PROVO -- Extending their home winning streak to 18 games, the BYU Cougars defeated the San Jose State Spartans Wednesday night at the Marriott Center, 81-69. BYU is now tied for the fifth-longest streak in the nation.
"I thought we had a good overall effort tonight," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "They had some big obstacles with their athleticism and length that we had to overcome. They are a big, strong team but we handled them. I'm proud of our guys."
Once again senior Keena Young scored in double figures, making him the only Cougar to do so in all seven games this season. Also scoring in double figures were Trent Plaisted, Rashaun Broadus, Jimmy Balderson and Lee Cummard. Plaisted led the Cougars with a season-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds.
"I'm really impressed with BYU," said SJSU head coach George Nessman. "Keena Young and Trent Plaisted were too much for us. Trent battled and battled against us. He gets to the rim and finishes."
A change in the starting five consisted of both Broadus and Austin Ainge going in at the start, leaving Balderson to come off the bench. This was the fourth different starting lineup used by coach Dave Rose this season.
With an early San Jose State turnover, the Cougars began the game with an 11-2 run. However, when Young and Plaisted found themselves in foul trouble early in the first half with two fouls each, the Spartans came back to take the lead with their own 15-3 run.
Sam Burgess provided a much-needed lift as he sunk a three-pointer, pulling the Cougars within one with 10:10 left in the half. A jumper from Balderson put BYU in front again, and, minutes later, a breakaway layup by Broadus increased BYU's lead, 32-25.
Going into halftime the Cougars led 36-28, earning a .485 field-goal percentage, compared to SJSU's .354.
Coming out of the half the Spartans scored six points within the first minute, but their run was stopped short by a Broadus three-pointer. SJSU continued to put up a fight making it difficult for BYU to increase its lead.
With just under 15 minutes left in the half, a dunk by Young revitalized both the team and the crowd. A missed layup by Balderson on the following play resulted in a dunk by Cummard. Both dunks were a first for Young and Cummard this season.
"Lee played a great game for us," said Rose. "He made a lot of things happen through pure hustle. He's going to be a great player for this program."
Plaisted recorded his fourth dunk of the season with over eleven minutes to play, bringing the score to 60-46, the largest lead of the game. Two minutes later he earned his second dunk of the night.
With less than three minutes to play and up by 11 points, Plaisted rescued a potential turnover, giving Young the chance to score. As time wound down with 27 seconds left on the clock, Plaisted recorded his third dunk of the night, bringing his season total to six.
BYU ended the night 13-for-15 from the free throw line. The Cougars scored 29 points off of turnovers compared to SJSU's 18.
Menelik Barbary led the Spartans with 14 points and eight rebounds. Jamon Hill recorded four assists.
The Cougars will next travel to the home of the Detroit Pistons, the Palace of Auburn Hills, to face the Spartans of Michigan State on Saturday, Dec. 9. BYU will then travel to Beaumont, Texas, to take on Lamar on Dec. 13.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
San Jose State vs BYU Cougars
12/06/06 7:05 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: San Jose State 1-7, 0-0 WAC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Pierce, Tim......... f 3-15 1-8 4-4 4 3 7 2 11 1 2 0 0 22
22 Brown, Harry........ f 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 0 12
44 Holloway, Lance..... f 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 3 2 0 2 0 0 21
20 Buggs, Kevin........ g 3-5 2-3 0-0 0 0 0 4 8 3 2 0 2 27
24 Hill, Jamon......... g 3-10 3-8 2-2 2 1 3 1 11 4 3 0 0 32
04 Richardson, Julian.. 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 5
11 Goins, Darion....... 3-6 1-3 2-3 0 1 1 1 9 2 2 0 4 21
21 Thomas, Devonte..... 5-6 0-0 0-2 3 2 5 3 10 2 2 0 1 23
32 Smith, Justonn...... 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 0 2 0 1 0 0 10
50 Barbary, Menelik.... 6-12 0-0 2-3 3 5 8 4 14 0 3 3 0 27
52 Wilson, Jerelle..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 26-65 7-24 10-14 16 21 37 19 69 15 18 4 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-29 34.5% 2nd Half: 16-36 44.4% Game: 40.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-14 28.6% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 29.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 71.4% 2
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 5-2, 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
03 YOUNG, Keena........ f 7-14 0-0 2-2 2 5 7 4 16 2 3 0 0 29
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ f 5-6 1-1 0-0 3 3 6 3 11 5 2 2 4 30
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... c 8-13 0-0 4-6 5 3 8 4 20 1 3 1 1 31
01 BROADUS, Rashaun.... g 3-6 2-3 2-2 0 4 4 2 10 3 3 0 0 26
13 AINGE, Austin....... g 0-5 0-3 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 3 2 0 1 16
15 MALAMAN, Fernando... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 4 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 15
20 BURGESS, Sam........ 3-3 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 7 1 0 0 0 10
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... 3-13 0-6 5-5 1 2 3 2 11 0 1 0 1 26
24 MURDOCK, Ben........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 1 1 0 0 7
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. 2-5 0-2 0-0 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 7
50 MACGREGOR, Gavin.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 3
TEAM................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 32-67 4-16 13-15 16 25 41 20 81 17 15 3 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-33 48.5% 2nd Half: 16-34 47.1% Game: 47.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-11 18.2% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 11-12 91.7% Game: 86.7% 0
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Officials: Winston Stith, Mike Giarratano, Brian Sorenson
Technical fouls: San Jose State-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 7729
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
San Jose State................ 28 41 - 69
BYU Cougars................... 36 45 - 81
Points in the paint-SJSU 32,BY 38. Points off turnovers-SJSU 18,BY 29.
2nd chance points-SJSU 20,BY 16. Fast break points-SJSU 8,BY 16.
Bench points-SJSU 35,BY 24. Score tied-1 time. Lead changes-2 times.