Cougars Fall in Season Opener

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PROVO -- In a game that matched up two head coaches in their first respective games, Loyola Marymount spoiled Cougar head coach Dave Rose's debut by beating BYU, 83-71, at the Marriott Center Friday night.

The Cougars, now 0-1, didn't have an answer for LMU's frontcourt which scored 45 of the Lions' points.

LMU (1-0), who returned four of its five starters from last year's team, put together what turned out to be a decisive late 15-0 first-half run en route to the victory. The experienced squad then held on to counter all of the Cougars' runs. LMU head coach Rodney Tention said his team benefited from playing with each other for so long.

"Experience was a big difference in the game tonight," Tention said. "It helps having those guys who have been in a lot of games."

The Cougars jumped out to a quick lead to start the game. Fueled by Plaisted's early six points, BYU jumped out to an 8-2 advantage. LMU fought back behind the physical play of Matthew Knight and the shooting of Wes Wardrop and cut the lead to one at 14-13 with 11:49 remaining in the first half. BYU head coach Dave Rose was happy with the way his team started the game.

"Our team did a good job and was prepared to come out and play," he said. "We had a good start and scored early but seemed to get complacent and didn't push the ball with near enough purpose."

Plaisted continued his hot shooting, hitting his first five shots from the field for 12 points. Cougar turnovers kept the Lions close as LMU's Chris Ayer tied the game at 24 with an offensive rebound and put-back.

Mike Rose then entered the game and promptly scored eight points, including two quick three pointers, helping BYU maintain a slim 30-29 first-half lead with 3:37 left in the first frame.

Foul trouble and turnovers continued to haunt the Cougars as LMU scored 15 unanswered points to end the half and take an 11-point lead into the intermission. BYU didn't score for the final 4:48 of the first half.

In the second half, Jimmy Balderson came out firing on all cylinders scoring seven quick points helping cut the lead to five with 15:20 left in the game. The Lions' physical inside play helped the Lions go on a run of their own extending the lead to a game-high 12 point lead at 57-45 with 12 minutes remaining.

BYU jumped back with an 8-0 run to cut back into the lead. LMU showed its experience by coming out of a timeout and scoring six points on a Wardrop three and a Brandon Worthy three-point play. Down the stretch, the Lions had an answer for seemingly every Cougar basket to hold on for the win.

"Every time we got into a position to get close they hit shots and made big plays," Rose said.

BYU was led by Balderson who scored 18 points and recorded seven boards. Plaisted finished with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting while grabbing four rebounds.

"This is a starting point, and we'll go from here," said Rose.

Next, the Cougars will try to avenge their loss to Washington State when they travel to Spokane to take on WSU Tuesday at 7 p.m. (PST).

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS

LMU vs BYU Cougars

11-18-05 7:05 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah

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VISITORS: LMU 1-0

TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS

## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN

14 KNIGHT, Matthew..... f 9-14 0-0 4-6 3 7 10 2 22 1 3 2 1 31

40 AYER, Chris......... c 6-10 0-0 3-4 5 5 10 4 15 0 2 0 0 33

00 WORTHY, Brandon..... g 2-10 0-3 7-8 0 2 2 1 11 1 4 0 0 32

04 MILLER, Adoyah...... g 2-6 0-2 1-2 1 1 2 2 5 2 4 0 1 25

13 WARDROP, Wes........ g 7-12 3-4 2-2 0 4 4 3 19 4 2 1 3 33

03 PEGRAM, Daryl....... 1-3 0-2 0-0 1 0 1 2 2 2 0 0 0 14

05 MONTGOMERY, John.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 6

10 KANNE, Chris........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+

12 DERIC, Marko........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+

23 ZIRI, Jon........... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 10

32 HAYWOOD, John....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0+

42 BROWN, Dustin....... 4-8 0-1 0-0 2 4 6 0 8 1 0 1 2 16

53 BOCCARDO, Vitor..... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0+

TEAM................ 2 2 4

Totals.............. 31-65 3-13 18-24 14 26 40 15 83 15 15 4 8 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-39 48.7% 2nd Half: 12-26 46.2% Game: 47.7% DEADB

3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-8 12.5% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 23.1% REBS

F Throw % 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 16-20 80.0% Game: 75.0% 2

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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 0-1

TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS

## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN

15 MALAMAN, Fernando... f 2-6 2-3 0-0 0 4 4 3 6 4 1 1 1 30

23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... f 6-13 1-4 5-6 2 5 7 5 18 2 3 1 0 23

44 PLAISTED, Trent..... c 6-8 0-0 5-6 2 2 4 4 17 0 3 0 1 30

01 BROADUS, Rashaun.... g 4-13 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 3 9 3 2 0 2 30

13 AINGE, Austin....... g 1-2 0-0 2-3 0 3 3 1 4 3 3 0 0 21

02 ROSE, Mike.......... 4-9 2-4 2-2 1 1 2 2 12 0 1 0 0 21

03 YOUNG, Keena........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 2 0 1 2 1 0 9

04 EMERY, Jackson...... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2

11 REICHNER, Brock..... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 7

30 CUMMARD, Lee........ 1-2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 0 1 1 0 16

34 BURGESS, David...... 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 2 0 1 1 0 11

TEAM................ 4 3 7

Totals.............. 25-60 7-17 14-17 10 24 34 23 71 14 19 5 4 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-28 42.9% 2nd Half: 13-32 40.6% Game: 41.7% DEADB

3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-10 30.0% 2nd Half: 4-7 57.1% Game: 41.2% REBS

F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 11-13 84.6% Game: 82.4% 2

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Officials: Randy McCall, Mark Whitehead, Kelly Self

Technical fouls: LMU-None. BYU Cougars-None.

Attendance: 9826

Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total

LMU........................... 41 42 - 83

BYU Cougars................... 30 41 - 71