PROVO -- Travis Hansen and Mark Bigelow each scored 19 points to lead the BYU men's basketball team to an impressive 85-70 win over league-leading Wyoming. The game marks the first time both players scored in double digits in four games, and not coincidentally, it is also BYU's first win in four attempts.
"I gave a lot of thought about not starting Bigelow tonight and decided we had to see with him, and he turned it around, "BYU head coach Steve Cleveland said.
Hansen and Bigelow got plenty of support from Eric Nielsen's 12 points and seven rebounds and Jared Jensen's ten points and two blocked shots. Senior guard Matt Montague's 15 assists tied a career high he set this season against the Idaho Vandals on Dec. 15.
"You can't say enough about Matt," Wyoming head coach Steve McClain said. "He plays solid and does what his team asks and that is what makes him a good player."
The Cougar bench got into the act as well with Jimmy Balderson, Daniel Bobik and Jon Carlisle combining for 19 points. Carlisle made BYU career best four-of-four free throws and his 8 points and 19 minutes are also BYU career highs.
"I thought we got great play off the bench," said Cleveland. "Daniel Bobik, Jimmy Balderson and Jon Carlisle, even though they did not play a lot of minutes, did a great job coming off the bench. They gave us offense and defense."
BYU's sharp shooting allowed them to build a 12-point halftime lead. The Cougars shot 68 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from beyond the arc in the first half and 58.6 percent and 57.1 percent respectively for the game.
"It's been a long couple of weeks but it was great to see the kids start making baskets," Cleveland said. "This was a very important game just for the whole mental framework of this team."
BYU's field goal percentage against the Cowboys is the first time the Cougars have shot over 50 percent since the Southern Utah game Dec. 29. The Cougars have only shot better from the arc once this season when they played Stanford Dec. 22, going 7-of-11 for 63.6 percent.
"We caught them on a night when everything was going good and we couldn't do anything to stop that. That is a credit to Steve Cleveland, his staff and his players," said McClain.
With the win, the Cougars (13-6, 3-3) extend their home winning streak to 31 games, second in the nation behind the University of Detroit. Wyoming (14-5, 5-1) has lost three straight games to the Cougars and has not won in the Marriott Center since the '97-'98 season.
BYU was able to hold the Cowboys to 29 rebounds, 13 below the Pokes' season average. BYU was only out-rebounded by two against a Wyoming team that leads the nation in rebounding margin (+10.3). The Cougars' defense was also able to hold Wyoming to 70 points, 11 below their 81points-per-game average (tied for 19th best nationally).
"I think we ran into a team coming off [three] losses that knew they had their backs against the wall," McClain said. "They had a game plan and it worked, I thought they had a solid defensive effort."
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Wyoming Cowboys vs BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars
02/02/02 1:05 at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Wyoming Cowboys 14-5, 5-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 DAVIS, Josh......... f 3-8 0-2 1-2 0 1 1 4 7 0 2 1 0 16
44 BAILEY, Marcus...... f 4-6 0-0 4-4 1 4 5 0 12 0 0 0 0 33
05 NSONWU-AMADI, Uche.. c 1-2 0-0 9-10 1 9 10 2 11 0 4 0 0 31
01 RICHARDSON, Donta... g 6-14 0-4 2-2 0 0 0 1 14 3 2 0 1 35
03 STRAIGHT, Jason..... g 1-5 0-2 2-2 0 3 3 1 4 3 2 0 0 28
00 MINGO, Ronell....... 6-9 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 2 14 0 3 0 1 22
04 UDEZUE, Ugo......... 1-1 0-0 1-1 1 0 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 8
20 ROTTINGHAUS, David.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
24 CORNER, Paris....... 2-8 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 5 3 0 0 0 18
25 RIES, Joe........... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM................ 4 4
Totals.............. 24-53 1-9 21-23 8 21 29 13 70 9 13 1 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-31 41.9% 2nd Half: 11-22 50.0% Game: 45.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-6 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-3 33.3% Game: 11.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-7 100 % 2nd Half: 14-16 87.5% Game: 91.3% 0
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HOME TEAM: BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars 13-6, 3-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 BIGELOW, Mark....... f 8-12 3-6 0-0 0 2 2 3 19 1 1 1 1 34
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f 5-14 1-2 1-2 1 6 7 1 12 2 1 3 0 38
52 JENSEN, Jared....... c 4-8 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 5 10 0 0 2 1 18
02 HANSEN, Travis...... g 8-12 2-2 1-2 2 7 9 3 19 1 2 1 1 25
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g 3-4 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 0 6 15 2 0 2 40
20 BOBIK, Daniel....... 2-3 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 1 5 3 1 0 0 15
22 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... 2-3 1-2 1-1 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 0 5
32 JEPSEN, Bart........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 2
40 HOWARD, Dan......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
42 CARLISLE, Jon....... 2-2 0-0 4-4 0 1 1 3 8 2 1 1 0 19
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 34-58 8-14 9-11 4 23 27 19 85 25 9 8 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-25 68.0% 2nd Half: 17-33 51.5% Game: 58.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-7 71.4% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 57.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-8 75.0% 2nd Half: 3-3 100 % Game: 81.8% 1
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Officials: Steve Welmer, Mark Whitehead, Greg Burks
Technical fouls: Wyoming Cowboys-None. BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars-None.
Attendance: 10121
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Wyoming Cowboys............... 33 37 - 70
BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars......... 45 40 - 85