18 points, while Jensen contributed 14 points in a high-powered second half.
"I was proud to be the coach of BYU," coach Steve Cleveland said. "I haven't been able to say that after every game this year."
The Cougars struggled early in the first half, falling behind 9-0 to the Wolfpack to start the game. BYU did not score until the 16-minute mark when Austin Ainge hit a three-pointer. Last year's ACC Player of Year, Julius Hodge, got off to a quick start to push the Wolfpack lead to 20-7, scoring 14 of his 22 points before the half. For the Cougars, Jensen found his groove down low in the post, scoring 10 points, but the Wolfpack's late drive in the half gave them a comfortable 40-18 lead going into the locker room, marking the second time this season that the Cougars have been held under 20 points in the first period of play.
In the second half, the Cougars came out on fire with a 9-2 run, while the Wolfpack were ice cold. BYU held the NC State to only 17 percent (5-28) shooting from the three-point line for the game. Midway through the half, Cougar guard Mike Rose caught fire, scoring all of his points with three long bombs from beyond the arc. The Cougars continued to cut into the Wolfpack lead with an Austin Ainge reverse lay-up to bring the Cougars to within nine. Yet, nine points was the closest the Cougars could get before falling in the end. The Cougars outscored the Wolfpack 43-32 in the second half.
"I asked them to let me look them in the eyes at the end of the game and know they played well," Cleveland said. "And they did."
Ainge had a career-high eight assists and added nine points, while teammate Kenna Young matched his rebounding career-high with 10. The Cougars shot an outstanding 51 percent from the field in the second half compared to their 20 percent in the first.
At 2-8 on the season, BYU will now travel to play in-state foe Weber State Thursday night in Ogden at 7 p.m. The game will not be televised but fans can follow the action on the radio on KSL 1160 or with live stats available on the BYU men's basketball homepage at http://www.byucougars.com/basketball_m/.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
North Carolina State vs Brigham Young
12/21/04 7:06 pm at Provo, UT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: North Carolina State 9-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 WATKINS, Levi....... f 2-5 0-3 0-0 0 2 2 1 4 1 0 0 2 11
24 HODGE, Julius....... f 9-13 0-2 4-7 1 6 7 1 22 2 2 1 0 36
32 COLLINS, Jordan..... c 3-5 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 2 6 1 1 0 0 22
14 ASTUR, Engin........ g 3-7 2-5 0-0 1 2 3 4 8 0 1 0 3 34
22 BETHEL, Tony........ g 5-11 3-8 2-2 2 4 6 2 15 5 3 0 3 35
03 EVTIMOV, Ilian...... 2-5 0-3 0-0 0 1 1 1 4 3 2 0 0 19
11 GRANT, Gavin........ 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2
13 BENNERMAN, Cameron.. 0-7 0-5 0-0 1 3 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 13
33 SIMMONS, Cedric..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
40 BRACKMAN, Andrew.... 4-7 0-2 4-5 1 6 7 3 12 0 1 2 0 23
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 28-60 5-28 11-16 10 25 35 14 72 13 10 3 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-33 51.5% 2nd Half: 11-27 40.7% Game: 46.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-15 20.0% 2nd Half: 2-13 15.4% Game: 17.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 8-11 72.7% Game: 68.8% 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 2-8
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 YOUNG, Keena........ f 1-5 0-0 0-0 3 7 10 0 2 3 0 0 1 28
52 JENSEN, Jared....... f 4-6 0-0 6-6 1 2 3 3 14 0 3 0 0 35
54 MILES, Chris........ c 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 0 2 1 0 14
01 HALL, Mike.......... g 7-17 1-5 3-4 0 4 4 3 18 3 0 0 3 30
13 AINGE, Austin....... g 3-10 1-3 2-2 0 4 4 4 9 8 6 0 1 32
02 ROSE, Mike.......... 3-7 3-5 0-0 0 1 1 3 9 1 1 0 0 20
10 NASHIF, Terry....... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 8
20 BURGESS, Sam........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
41 MEADS, Garner....... 1-3 0-0 2-2 1 0 1 2 4 0 0 0 1 15
43 DAWES, Derek........ 2-3 0-0 1-1 0 3 3 1 5 0 1 0 0 18
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 21-55 5-16 14-15 7 25 32 18 61 16 13 1 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 5-24 20.8% 2nd Half: 16-31 51.6% Game: 38.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% Game: 31.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-6 100 % 2nd Half: 8-9 88.9% Game: 93.3% 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: David Hall, Scott Thornley, Randy McCall
Technical fouls: North Carolina State-None. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 9390
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
North Carolina State.......... 40 32 - 72
Brigham Young................. 18 43 - 61