PROVO -- BYU extended its winning streak against in-state opponent SUU to 9-0 Saturday night with an 86-61 victory. The Cougars achieved their highest-scoring game on the season while improving to 2-1 overall.
"The guys shared the ball well tonight," said BYU coach Dave Rose. "A lot of times we gave up a good shot for a better shot."
Thirty-three of the Cougars' points came from behind the three-point line, with a team three-point percentage of .647, the fifth-highest three-point percentage in BYU history with a minimum of 10 attempts. BYU made a season-high 58.5 percent overall as the Cougars have now topped 50 percent shooting from the floor and from behind the arc in the past two games.
BYU starters took a quick one-point lead early on with junior starting point guard Rashaun Broadus sinking two threes to score six of the Cougars' nine points in the first six and a half minutes of the game. Broadus finished the first half as BYU's leading scorer with eight points, just one point shy of his career high of nine points.
The Thunderbirds kept the Cougars within reach, trailing by only two points at a Cougar timeout with 11:48 left in the period. But the Cougars came off the bench with patient passing, which opened up a three for freshman Lee Cummard, followed by a forced turnover on the other end of the floor that led to another Cougar three by senior Brock Reichner. During the run, the Cougars scored 10 straight points to extend their lead to eight points. BYU's defense stayed tight throughout the first half, forcing an additional nine turnovers and helping the Cougars to a 37-25 lead -- the Cougars' highest scoring first half of the season.
The Cougars started the second half with back-to-back-to-back threes, one by Broadus and two in a row by Reichner, to push the Cougars' lead to 21 points. The Thunderbirds scored their first point of the half on a free throw to stop a 9-0 BYU run almost four minutes into the period, but the Cougars held them without a field goal the first six minutes of the second half.
Freshman Jackson Emery entered the game late in the half and immediately contributed to the Cougars' lead, scoring off a fast break assist by junior Austin Ainge to push the Cougar lead to 55-32. Emery also made two threes and two free throws and finished with a career-high 10 points, while Ainge totaled a career-tying eight assists on the night.
BYU and SUU went into the bonus late in the second half, adding points for both teams at the free-throw line, but not enough to help the Thunderbirds catch the Cougars. BYU held SUU to a 27-point deficit at 79-52 with 3:50 left in the game after building the lead to as many as 32 points.
The Cougars carried their momentum to the final buzzer and sent the Thunderbirds home with a 25-point defeat. The Cougars dominated the Thunderbirds across the court, finishing with 31 points in the paint compared to SUU's four. BYU added another nine off of fast breaks while SUU failed to convert in transition.
"Coach Rose loves to play fast and he did," said SUU coach Bill Evans. "I think BYU shot the ball extremely well offensively. We were on the other end of the spectrum tonight."
BYU had four players score in double digits, with freshman Trent Plaisted leading the pack at 13 points. Broadus added a career-high 11, while Reichner contributed another 11 and Emery tallied his career-high 10. Junior Keena Young led the Cougars on the boards bringing down five rebounds, while Ainge led the team with eight assists.
SUU was led by senior Nate Janes with 11 points and junior Henry Uhegwu with 10 points. The Thunderbirds fall to 0-5 on the year, having played all five contests on the road.
BYU will face Lamar University on Wednesday in the Delta Center in Salt Lake City in a 7 p.m. tip.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
SUU vs BYU Cougars
11-26-05 7:05 p.m. at PROVO, Utah
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VISITORS: SUU 0-5, 0-0 Mid-Con
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
40 JANES, Nate......... f 2-6 0-0 7-8 0 1 1 4 11 0 1 0 2 23
50 BONFIM, Fernando.... c 0-5 0-0 2-4 2 3 5 3 2 1 1 0 0 20
03 UHEGWU, Henry....... g 2-7 2-4 4-4 0 1 1 4 10 1 3 0 0 23
05 BARNES, Steve....... g 2-7 1-3 3-4 0 2 2 1 8 1 5 0 2 28
22 ALLEN, Justin....... g 3-7 0-1 2-5 1 4 5 1 8 3 2 0 0 28
10 MAREK, David........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 9
12 CRUM, Dax........... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
23 DAVIS, Eli.......... 1-4 1-2 0-0 1 2 3 2 3 1 1 0 1 14
30 JANES, Rand......... 3-8 3-6 0-0 0 1 1 0 9 1 0 0 2 19
33 ABRAHAO, Junior..... 0-1 0-0 4-6 2 2 4 3 4 1 0 1 0 12
41 BONZANO, Esteban.... 2-4 2-4 0-0 1 2 3 2 6 0 0 0 1 22
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 15-49 9-20 22-31 8 20 28 20 61 10 13 1 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-25 36.0% 2nd Half: 6-24 25.0% Game: 30.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-14 42.9% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 45.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 21-29 72.4% Game: 71.0% 6
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 2-1, 0-0 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 MALAMAN, Fernando... f 4-5 1-1 0-0 2 2 4 2 9 0 2 0 1 27
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... f 1-2 0-1 1-2 0 2 2 2 3 3 2 0 1 20
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... c 4-9 0-0 5-9 1 3 4 1 13 1 3 2 0 21
01 BROADUS, Rashaun.... g 4-6 3-3 0-1 0 3 3 1 11 3 1 0 1 23
11 REICHNER, Brock..... g 4-8 3-4 0-0 1 3 4 0 11 1 0 0 0 19
02 ROSE, Mike.......... 1-2 1-2 2-2 0 2 2 0 5 2 1 0 0 13
03 YOUNG, Keena........ 2-3 0-1 0-0 0 5 5 4 4 0 2 0 2 15
04 EMERY, Jackson...... 3-4 2-3 2-2 0 0 0 2 10 0 1 0 0 9
13 AINGE, Austin....... 3-4 0-0 0-0 0 4 4 1 6 8 0 0 2 16
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ 3-6 1-2 2-4 2 2 4 2 9 2 0 1 0 19
34 BURGESS, David...... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
41 ODJEGBA, Jermaine... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 4
43 DAWES, Derek........ 2-2 0-0 1-2 1 0 1 4 5 2 0 0 0 12
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 31-53 11-17 13-22 7 29 36 22 86 22 13 3 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-26 50.0% 2nd Half: 18-27 66.7% Game: 58.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 64.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-11 54.5% 2nd Half: 7-11 63.6% Game: 59.1% 4
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Officials: Winston Stith, Roosevelt Brown, Doran Gotschall
Technical fouls: SUU-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 8926
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
SUU........................... 25 36 - 61
BYU Cougars................... 37 49 - 86
Points in the paint-SUU 4,BY 31. Points off turnovers-SUU 17,BY 15.
2nd chance points-SUU 7,BY 10. Fast break points-SUU 0,BY 9.
Bench points-SUU 22,BY 39. Score tied-1 time. Lead changes-4 times.