PROVO -- The Cougars broke No. 25 UNLV's five-game winning streak on Saturday in the Marriott Center, deciding to return the favor after having their own seven-game winning streak snapped earlier this season while at the Thomas & Mack Center. A crowd of 15,899 was present to witness the final score of 90-63.
Mike Rose led all scorers for BYU with 27 points, breaking his career high, followed by Austin Ainge with 17 points and Trent Plaisted with 12. Rose also tied the BYU individual record that he set for most three-pointers made in a game with eight. Lee Cummard had a perfect game, shooting 3-for-3 from the field. The team set a new school record for three-pointers made in a game with 15.
"It's fun to be in the zone," said Mike Rose. "There's no other feeling like it. It's nice to kind of validate [the record set in 2003 and tied tonight] against a good team like this."
The win marked BYU's second victory against a ranked team this season. The team previously beat No. 13 Air Force on Jan. 27 in the Marriott Center. Also, with the victory BYU extended its home winning streak to 28 games, tied for the second-longest in the nation.
"The guys really responded well from an emotional win earlier in the week," said BYU head coach Dave Rose, whose team won at Utah on Wednesday for the first time since 1994. "There was good play off the bench tonight and great play from Mike Rose."
The Cougars have now won 12 of the last 14 games and are 17-6 overall and 7-2 in the Mountain West Conference.
BYU jumped out to an early 9-3 lead, capped by Jimmy Balderson's first recorded dunk of the season. Both teams continued to trade baskets, quickly driving up the score. With 10:21 to play in the half, Mike Rose hit back-to-back three-pointers to extend BYU's lead to eight at 24-16.
"They got on top of us early," said UNLV head coach Lon Kruger. "We didn't respond in a way that we could change the momentum back."
With 7:40 left in the half, Rose remained perfect behind the arc by making his fourth three-pointer, bringing the Cougar lead to 35-23.
Vuk Ivanovic earned his first points of the game with just under seven minutes to play, followed by a jumper by Keena Young. Rose's fifth three came a few minutes later, bringing the score to 44-28.
Sam Burgess scored his first points of the game with 2:50 to go in the half, recording the Cougars' ninth three-pointer of the half. A steal by Jonathan Tavernari resulted in two points for Austin Ainge.
At the half, BYU was 9-of-15 from behind the arc and .588 from the field.
Austin Ainge scored the first five points to open the second half of play, bringing the score to 54-34. With just under 16 minutes on the clock, he made his third three of the game.
"We really wanted to work on the inside tonight but had a lot of opportunities from outside the perimeter," said Coach Rose.
A significant blocked shot by Trent Plaisted turned the possession over to BYU with 14:52 remaining. After three made free throws by Rose, the Rebel's Wink Adams hit a jumper, bringing the score to 66-43. BYU answered with a one-handed dunk by Plaisted.
Rose's first three-pointer of the half came with just under eight minutes to play. On the next possession Adams of UNLV came back with one of his own.
A one-for-three trip to the free throw line by the Rebels' Curtis Terry was followed by Plaisted's third dunk of the night with 4:25 left to play. Tavernari's three with 2:08 on the clock tied BYU's record for the most baskets made from behind the three-point line.
"I like it when guys come off the bench and make shots," said Coach Rose. "It's really good for our energy and chemistry."
With just over 30 seconds to play, Rose made his eighth three-pointer of the night.
"Tonight, you get someone who goes 8-for-10 from the perimeter and that's a special night," said Coach Rose. "Mike [Rose] had a great game."
"We have to learn from this, make progress and get better," said Kruger. "We didn't win many battles today."
UNLV was led by Adams with 14 points and Gaston Essengue with 6 rebounds.
Up next the Cougars will travel to Laramie, Wyo. to take on the Wyoming Cowboys Tuesday night. The game will be televised on the mtn. at 7 p.m. MST.
CLICK HERE to view postgame notes and quotes.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
No. 25 UNLV Rebels vs BYU Cougars
02/03/07 3:36 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: No. 25 UNLV Rebels 19-5, 6-3 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 UMEH, Michael....... f 2-3 2-3 0-0 0 0 0 3 6 2 0 0 1 14
52 ESSENGUE, Gaston.... c 1-6 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 2 2 0 0 1 0 17
01 ADAMS, Wink......... g 4-10 2-4 4-4 2 2 4 1 14 0 1 0 1 29
02 KRUGER, Kevin....... g 1-9 0-5 0-0 2 2 4 0 2 6 3 0 0 22
05 WHITE, Wendell...... g 5-10 0-0 1-2 0 5 5 0 11 0 1 0 0 25
10 HOFFMAN, Scott...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
15 BAILEY, Corey....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 11
20 LAWRENCE, Marcus.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 18
24 ROUGEAU, Rene....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 4
30 ANTHONY, Joel....... 3-6 0-0 6-7 2 3 5 2 12 0 0 2 2 21
31 TERRY, Curtis....... 3-10 1-5 2-4 0 0 0 1 9 1 4 0 1 26
34 SHAW, Matt.......... 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
45 DARGER, Joe......... 1-2 1-2 2-2 1 0 1 3 5 1 0 0 0 10
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 21-58 6-19 15-21 11 19 30 13 63 11 9 3 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-33 36.4% 2nd Half: 9-25 36.0% Game: 36.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-11 36.4% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 31.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-7 85.7% 2nd Half: 9-14 64.3% Game: 71.4% 5
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 17-6, 7-2 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 4-9 0-0 1-2 0 3 3 1 9 1 0 0 0 21
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... f 5-8 0-0 1-6 3 6 9 3 11 2 3 2 0 34
13 AINGE, Austin....... g 6-7 3-4 2-2 0 4 4 0 17 4 1 0 0 28
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... g 2-6 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 0 5 3 1 0 0 16
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g 3-3 1-1 0-0 2 4 6 3 7 4 2 1 5 33
02 ROSE, Mike.......... 8-12 8-10 3-3 0 0 0 2 27 1 0 0 0 21
10 IVANOVIC, Vuk....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 3
15 MALAMAN, Fernando... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
20 BURGESS, Sam........ 1-2 1-1 0-0 1 2 3 0 3 2 0 0 0 10
24 MURDOCK, Ben........ 1-3 0-0 0-2 1 2 3 2 2 4 1 0 1 12
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. 3-7 1-3 0-1 2 2 4 1 7 2 1 1 3 19
50 MACGREGOR, Gavin.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 34-59 15-22 7-16 11 27 38 15 90 23 9 4 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 20-34 58.8% 2nd Half: 14-25 56.0% Game: 57.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 9-15 60.0% 2nd Half: 6-7 85.7% Game: 68.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-4 0.0% 2nd Half: 7-12 58.3% Game: 43.8% 4
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Officials: Dick Cartmell, Jim Danner, Greg Burks
Technical fouls: No. 25 UNLV Rebels-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 15899
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
No. 25 UNLV Rebels............ 34 29 - 63
BYU Cougars................... 49 41 - 90
Points in the paint-LV 24,BY 25. Points off turnovers-LV 5,BY 8.
2nd chance points-LV 14,BY 16. Fast break points-LV 6,BY 9.
Bench points-LV 28,BY 41. Score tied-0 times. Lead changes-0 times.