PROVO -- A career night for sophomore center Derek Dawes sparked BYU to a 68-53 win over New Mexico Monday at the Marriott Center, the Cougars' first Mountain West Conference victory of the season. The win improved BYU's record to 7-13 overall and 1-4 in the MWC while the Lobos dropped to 14-5 and 1-3.
Dawes set career-highs in points and blocks with 14 and five while he tied a career-high with 10 rebounds. It was also his first career double-double. Sophomore forward Keena Young tied his career-high with 14 points and added seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Mike Rose led all scorers with 21 points while senior guard Mike Hall added 16. Sophomore guard Austin Ainge also tied his career-high with eight assists.
BYU Coach Steve Cleveland said he is playing the younger players in preparation for the future.
"We're preparing next year's team in the process," Cleveland said. "We've got some guys who haven't played a lot. Dawes is our future, but he just needs playing time."
Alfred Neale was the high scorer for New Mexico with 12 points, the only Lobo in double figures. Mark Walters was second on the team with nine points. Neale was also the top Lobo on the glass, collecting six boards.
For the game, BYU shot 44.8 percent (26-58) and limited the Lobos to 32.7 percent (18-55) shooting. The Cougars scored 17 points on 11 New Mexico turnovers and won the battle of the boards, 40-34.
The Lobos took their only lead of the night when Troy DeVries hit a three pointer for the game's opening basket. After Dawes hit the Cougars' first basket, Young scored to give BYU the lead for good.
Dawes was strong throughout the first period, scoring eight points, grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots. He hit two free throws to give BYU its biggest lead of the half at 24-16.
The Lobos cut into the Cougar lead as Neale ran off five consecutive points to cut the lead to 24-22. But BYU would not allow the Lobos to get any closer as the Cougars ended the half on a 9-3 run to go into the locker room up 33-25. Rose capped the run with a three-pointer in the waning seconds of the first frame.
Young was the high man of the half, finishing with 11 points and four rebounds. Rose and Hall each contributed seven while Ainge dished out four assists.
As New Mexico came out cold to start the second period, missing its first five shots, BYU kept pushing. Dawes kept the Cougar run alive with a dunk on the opening possession, and Ainge connected with Hall on a fast break layup moments later to extend the advantage to 12 at 37-25. Another layup by Dawes pushed the BYU lead to 14.
With a 16-point cushion at 42-26, the Cougars opened the door for the Lobos to make a run. New Mexico took advantage, scoring 12 straight points to get back into the game at 42-38. However, Rose kept New Mexico at bay, connecting from beyond the arc to spark a 13-4 BYU run and adding back-to-back treys to put the Cougars up 55-42. The lead was enough for BYU to coast to the 68-53 win.
Cleveland said he is pleased with the effort his team has given recently and knows his players will continue to improve.
"The effort has been there the last two games but the execution needs to improve," Cleveland said. "This group of guys is a special group of people. They found a way to win and they'll do it again."
The Cougars will have the rest of the week off to prepare for a 10 p.m. ESPN showdown with conference rival Utah next Monday in the Marriott Center.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
New Mexico vs Brigham Young
01/24/05 8:07 PM at Marriot Center, Provo, UT
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VISITORS: New Mexico 14-5, 1-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
13 CHIOTTI, David...... f 2-3 0-0 0-2 1 3 4 0 4 1 1 1 0 11
21 NEALE, Alfred....... f 5-15 1-5 1-1 3 3 6 3 12 2 1 0 0 33
02 DEVRIES, Troy....... g 2-5 2-4 0-0 0 3 3 2 6 0 2 0 0 30
03 COLLINS, Kris....... g 2-5 0-1 3-6 1 3 4 1 7 4 3 0 1 33
05 WALTERS, Mark....... g 3-12 1-2 2-2 0 2 2 4 9 0 0 0 2 32
00 OSBY, Bambale....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 8
20 WALL, Ryan.......... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 1 9
22 HART, Jeff.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
24 PRENTICE, Darren.... 1-2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 5
25 HARDEN, Blake....... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 2 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 10
32 DANRIDGE, Tony...... 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 15
35 PHALER, Sean........ 1-6 0-2 5-5 2 1 3 0 7 1 0 0 0 13
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 18-55 5-15 12-18 10 24 34 15 53 9 11 1 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-29 34.5% 2nd Half: 8-26 30.8% Game: 32.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 1-8 12.5% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 11-14 78.6% Game: 66.7% 4
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 7-13, 1-4
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 6-8 0-0 2-3 2 5 7 3 14 0 0 1 1 36
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... f 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 3 3 1 0 0 2 0 0 11
43 DAWES, Derek........ c 6-7 0-0 2-2 4 6 10 4 14 2 1 4 1 32
01 HALL, Mike.......... g 7-18 1-6 1-3 3 5 8 1 16 2 0 0 1 38
13 AINGE, Austin....... g 0-6 0-4 0-0 0 4 4 4 0 8 2 0 1 23
02 ROSE, Mike.......... 7-12 5-9 2-2 1 2 3 1 21 1 1 0 1 29
10 NASHIF, Terry....... 0-1 0-1 3-4 0 2 2 0 3 3 1 0 1 12
12 REICHNER, Brock..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
20 BURGESS, Sam........ 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 8
41 MEADS, Garner....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3
54 MILES, Chris........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 7
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 26-58 6-23 10-14 11 29 40 16 68 18 10 5 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-31 45.2% 2nd Half: 12-27 44.4% Game: 44.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 4-13 30.8% Game: 26.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-3 100 % 2nd Half: 7-11 63.6% Game: 71.4% 1
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Officials: Bob Staffen, Stanley Reynolds, Mark Whitehead
Technical fouls: New Mexico-None. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 12161
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
New Mexico.................... 25 28 - 53
Brigham Young................. 33 35 - 68
Points in the paint-NM 26,BY 34. Points off turnovers-NM 9,BY 17.
2nd chance points-NM 7,BY 11. Fast break points-NM 0,BY 10.
Bench points-NM 15,BY 24. Score tied-0 times. Lead changes-1 time.