PROVO -- Keena Young scored a career-high 17 points, but none were bigger than the two foul shots he hit with 23 seconds remaining to propel the Cougars to a 75-72 win in front of 11,466 screaming fans.
Young led four BYU (15-7, 7-4 MWC) players in double figures. Trent Plaisted picked up his second straight double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
"I thought Young was really good for BYU," UNLV head coach Lon Kruger said. "He played tough inside."
BYU head coach Dave Rose said the Cougars played tough enough to get the victory.
"There is a really fine line between winning games and losing games," he said. "Right now, we seem to be on the good side of that line."
The game got off to a quick start with the two teams trading baskets in the early going. UNLV maintained 7-6 lead with 15:43 left in the first half after Curtis Terry hit a three-pointer.
BYU scored six unanswered points with a Keena Young three-point play and a Jimmy Balderson three-pointer. The Cougars' 14-7 run gave them a 20-14 lead with 10:08 left.
Sparked by Jimmy Balderson's 13 points, BYU continued running, opening up a 32-18 lead with 7:43 left in the half. After Lee Cummard nailed a three-pointer to put BYU up 37-20, the Rebels went on a scoring run of their own, cutting the lead to 37-28 with 3:00 remaining.
UNLV used the foul line and the inside play of Louis Amundson to power a 14-2 run and cut the BYU lead to 39-34 with 32 seconds left. A Young foul shot gave the Cougars the six-point halftime advantage.
Balderson scored 13 points and grabbed three rebounds in the first half while Young and Plaisted each scored nine and grabbed five boards. Jason Petrimoulx scored 15 for the Rebels including 7-for-7 on foul shots.
Both teams came out of the halftime break hot. Brock Reichner hit two threes while the Rebels crashed the boards and converted second-chance points. Petrimoulx hit on a three-point play to cut the Cougars' lead at 50-48 with 16:16 remaining.
Petrimoulx nailed threes on consecutive trips to give the Rebels a 54-53 lead. The lead was their first since 7-6. Moments later, UNLV pushed its lead to 56-53 with 13:10 remaining.
Down five, the Cougars put together a 7-2 run to even the game at 60. A UNLV foul shot gave the Rebels a one-point lead with 7:59 left. The game turned into a see-saw battle down the stretch with the Rebels maintaining the advantage.
BYU re-captured a 68-67 lead when Reichner nailed a trey from the corner. The Cougars then forced a turnover and came back with a three-point play. BYU got aggressive on the defensive side and built a 73-67 lead.
The Rebels got physical in the post and scored five unanswered points to once again cut the Cougars' lead to 73-72. With under one minute to play, UNLV had a chance to take the lead but Balderson forced Petrimoulx into a difficult shot and Young made two clutch foul shots.
"It was a great game," Rose said. "We had a great first half and things came down to just a couple of plays in the end."
BYU will play at Wyoming next Saturday at 3 p.m. (MST) in Laramie.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
UNLV Rebels vs BYU Cougars
2-11-06 6:08 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: UNLV Rebels 13-9, 7-3 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 AMUNDSON, Louis..... f 8-14 0-0 0-0 1 6 7 2 16 1 3 3 1 29
41 VILLEPIGUE, Dustin.. f 1-3 0-0 1-2 2 3 5 1 3 2 0 1 0 25
01 ADAMS, Jo'Van....... g 3-11 0-3 2-2 0 0 0 0 8 3 3 0 1 31
13 PETRIMOULX, Jason... g 7-13 5-9 8-9 0 3 3 2 27 3 1 0 1 39
31 TERRY, Curtis....... g 6-8 2-4 0-0 1 4 5 1 14 3 3 0 0 23
05 WHITE, Wendell...... 0-4 0-1 1-2 3 4 7 5 1 2 1 1 1 19
11 MORGAN, Ricky....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 13
45 DARGER, Joe......... 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 3 0 2 0 0 13
52 ESSENGUE, Gaston.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 8
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 26-55 8-18 12-15 10 21 31 17 72 15 13 5 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-27 40.7% 2nd Half: 15-28 53.6% Game: 47.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 44.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-9 88.9% 2nd Half: 4-6 66.7% Game: 80.0% 1
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 15-7, 7-4 MWC
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 6-11 0-0 5-8 4 3 7 3 17 4 0 0 0 35
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... f 7-10 0-0 2-3 2 10 12 4 16 4 2 0 0 31
01 BROADUS, Rashaun.... g 2-6 1-3 2-2 0 0 0 2 7 1 1 0 1 29
11 REICHNER, Brock..... g 4-11 3-6 0-0 0 2 2 2 11 1 0 0 3 34
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g 2-3 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 5 1 2 1 0 21
13 AINGE, Austin....... 0-1 0-1 1-3 0 2 2 1 1 3 1 0 1 12
15 MALAMAN, Fernando... 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 1 3 2 2 0 3 0 0 13
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... 6-14 2-5 2-2 4 2 6 2 16 2 4 0 4 25
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 28-59 7-17 12-18 15 20 35 17 75 16 13 1 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-30 53.3% 2nd Half: 12-29 41.4% Game: 47.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 41.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-7 71.4% 2nd Half: 7-11 63.6% Game: 66.7% 1,1
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Officials: Rick Batsell, Lonnie Dixon, Roosevelt Brown
Technical fouls: UNLV Rebels-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 11466
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
UNLV Rebels................... 34 38 - 72
BYU Cougars................... 40 35 - 75
Points in the paint-LV 34,BY 40. Points off turnovers-LV 23,BY 24.
2nd chance points-LV 13,BY 18. Fast break points-LV 10,BY 10.
Bench points-LV 4,BY 19. Score tied-6 times. Lead changes-5 times.