SAN -- BYU got a big night from Mark Bigelow as the Cougars beat the San Diego State Aztecs, 80-69, at Cox Arena Monday. With the win, the Cougars improved to 13-4 overall and 2-0 in MWC play.
With 15:51 in the first half, Bigelow tied BYU assistant coach Andy Toolson with his 141st career three-pointer. Minutes later at 13:59, Bigelow became BYU's all-time leader on another bomb assisted from Terry Nashif following a steal by Rafael Araujo. Bigelow put down three more triples on the night to equal his single-game career high of five and bring his career total to 145 threes.
BYU hit its first seven three-pointers and was 8-of-10 in the first half to build a lead as large as 19 points. After trailing 7-5 early, the Cougars went on a 25-4 run over the next seven minutes and earned its largest lead of the game at 30-11 on a Ricky Bower trey with 9:28 to play first half.
SDSU fought back, outscoring BYU 20-11 the rest of the first half, including a Deandre Moore three just before the buzzer, to cut the Cougar lead to 10 at the break. The Aztecs out-rebounded BYU and held Araujo and Jared Jensen to 15 points combined with constant double and triple teaming, but could not overcome the Cougars' hot outside shooting.
"We knew that SDSU would double team the post and leave our shooters open," said BYU head coach Steve Cleveland.
With Araujo on the bench in foul trouble, BYU looked to its perimeter shooting. The Cougars shot 10-17 from behind the arc for 58.8 percent for the game. Overall BYU shot 48.9 percent from the field.
Mark Bigelow scored over 20 points for the second straight game by equaling his season high of 21 points. For Bigelow, it's the fourth time in his career he has produced back-to-back 20-point games.
Travis Hansen spent most of the game in foul trouble but played the last 10 minutes with four fouls. Hansen finished the game with 14 points and four rebounds. Guard Terry Nashif got the start again, guiding the Cougar offense and turning in a career-high 11 points on the strength of 3-for-3 three-point shooting.
BYU scored 80 points for the fourth time this season -- winning all four games. The Cougars are 26-4 under Cleveland when they score over 80 points.
"Anytime you score 80 points on the road that's pretty good in this league." Cleveland said.
Senior guard Tony Bland led the Aztecs with 25 points. Center Mike Mackell took advantage in the paint while Araujo was on the bench scoring 18 points and grabbing six rebounds.
"We got whipped by a pretty good team tonight," said SDSU head coach Steve Fisher.
The Aztecs drop to 11-5 overall and 1-1 in MWC play.
BYU hosts the University of Utah Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in the Marriott Center. The game will be televised live on ESPN+Plus (KJZZ-TV in Salt Lake City).
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
BRIGHAM YOUNG vs SAN DIEGO STATE
01-20-03 7:06 PM PST at Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl (San Diego, CA)
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VISITORS: BRIGHAM YOUNG 13-4/2-0
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 8-16 5-9 0-0 1 3 4 5 21 0 1 0 3 36
52 JENSEN, Jared....... f 1-7 0-0 5-6 2 1 3 2 7 3 0 0 0 28
55 ARAUJO, Rafael...... c 2-4 0-0 4-6 0 5 5 5 8 3 6 0 3 25
02 HANSEN, Travis...... g 4-7 0-1 6-9 1 3 4 4 14 2 1 0 2 31
10 NASHIF, Terry....... g 3-3 3-3 2-3 1 2 3 2 11 3 2 0 0 30
04 LEMES, Luiz......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3
05 SHOFF, Jake......... 1-3 0-0 2-3 1 0 1 3 4 1 0 0 1 7
12 ROBERTS, Marc....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
14 BOWER, Ricky........ 1-2 1-2 4-4 0 2 2 0 7 0 0 0 0 23
24 WOODBERRY, Kevin.... 2-3 1-2 3-3 0 1 1 2 8 1 0 0 1 12
40 HOWARD, Dan......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 5
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 22-45 10-17 26-34 6 19 25 23 80 14 11 1 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-27 51.9% 2nd Half: 8-18 44.4% Game: 48.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 8-10 80.0% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% Game: 58.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 21-26 80.8% Game: 76.5% 3
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HOME TEAM: SAN DIEGO STATE 11-5/2-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
34 SANDERS, Aerick..... f 0-3 0-0 1-2 1 10 11 4 1 1 4 3 1 25
30 MACKELL, Mike....... c 5-8 0-0 8-10 4 2 6 5 18 0 2 1 0 30
01 MOORE, Deandre...... g 3-5 3-5 0-0 2 1 3 3 9 4 3 0 0 34
04 BLAND, Tony......... g 8-17 2-4 7-10 1 2 3 3 25 2 3 1 0 38
05 HANOUR, Travis...... g 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 0 0 14
00 JOHNSON, Tommy...... 2-4 0-1 0-0 3 0 3 1 4 0 0 0 0 6
11 SIR, Steve.......... 2-3 2-3 0-0 1 0 1 1 6 0 3 0 0 17
15 SHARPER, John....... 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 9
20 DAVIS, Trimaine..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 4
21 BURNS, Evan......... 1-6 0-2 0-0 1 3 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 22
22 MANKER, Chris....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 23-49 7-16 16-22 13 21 34 26 69 9 19 5 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-19 52.6% 2nd Half: 13-30 43.3% Game: 46.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 43.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-10 70.0% 2nd Half: 9-12 75.0% Game: 72.7% 0,1
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Officials: Stanley Reynolds, Lonnie Dixon, Duane Allen
Technical fouls: BRIGHAM YOUNG-None. SAN DIEGO STATE-None.
Attendance: 8497
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
BRIGHAM YOUNG................. 41 39 - 80
SAN DIEGO STATE............... 31 38 - 69
Points in the paint-BY 18,SD 20. Points off turnovers-BY 31,SD 15.
2nd chance points-BY 8,SD 13. Fast break points-BY 7,SD 0.
Bench points-BY 19,SD 16. Score tied-0 times. Lead changes-2 times.