PROVO -- Playing in front of its home crowd for the first time in two weeks, the No. 20 BYU men's basketball team defeated in-state foe Weber State 72-57 on Wednesday. With the win, the Cougars improve to 7-1 on the season and extend the nation's second-longest home winning streak to 35 games.
Senior Sam Burgess led all scorers with 16 points, while Lee Cummard, Trent Plaisted and Jonathan Tavernari scored 14 points apiece for BYU.
"I was really pleased with our captains tonight," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "They gave us great leadership. Trent [Plaisted] was phenomenal, Lee [Cummard] was steady and Sam [Burgess] gave us a big boost in energy in the second half."
Plaisted also secured a game-high 15 rebounds, marking his third double-double of the season and 12th of his career. The junior is the only Cougar to have scored in double figures in every game this season.
Early turnovers committed by both teams kept points off the scoreboard until a Weber State field goal with 18:33 to play in the first half for its only lead of the game. Two made free throws by Plaisted and a three-pointer by Sam Burgess helped spark a 10-2 run, giving the Cougars a 10-4 lead.
Burgess exhibited strong play on the opposite side of the ball, recording a steal which gave possession back to BYU. Plaisted recorded his first block of the night on the Wildcats' subsequent drive.
Weber State would come to within three points after an NBA-range three-pointer by Kellen McCoy. BYU wasn't willing to relinquish its lead, however, with back-to-back makes from behind-the-arc by Michael Loyd, Jr. and Tavernari with just over seven minutes to play in the first half.
After two made free throws by Cummard, the Cougars would go 2:30 without scoring until a running lay-in by Tavernari to bring the score to 28-16. Ben Murdock scored his first field goal of the game with 3:24 remaining before the break.
With a 42-21 lead heading into halftime, BYU has now led at the half in seven of eight games this year, going 7-0 in those contests and outscoring opponents by an average of 14.0 points in the first half.
"I was very impressed with their team," said Weber State head coach Randy Rahe. "They played with a lot of energy and a lot of confidence. We saw a really good basketball team. There is a reason that they are ranked No. 20."
Plaisted dominated on defense, recording 10 rebounds and three blocks to end the half. As a team, BYU went 12-for-15 from the charity stripe, while the Wildcats were 0-for-0.
To begin the second half, Plaisted denied two more Weber State shots and scored the Cougars' first six points of the half, including a one-handed dunk with 14:07 to play in the game.
Deciding to get in on the blocking action himself, Tavernari recorded his third rejection of the season with 12:35 on the clock. He followed on the other end of the floor with a three-pointer, putting BYU up 50-32.
With just over nine minutes to play, Plaisted was charged with two quick personal fouls. Burgess recorded his second steal on the night, and after a missed ally-oop by Loyd, a put-back by Chris Collinsworth allowed the Cougars to capitalize off Weber State's turnover.
Up next the Cougars will head to Salt Lake City to take on No. 9 Michigan State at EnergySolutions Arena on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. MT.
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Official Basketball Box Score
Weber State Wildcats vs BYU Cougars
12/05/07 7:35 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, UT
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VISITORS: Weber State Wildcats 2-5 Big Sky
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 2-10 1-2 2-3 1 4 5 1 7 1 1 0 2 23
40 PANOS, Steve........ f 2-5 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 4 0 0 0 0 17
10 HARRIS, Dezmon...... g 2-9 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 3 5 2 3 0 1 24
23 VAN BROKLIN, Brody.. g 0-3 0-2 3-3 0 3 3 1 3 3 0 0 2 26
45 SILVEIRA, Juan Pablo g 4-8 1-3 0-0 0 3 3 4 9 2 4 0 0 24
05 NANCE, Jamaine...... 1-4 1-1 1-2 0 1 1 3 4 0 3 0 0 16
31 DAVIS, Daviin....... 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 8
32 JOHNSON, Danny...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4
33 McCOY, Kellen....... 3-8 1-2 2-2 1 5 6 3 9 0 3 0 0 22
44 BILLINGS, Tyler..... 1-5 0-2 0-0 0 3 3 0 2 1 0 0 1 19
55 MORRIS, Trevor...... 4-5 0-0 4-6 3 2 5 4 12 0 1 1 0 17
TEAM................ 4 4 8
Totals.............. 20-60 5-16 12-16 10 27 37 24 57 9 15 1 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-28 32.1% 2nd Half: 11-32 34.4% Game: 33.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 31.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 12-16 75.0% Game: 75.0% 2
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 7-1 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ f 3-6 1-2 7-7 3 3 6 3 14 3 4 0 0 28
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f 6-13 2-6 0-0 0 3 3 2 14 2 1 1 1 27
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... c 5-9 0-0 4-7 3 12 15 3 14 2 1 5 0 26
20 BURGESS, Sam........ g 4-8 3-6 5-6 1 1 2 2 16 1 2 0 2 28
24 MURDOCK, Ben........ g 1-3 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 4 2 4 0 0 2 25
01 LOYD, JR., Michael.. 1-4 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 13
05 ROSE, Archie........ 1-3 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
10 IVANOVIC, Vuk....... 0-1 0-0 1-3 1 3 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 7
14 MARTINEAU, Nick..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... 0-5 0-4 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 2 2 0 2 22
41 COLLINSWORTH, Chris. 2-4 0-1 0-0 1 6 7 2 4 0 2 0 0 14
54 MILES, Chris........ 1-1 0-0 0-2 0 1 1 2 2 0 1 0 1 6
TEAM................
Totals.............. 24-57 7-24 17-25 11 32 43 20 72 17 13 8 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-28 42.9% 2nd Half: 12-29 41.4% Game: 42.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-14 42.9% 2nd Half: 1-10 10.0% Game: 29.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 12-15 80.0% 2nd Half: 5-10 50.0% Game: 68.0% 3
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Officials: Eric Curry, Ruben Ramos, Jimmy Casas
Technical fouls: Weber State Wildcats-TEAM. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 11459
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Weber State Wildcats.......... 21 36 - 57
BYU Cougars................... 42 30 - 72
Points in the paint-WEBER 24,BY 20. Points off turnovers-WEBER 4,BY 20.
2nd chance points-WEBER 10,BY 17. Fast break points-WEBER 0,BY 4.
Bench points-WEBER 29,BY 12. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-WEBER 2nd-00:05, BY 2nd-00:24.
Largest lead-WEBER by 2 1st-18:24, BY by 22 2nd-10:29.