FORT COLLINS -- Rafael Araujo recorded his 13th double-double of the season, scoring 21 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, as the Cougars defeated Colorado State 79-73 Monday night at Moby arena.
Araujo and Ram center Matt Nelson battled back and forth all night with Nelson scoring 24 points to lead all scorers, but the most pivotal stretch of the game came when Araujo was sitting on the bench with four fouls.
Colorado State had battled back from a seven-point deficit to tie the game at 54 when backup center Jake Shoff replaced Araujo.
Shoff helped ignite a 15-4 run, scoring five points in less than one minute during the run before collecting his fourth foul. Shoff finished the game with a season-high nine points and three rebounds in only 12 minutes of work.
"Bench play was critical to our success," coach Steve Cleveland said. "(Kevin) Woodberry was solid. Jake Shoff had a good game, and (Jared) Jensen contributed tonight."
Following the Cougar run, BYU led by 11 points and held on to win by six points, giving BYU its second straight road win. With the victory, the Cougars swept the Front Range road trip in back-to-back years for the first time since BYU did it in the 1971-72 and 1972-73 seasons. BYU won in back-to-back years at CSU for the first time in 10 years.
The Cougars opened the game with sloppy play, falling behind by 11 points early, but the Cougars exploded for a 20-2 run to take a 28-21 lead. BYU extended its lead to nine points before the Rams closed the half on a 6-0 run to cut the Cougar lead to 35-32 at the half.
Colorado State continued its run into the second half, eventually tying the score at 36, but BYU fought back with another run of its own to take a seven point lead, which the Rams would quickly erase. But BYU had one more run up its sleeve that put Colorado State away for good.
BYU scored 19 fast-break points, using its defense to ignite several scoring runs. Three Cougars scored in double figures as Mike Hall totaled 14 points and Mark Bigelow added 10. Freshman Dwight Boatner contributed 11 points for CSU while Matt Williams and Michael Morris each added 10 points. BYU had a 41-30 advantage on the boards, including 14 offensive rebounds.
The Cougars improve to 6-4 in MWC play and 16-7 overall, while Colorado State falls to 3-7 in conference and 11-12 overall. BYU begins the first of three straight home games Saturday against New Mexico at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Brigham Young University vs Colorado State
02-16-04 10:00 p.m. at Fort Collins, Colo. (Moby Arena)
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VISITORS: Brigham Young University 16-7 (6-4 MWC)
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 3-9 1-5 3-4 0 0 0 4 10 2 5 0 0 29
41 MEADS, Garner....... f 2-4 0-0 1-2 3 4 7 3 5 0 1 1 1 25
55 ARAUJO, Rafael...... c 7-17 0-0 7-10 4 8 12 4 21 1 0 0 4 31
01 HALL, Mike.......... g 5-9 1-4 3-4 2 4 6 1 14 1 2 0 2 32
04 LEMES, Luiz......... g 3-7 0-2 0-1 0 5 5 2 6 6 3 0 2 37
00 WOODBERRY, Kevin.... 2-5 2-4 0-0 0 2 2 1 6 2 1 0 2 19
02 ROSE, Mike.......... 1-2 0-1 0-2 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 5
05 SHOFF, Jake......... 4-5 0-0 1-1 2 1 3 4 9 0 1 1 1 12
52 JENSEN, Jared....... 1-2 0-0 4-4 1 1 2 2 6 1 1 0 0 10
TEAM................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 28-60 4-16 19-28 14 27 41 21 79 13 15 2 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-37 40.5% 2nd Half: 13-23 56.5% Game: 46.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-12 25.0% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 17-24 70.8% Game: 67.9% 3
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HOME TEAM: Colorado State 11-12 (3-7 MWC)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
20 CLARK, Ronnie....... f 3-4 0-0 2-4 1 1 2 3 8 0 2 0 1 20
22 JOHNSON, Shelton.... f 1-7 0-5 0-1 2 2 4 1 2 0 1 0 2 34
42 WILLIAMS, Matt...... c 4-10 0-0 2-4 1 4 5 4 10 2 5 0 2 29
05 BOATNER, Dwight..... g 3-5 1-2 4-4 0 1 1 2 11 3 2 0 0 34
32 MORRIS, Micheal..... g 3-8 1-5 3-3 0 6 6 0 10 5 0 4 1 30
10 RAKIECKI, Jon....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2
11 THOMASSON, Phillip.. 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 10
13 ROBINSON, Freddy.... 2-3 0-1 2-3 0 2 2 2 6 1 0 0 1 15
34 VERWERS, Stephen.... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 5
54 NELSON, Matt........ 9-12 0-0 6-8 1 6 7 4 24 1 2 1 1 21
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 26-53 2-13 19-27 6 24 30 20 73 12 13 5 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-22 54.5% 2nd Half: 14-31 45.2% Game: 49.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 1-9 11.1% Game: 15.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-9 77.8% 2nd Half: 12-18 66.7% Game: 70.4% 2
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Officials: David Hall, Scott Thornley, Larry Spaulding
Technical fouls: Brigham Young University-None. Colorado State-None.
Attendance: 4526
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Brigham Young University...... 35 44 - 79
Colorado State................ 32 41 - 73
Points in the paint-BY 46,CS 34. Points off turnovers-BY 22,CS 10.
2nd chance points-BY 15,CS 6. Fast break points-BY 19,CS 0.
Bench points-BY 23,CS 32. Score tied-4 times. Lead changes-1 time.