LARAMIE -- True freshman Jackson Emery had a career game for BYU as the Cougars got another hard-fought victory over Wyoming, 74-68, in the Arena Auditorium. Emery scored a person-best 13 points, making 3-of-4 treys, in 17 minutes of play on Saturday.
BYU (16-7, 8-4 MWC) had a big first half and held off the charging Cowboys (12-14, 5-8). With the win, BYU remains in a third-place tie in the Mountain West Conference standings.
"We fought hard tonight," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "It was a game of runs but our guys fought hard and made plays. We got some good play from our bench. It's a determined team right now."
After the Cougars took an early 4-2 lead, Brandon Ewing came back for the Cowboys, scoring five consecutive points on a three and a two-point jumper to give Wyoming an early 7-4 lead. The two teams battled back and forth in the early going, playing to an 8-8 tie at the 15:42 mark.
Defense stepped up on both sides midway through the first half, with each team forcing turnovers before Rashaun Broadus went coast-to-coast to give BYU a 14-12 with 11:44 remaining in the half.
The Cougars built a seven-point lead after a 7-0 run when Brock Reichner nailed a three and Fernando Malaman got free for a layup. The Cowboys countered with a 6-2 run to cut the BYU lead to 21-18 with 7:41 left in the first half.
The teams matched runs once again with the Cougars scoring six in a row to build a nine-point advantage before Wyoming's Ewing answered with seven consecutive points by himself. The Cowboys were helped out by BYU turnovers.
Keena Young and Emery helped the Cougars score five unanswered points as the see-saw tilted back in BYU's direction. Emery scored five points in the last 38 seconds of the half, including a three-pointer from the corner with seven seconds remaining, to give the Cougars a 43-35 at the break.
"All year I've tried to be ready for when coach puts me in," Emery said. "Lee (Cummard) was in foul trouble and Brock needed a rest. I didn't do anything different than what I do in practice. I didn't try to force anything. I just did what Jimmy (Balderson) or Lee would have done if they were in there. I took the shots when they came to me."
BYU shot 54.5 percent from the field in the first half, including 3-for-5 from behind the three-point line.
The Cougars came out flat early in the second half and the Cowboys took advantage, cutting the lead in half and forcing an early BYU time out. Wyoming's Justin Williams played physical, blocking shots and scoring points early in the half as the Cowboys cut the lead to two at 45-43 with 15:53 left in the game.
BYU countered with Emery, who nailed consecutive three pointers to put the Cougars back up by eight points. Moments later, Trent Plaisted hit a hook shot to give BYU a game-high, 10 point lead. Wyoming scored five in a row to cut the lead back down to five.
After Broadus hit a foul shot, Wyoming scored seven consecutive points to give it a 55-54 lead with 10:35 remaining, its first advantage since a 12-10 lead early in the game.
The two teams played close down the stretch with Jimmy Balderson making a free throw to tie the game at 60 with 7:08 remaining. Down two at 62-60, the Cougars went on a 5-0 run to regain the lead.
BYU kept the lead, holding on to a 67-66 advantage with two minutes remaining when Broadus followed his own miss -- one of Williams' 11 blocked shots on the day -- with a layin to give the Cougars a three-point lead with under one minute left. His offensive rebound on the play was BYU's 20th, the most by the Cougars this season.
The Cowboys' Ewing missed two foul shots with 35 seconds left and Young made two on the Cougars side after a foul. Reichner made one free throw and Plaisted added two more in the final seconds to secure BYU's third road win of the MWC season.
Young led BYU with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds to record his second double-double of the year. Plaisted (12 points) and Balderson (11 points) joined Young and Emery in double figures for BYU.
Ewing scored a game-high 25 points for Wyoming to become the top scoring MWC freshman in league games, passing Utah's Andrew Bogut. Williams pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds while nearly recording a triple-double with 11 blocks (tied Wyoming record) and eight points.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
BYU Cougars vs Wyoming Cowboys
2-18-06 3:07 p.m. at Arena-Auditorium, Laramie, Wyo.
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VISITORS: BYU Cougars 16-7, 8-4 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 6-13 0-0 3-3 5 7 12 2 15 0 2 0 0 30
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... f 4-14 0-0 4-7 4 4 8 2 12 0 0 0 1 31
01 BROADUS, Rashaun.... g 4-9 0-3 1-2 1 1 2 3 9 2 1 0 1 26
11 REICHNER, Brock..... g 2-6 1-1 1-2 1 2 3 0 6 1 1 1 0 30
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 4 4 0 2 0 1 9
04 EMERY, Jackson...... 4-6 3-4 2-2 1 0 1 4 13 0 0 1 0 17
13 AINGE, Austin....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 2 5 0 2 14
15 MALAMAN, Fernando... 2-7 0-1 0-0 3 2 5 3 4 1 1 0 0 18
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... 3-9 2-4 3-4 2 2 4 5 11 0 3 0 1 25
TEAM................ 3 5 8
Totals.............. 27-67 6-13 14-20 20 25 45 24 74 6 15 2 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-33 54.5% 2nd Half: 9-34 26.5% Game: 40.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% Game: 46.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 10-15 66.7% Game: 70.0% 3
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HOME TEAM: Wyoming Cowboys 12-14, 5-8 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 WILLIAMS, Justin.... f 4-6 0-0 0-0 5 8 13 3 8 0 3 11 0 32
15 LEVEN, Steve........ f 2-10 0-5 3-5 0 1 1 2 7 0 1 0 2 25
54 WABBINGTON, Derek... c 4-11 0-1 1-4 1 5 6 3 9 1 1 2 1 36
01 JONES, Brad......... g 4-7 0-0 3-5 2 3 5 4 11 5 5 0 1 34
23 EWING, Brandon...... g 8-15 2-7 7-10 0 2 2 4 25 5 3 0 2 34
05 LEWIS, Kevin........ 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 8
13 FORMAN, Ross........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
14 EBERT, James........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 15
34 ANDERSON, Chris..... 3-3 0-0 0-2 0 3 3 2 6 1 1 0 0 13
45 SONGONDO, Bienvenu.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
TEAM................ 3 1 4
Totals.............. 26-55 2-14 14-26 11 23 34 19 68 13 15 13 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-26 50.0% 2nd Half: 13-29 44.8% Game: 47.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-8 12.5% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 14.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-13 61.5% 2nd Half: 6-13 46.2% Game: 53.8% 5
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Officials: Randy McCall, Larry Spaulding, Frank Harvey III
Technical fouls: BYU Cougars-CUMMARD, Lee. Wyoming Cowboys-None.
Attendance: 7237
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
BYU Cougars................... 43 31 - 74
Wyoming Cowboys............... 35 33 - 68
-Justin Williams blocked 11 shots, which is a tie for the most in a single
game in UW history.
-Brandon Ewing scored 25 points to break the MWC freshman scoring record in
league games. He has now scored 200 points to date in MWC play.
Points in the paint-BY 28,WY 38. Points off turnovers-BY 17,WY 13.
2nd chance points-BY 16,WY 6. Fast break points-BY 8,WY 6.
Bench points-BY 28,WY 8. Score tied-5 times. Lead changes-4 times.