OGDEN -- The BYU men's basketball team pulled off a wild one Saturday night at the Dee Events Center as the Cougars knocked off Weber State, 73-69, in overtime thanks in part to a career night from Keena Young. The win improved BYU to 4-2 on the season, including a 2-0 mark in overtime games, while the Wildcats fell to 4-4.
"The game of basketball is a process of learning how to win close games," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "The more that happens, the more confidence these guys get. These are the kind of wins we can build on."
Young recorded a career high with 27 points to go along with a season-best 11 rebounds, marking his second double-double of the year. Lee Cummard also scored in double figures with 12 points while Rashaun Broadus got into double-digits for the first time this year with 10. Young also tied for the team lead in assists as he and Austin Ainge each recorded three dishes. Weber State was led by Tyler Billings with 18 points.
"Keena (Young) is getting better and better in the low post," said Rose. "I liked that our guys kept going to him. There are lots of ways we can get the ball in to him. As he got better tonight, our guys just kept feeding him."
The Cougars got off to a slow start with turnovers on their first two possessions, allowing Weber State to score the first bucket of the game. Young got BYU on the board with a layin at the 17:45 mark and then kept the Cougars in the game with four more points leading to a 6-6 tie with 15:40 left to play.
After BYU found itself trailing 13-10, Broadus tied it up with the Cougars' first three-pointer of the night. The two teams traded buckets from there leading to a 19-17 Wildcat lead until Jonathan Tavernari stole the ball at halfcourt and took it to the hole for the layin. BYU got two more fastbreak opportunities on the next two Weber State possessions but could not convert them as Ainge and Tavernari recorded steals and had the chance to give the Cougars their first lead of the game but could not finish.
Finally, after the eighth tie of the contest at 19-19, Trent Plaisted put BYU out in front with a pair of free throws. Cummard then made good on a steal at midcourt to stretch the lead to 23-19. The Wildcats kept pushing and got within one at 26-25 until a putback dunk from Plaisted followed by a layin from Jimmy Balderson gave BYU its largest lead of the game to that point at 30-25. WSU added a bucket before the buzzer but went into the locker room trailing 30-27.
The Wildcats began the second half much as they did the first with a bucket to get things going, but Lee Cummard answered with a three on the other end to preserve the BYU lead at 33-29. However, after a free throw make and miss from Plaisted, WSU drained one from long range to tie it up at 34-34.
Fittingly, it was Young who got the Cougars back on top with back-to-back scores, his first buckets since the opening minutes of the game. The Wildcats answered with a three-pointer to get within one at 37-38, but Young followed with another layin for the Cougars. The cycle was repeated once more with a long-range make on the WSU end answered by a layin from Young, his eighth straight point, to preserve a 42-40 Cougar lead. However, the Wildcats converted a three-point play on the ensuing possession to take their first lead since the 19-17 mark at 43-42 with 14:52 left to play.
After a free throw make and miss from Young tied it up at 43-43, WSU's hot hand from downtown continued as the Wildcats drained three more three-pointers sandwiched around two BYU buckets to take a 52-47 lead.
Balderson got BYU involved in the three-point frenzy with a bucket to tie the game for the 12th time at 52-52 with 10:33 left to play, and then Broadus took Balderson's lead and gave the Cougars a 55-52 advantage with a long-range make of his own. But the lead was short-lived as the Wildcats' seventh three-pointer of the half tied the game once again at 57-57 with 7:46 remaining.
Young once again put BYU up 59-57 and then ended a 3:07 Cougar scoring drought with his 10th bucket of the game, giving him a career-high 21 points and giving BYU a 61-58 lead at the 3:52 mark. But a pair of Wildcat free throws and a jumper off of an offensive rebound produced yet another lead change to put WSU up 62-61 with 2:19 left.
The two teams traded turnovers as the clock wound down until Young tied it up at 62-62 with a free-throw make at the 1:22 mark. WSU could not make good on its next offensive possession as the seconds ticked away, and Young drew a foul on the ensuing Cougar possession and drained both attempts from the charity stripe to give BYU a 64-62 lead with 41 seconds left to play.
The Cougars then geared up for a defensive stop on the other end but instead got whistled for a foul, allowing the Wildcats to sink a pair of free throws, producing the game's 15th tie at 64-64. With 13 seconds left on the clock, Broadus brought the ball down the court but couldn't get it inside, instead having to settle for a long bomb that did not go in as time expired, sending the game into overtime.
Cummard got BYU started off right in the extra period with a steal to convert a three-point play on the other end, but WSU knotted the score at 67-67 two minutes later. But Young wasn't done as he pulled off a three-point play of his own with 1:50 left in overtime to regain a 70-67 BYU advantage. A turnaround jumper by the Wildcats with just under a minute to play got WSU within one. The Cougars took the ball down the court and tried in vain for 34 seconds to get off a shot but couldn't until Broadus lobbed one up from underneath the basket as the shot clock was winding down, getting a goal-tending call and the 72-69 BYU lead. Plaisted iced it with a free throw, giving the Cougars their fifth straight overtime win dating back to 2003.
"There are a lot of things we need to work on, but we can learn a lot from this game," said Rose. "This was a big win for us in terms of the way it happened. We got down, had to come back and had to overcome adversity. And we showed ourselves that we can do it."
The Cougars will return to action Wednesday night facing the San Jose State Spartans at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center. The game will be televised live on the MountainWest Sports Network (the mtn.).
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Brigham Young vs Weber State
12-02-06 7:05 p.m. at Ogden, UT -- Dee Events Center
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 4-2
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 11-19 0-0 5-7 5 6 11 2 27 3 2 0 0 38
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... c 2-6 0-0 5-8 2 4 6 3 9 2 2 0 0 35
13 AINGE, Austin....... g 1-6 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 3 1 0 1 27
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... g 2-7 1-4 2-4 1 1 2 3 7 1 5 0 4 37
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g 5-9 1-3 1-1 1 4 5 4 12 0 1 0 1 32
01 BROADUS, Rashaun.... 4-11 2-4 0-0 1 1 2 2 10 1 2 0 1 32
10 IVANOVIC, Vuk....... 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 4 2 3 0 0 8
15 MALAMAN, Fernando... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
20 BURGESS, Sam........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 5
24 MURDOCK, Ben........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. 1-3 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 2 7
TEAM................ 5 2 7
Totals.............. 28-63 4-15 13-20 15 23 38 19 73 12 17 0 9 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-28 42.9% 2nd Half: 13-28 46.4% OT: 3-7 42.9% Game: 44.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-6 16.7% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% OT: 0-2 0.0% Game: 26.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 5-10 50.0% OT: 3-4 75.0% Game: 65.0% 5
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HOME TEAM: Weber State 4-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 Valeika, Arturas.... f 7-12 1-2 0-0 1 3 4 3 15 0 5 0 1 35
22 Henry, Dan.......... f 4-9 1-2 0-0 1 3 4 5 9 2 3 0 1 27
24 Patten, David....... c 2-3 0-0 0-1 2 3 5 5 4 2 0 0 1 24
23 Van Brocklin, Brody. g 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 4 4 1 3 3 3 3 2 34
45 Silveira, Juan Pablo g 3-7 2-6 4-6 1 1 2 1 12 4 1 0 1 32
03 Turner, Eric........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 2 4 0 0 12
10 Harris, Dezmon...... 2-4 1-2 1-3 0 1 1 1 6 1 2 0 1 17
31 Davis, Daviin....... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 1 2 0 0 14
40 Panos, Steve........ 0-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 8
44 Billings, Tyler..... 6-7 3-3 3-4 0 2 2 1 18 2 2 0 1 22
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 26-50 9-16 8-14 7 21 28 21 69 17 22 4 8 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-24 50.0% 2nd Half: 12-22 54.5% OT: 2-4 50.0% Game: 52.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 7-11 63.6% OT: 0-2 0.0% Game: 56.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 6-8 75.0% OT: 1-2 50.0% Game: 57.1% 1
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Officials: Eric Curry, Chris Rastatter, Verne Harris
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Weber State-None.
Attendance: 6326
Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total
Brigham Young................. 30 34 9 - 73
Weber State................... 27 37 5 - 69
Points in the paint-BY 38,WEBER 26. Points off turnovers-BY 18,WEBER 5.
2nd chance points-BY 23,WEBER 8. Fast break points-BY 12,WEBER 2.
Bench points-BY 16,WEBER 26. Score tied-17 times. Lead changes-7 times.