PROVO -- BYU utilized a stingy defense and a hot hand from senior guard Terrell Lyday to defeat Air Force 62-45 in the Marriott Center Thursday night.
The Falcons began the game missing their first ten field goal attempts as the Cougars scored 15 unanswered points. The Cougar charge was led by Lyday who had 10 points before the Falcons found the bottom of the net. Air Force coach Joe Scott cited the Falcons scoring drought as a reason for the lackluster performance.
"This game was won in the first six minutes," Scott said. "If you want to win a game on the road, you have to go out and take it. We just let them have it in the beginning."
Despite the slow start, the Falcons stayed in the game by playing some defense of their own and by taking advantage of the Cougars' 10 first half turnovers.
"It was evident that our impatience led to too many turnovers," coach Steve Cleveland said. "They were just silly turnovers. Air Force is not an easy team to play against and we can't play like that to win."
The Falcons first half hopes rested on the shoulders of Lamoni Yazzie, as he scored 8 points, including 2 of 3 from the three point line. Air Force fought back into the game early in the second half with a 7-3 run to open the second period, this time led by sophomore center Tom Bellairs. The Falcons closed the gap to just 8 points at 32-24. Scott felt the Falcons' effort was vital to keeping it close.
"I can't question my guys on their effort and their alertness on defense," Scott said. "We're playing pretty good defense. Now, our offense has to get up to where it matches our defense."
The Cougars responded in the second half by posting a 15-5 run of their own, with buckets from Mekeli Wesley, Trent Whiting and Lyday, along with two free throws from junior guard Matt Montague. The run put the Falcons away for the night, with the teams exchanging buckets and fouls for the final ten minutes. Cleveland commented on the Air Force scheme.
"Its hard to get any kind of rhythm or flow against these guys [Air Force]," Cleveland said. "You just never feel comfortable playing that system, at either end of the floor and you don't know what you're going to get."
Lyday led the Cougars with 22 points on 8 for 13 shooting to pace the Cougars. The Cougars other two leading scores, Whiting and Wesley added 11 and 9 respectively. Meanwhile, Bellairs scored a career high 18 points, including 10 for 11 shooting from the free throw line. Yazzie was the only other Falcon in double figures at 11 and shooting 60 percent from behind the arc.
BYU concludes a three-game home stand against Mountain West Conference opponents by facing the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday, Feb. 3. The game is set for a 4 p.m. tipoff.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Air Force Academy vs BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars
02/01/01 7:05 at Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Air Force Academy 6-14, 1-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
24 CROFF, Jarvis....... f 1-6 0-2 1-3 1 1 2 2 3 0 2 0 1 20
33 GERLACH, Joel....... f 1-1 1-1 0-0 1 2 3 4 3 1 2 0 3 22
32 BELLAIRS, Tom....... c 4-11 0-2 10-11 4 3 7 3 18 2 5 1 2 39
12 YAZZIE, Lamont...... g 4-10 3-5 0-0 0 2 2 4 11 0 3 0 1 34
22 JENKINS, Vernard.... g 1-6 0-2 3-4 0 2 2 1 5 0 1 0 4 38
02 MANSELL, Selwyn..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 2
10 KUHLE, A.J.......... 0-2 0-1 2-2 0 1 1 1 2 3 0 0 1 26
34 TODD, Robert........ 1-4 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 2 3 1 0 0 0 18
50 PINA, Tysen......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM................
Totals.............. 12-40 5-16 16-20 6 12 18 17 45 7 14 1 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 6-20 .300 2nd Half: 6-20 .300 Game: .300 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 .444 2nd Half: 1-7 .143 Game: .312 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 .500 2nd Half: 15-18 .833 Game: .800 2
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HOME TEAM: BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars 15-6, 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
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... f 2-6 0-3 5-6 2 5 7 1 9 0 4 2 1 29
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 5 0 1 3 2 0 19
21 WHITING, Trent...... g 4-9 3-7 0-0 0 2 2 1 11 4 4 0 2 34
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g 8-13 1-5 5-6 1 1 2 2 22 3 4 0 2 37
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g 1-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 0 2 3 4 2 0 2 27
01 KNIGHT, Nate........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 1
10 ARCHIBALD, Jordan... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
20 BOBIK, Daniel....... 2-2 1-1 1-2 1 2 3 3 6 0 0 0 0 11
23 SHIPPEN, Ty......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
34 CHRISMAN, Jacob..... 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 1 4 1 1 0 0 14
40 HOWARD, Dan......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
42 COOPER, Nathan...... 3-6 0-3 1-2 1 5 6 1 7 1 1 0 1 24
43 DAWES, Derek........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 22-42 5-19 13-17 10 24 34 20 62 14 19 4 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-18 .500 2nd Half: 13-24 .542 Game: .524 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 .333 2nd Half: 2-10 .200 Game: .263 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-9 .889 2nd Half: 5-8 .625 Game: .765 2
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Officials: David Hall, Steve Welmer, Mark Whitehead
Technical fouls: Air Force Academy-None. BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars-None.
Attendance: 16866
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Air Force Academy............. 17 28 - 45
BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars......... 29 33 - 62