PROVO -- BYU held on to defeat UNLV Saturday in the Marriott Center, 83-82, when a Trevor Diggs 17-footer with Michael Vranes in his face missed the mark for the Rebels at the final buzzer.
BYU led by as many as 11 and never relinquished the lead during the game's final 28 minutes, but nearly allowed the Rebels to steal a win because of missed free throws down the stretch. The Cougars led by seven with just over 30 seconds remaining but with three different Cougars missed free pitches at the line, UNLV was able to nearly erase the Cougar lead.
Five Cougars scored in double figures for the first time since the second game of the season, led by Terrell Lyday with 22 points. Mekeli Wesley added 17, Todd Christensen 15, Vranes 12 and Eric Nielsen 11. BYU is a perfect 8-0 this year when Vranes scores in double figures and 7-0 when Christensen reaches double digits. Vranes pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and Wesley had a career-high six assists for BYU.
Kaspars Kambala led all scorers with 27 points for UNLV. Diggs totaled 21 and Dalron Johnson 14 for the Rebels.
BYU shot 52 percent from the floor, including 6-12 on threes, while UNLV shot 48 percent and was 6-16 from behind the arc. The Cougars are now 10-0 on the year when they shoot 50 percent or better and 15-1 when they out shoot the opposition. BYU finished at 62 percent from the line going 21-34. BYU actually made 13 free throws in a row at one point in the second half before going cold in the final minutes.
The Cougars had 21 assists to only 12 turnovers. It was the first time in the last 15 games and only the fourth time all year that BYU has had more than 20 assists in a game.
With the win, BYU swept the season series with UNLV and improved to 16-7 on the year and 5-5 in the Mountain West Conference. The Rebels fell to 16-6 and 7-3. BYU and UNLV are now tied in the overall series at 4-4.
The Cougars take their last conference road trip of the season next week at Colorado State and Wyoming.
Post-Game Coaches Quotes
UNLV coach Bill Bayno:
"They came out and played great defense and executed good screens."
"There were good looks on both ends but it just takes one guy ...we didn't cut or fill."
"This doesn't make Monday's game (with Utah) any bigger. We've had intense practices, we're ready."
BYU coach Steve Cleveland:
"This was obviously a big game for us and we certainly made it interesting. The way that we did it wasn't very pretty. For about 39 minutes we played well. Defensively, in the second half we did a great job getting the loose balls."
"This was a first place team in the conference and we beat them tonight so it was a very big victory for us. Tonight we had to prove to ourselves that we could win again, and at the end I'll have any of those young men shooting free throws for us. Mekeli and Lyday are both outstanding free throw shooters even though they didn't connect in the late stages. They are our money guys all year long and they'll be okay."
"Michael Vranes was huge for us tonight. When Todd (Christensen) and Michael scores in double figures we've never lost a game and tonight both of them stepped up and played outstanding basketball. Michael's defense was outstanding. He has made himself a better defender."
" I almost had a heartache tonight. We worked so hard and almost gave it back to them."
"This was a big game for us tonight and I don't think we can lose sight of that and it puts us in a position now if we win to or three more to definitely have an opportunity to play somewhere in the post season."
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
UNLV vs BYU
2/19/00 7:05 at Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: UNLV 16-6, 7-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
10 JOHNSON, Dalron..... f 6-12 0-1 2-2 1 4 5 5 14 2 1 0 1 27
14 STEWART, Donovan.... f 1-2 0-0 2-3 2 2 4 2 4 1 0 0 1 17
34 KAMBALA, Kaspars.... c 11-16 0-0 5-7 4 7 11 1 27 0 3 1 0 28
03 DIGGS, Trevor....... g 7-14 5-11 2-2 1 1 2 3 21 2 3 0 0 36
11 DICKEL, Mark........ g 1-7 1-3 2-3 0 0 0 5 5 10 1 0 1 38
05 BROTHERSON, Danny... 0-5 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 3 0 4 2 0 0 27
13 DOTSON, Sylvester... 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 4 0 1 0 0 14
20 RICHARDSON, Chris... 2-3 0-0 3-4 2 1 3 3 7 0 2 1 0 13
TEAM................ 3 2 5
Totals.............. 30-62 6-16 16-21 13 20 33 26 82 19 13 2 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-29 .517 2nd Half: 15-33 .455 Game: .484 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-7 .571 2nd Half: 2-9 .222 Game: .375 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-11 .636 2nd Half: 9-10 .900 Game: .762 2
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HOME TEAM: BYU 16-7, 5-5
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 7-12 0-0 8-12 1 4 5 3 22 6 3 2 0 37
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f 4-4 0-0 3-4 1 1 2 1 11 1 1 0 0 22
13 VRANES, Michael..... g 5-10 1-5 1-4 1 6 7 3 12 3 2 1 2 35
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g 5-13 2-3 5-8 2 4 6 1 17 5 2 0 4 37
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g 0-1 0-0 2-4 0 3 3 2 2 4 0 0 0 15
02 RIVERS, Silester.... 2-3 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 5 4 1 1 0 0 21
04 CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 5-10 3-4 2-2 0 2 2 3 15 1 1 0 2 24
05 ROBERTS, Marc....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
42 COOPER, Nathan...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 7
TEAM................ 4 4
Totals.............. 28-54 6-12 21-34 11 21 32 18 83 21 12 3 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-35 .514 2nd Half: 10-19 .526 Game: .519 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-8 .500 2nd Half: 2-4 .500 Game: .500 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-7 .429 2nd Half: 18-27 .667 Game: .618 8,1
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Officials: Larry Stubing, Lonnie Dixon, Mike Giarratano
Technical fouls: UNLV-None. BYU-None.
Attendance: 17432
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
UNLV.......................... 41 41 - 82
BYU........................... 43 40 - 83