OGDEN -- Dropping back-to-back games for the first time this season, the BYU men's basketball team lost its fourth road game of the year to Weber State, 75-69, Wednesday in Ogden, Utah.
Down by as many as 19 points, BYU fought to come within five, but foul trouble and a slow start kept the Cougars from overtaking Weber State. BYU dropped to 10-4 on the season while Weber State improved to 10-5.
Typical of their previous road losses, the Cougars struggled in the first half, scoring a season low of 20 points, but picked up the pace in the second half, outscoring Weber State 49-40. Weber State snapped BYU's three-game winning streak in the series between the two schools and improved to 10-4 against BYU in Ogden. The Cougars lead the the overall series 18-10.
Showing consistent improvement over the season, junior center Rafael Araujo led BYU with 19 points and nine rebounds. Araujo has led BYU in scoring four of the last five games. Senior guard Travis Hansen added 12 points, but fouled out for the fourth time this season with 10:28 left in the game . Hansen has fouled out in each of BYU's losses. Sophomore guard Marc Roberts, who sat out the first 13 games with a knee injury and planned redshirt season, made his first appearance of the year, scoring six points before fouling out.
Weber State senior guard Jermaine Boyette led all scores with 37 points, shooting 11-of-16 from the field and 15-of-17 on free throws.
Speaking about Boyette, BYU head coach Steve Cleveland said, "We did a good job defensively on everybody except Jermaine. He did what he had to do, and he had a big night. If he didn't have a big night we would have won."
In the second half, BYU went on a 20-8 scoring run, but Weber State managed to fend off the Cougars. Ricky Bower sparked two comebacks by hitting a pair of three pointers, one with 3:23 to go in the game that brought the score to 66-61.
"In the second half we were down by 19, but we got more energy and became a better basketball team," Cleveland said. "If this basketball team will play 40 minutes that would make me really happy."
BYU will look to extend its 42-game homecourt winning streak Saturday when the Cougars end non-conference play against Idaho State University (6-5) at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Brigham Young University vs Weber State
01-08-03 7:05pm at Dee Events Center -- Ogden, Utah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Brigham Young University 10-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 HANSEN, Travis...... f 4-11 1-6 3-5 3 3 6 5 12 1 5 1 0 26
05 SHOFF, Jake......... f 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 10
55 ARAUJO, Rafael...... c 6-14 0-0 7-10 6 3 9 4 19 1 2 1 2 29
03 BIGELOW, Mark....... g 2-12 1-5 2-2 1 5 6 1 7 1 4 1 0 36
24 WOODBERRY, Kevin.... g 2-3 1-2 1-2 0 1 1 4 6 3 0 0 2 26
04 LEMES, Luiz......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
10 NASHIF, Terry....... 1-2 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 19
12 ROBERTS, Marc....... 2-2 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 5 6 0 2 0 0 10
14 BOWER, Ricky........ 3-5 2-3 2-2 1 3 4 2 10 0 1 1 0 19
15 ALLEN, John......... 0-1 0-0 4-4 1 2 3 3 4 1 0 0 0 7
52 JENSEN, Jared....... 1-4 0-0 0-2 1 2 3 3 2 0 2 0 0 14
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 21-55 5-18 22-31 15 23 38 30 69 7 18 4 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-23 30.4% 2nd Half: 14-32 43.8% Game: 38.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 27.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-8 50.0% 2nd Half: 18-23 78.3% Game: 71.0% 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Weber State 10-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 Sparrow, Nic........ f 2-5 0-2 3-4 2 5 7 3 7 2 4 0 1 32
05 Ocokoljic, Slobodan. f 4-7 0-2 5-7 2 7 9 5 13 0 2 0 0 25
35 Bachmann, Stephan... c 0-4 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 5 0 0 1 0 0 10
03 Boyette, Jermaine... g 11-16 0-1 15-17 2 0 2 3 37 2 1 0 2 36
22 Hamilton, John...... g 2-11 1-8 3-4 0 4 4 1 8 1 1 0 0 37
23 Barton, Brad........ 1-1 1-1 0-0 2 4 6 1 3 3 3 0 0 22
42 Eyre, Talmadge...... 0-1 0-0 1-3 1 4 5 5 1 1 1 0 0 15
43 Morrison, Stevie.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6
50 Danley, Pat......... 3-4 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 4 6 0 0 0 0 17
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 23-49 2-15 27-36 10 26 36 27 75 10 13 0 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-27 40.7% 2nd Half: 12-22 54.5% Game: 46.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-8 12.5% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 13.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 12-15 80.0% 2nd Half: 15-21 71.4% Game: 75.0% 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Michael Irving, Chris Rastatter, Byrne Haskins
Technical fouls: Brigham Young University-None. Weber State-None.
Attendance: 10820
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Brigham Young University...... 20 49 - 69
Weber State................... 35 40 - 75
Points in the paint-BY 20,WEBERST 32. Points off turnovers-BY 12,WEBERST 21.
2nd chance points-BY 12,WEBERST 9. Fast break points-BY 4,WEBERST 10.
Bench points-BY 25,WEBERST 10. Score tied-1 time. Lead changes-2 times.