By MASON B. NIEDERHAUSER
mason@du2.byu.edu
The BYU men's basketball team enters this week on an emotional high. BYU returns home after sweeping a two-game road trip for games with conference foes San Jose State and Fresno State on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
One shot made all the difference in the atmosphere on a certain airplane heading from Honolulu to the mainland early Sunday morning.
Thanks to Mekeli Wesley's game-winning, 25-foot three pointer with 3.1 seconds remaining, BYU beat Hawaii 60-59. The Cougars (7-8) extended their WAC record to 2-1.
In a contest comprised mostly of scoring spurts, time ran out before the final Cougar run ended. Finishing the game on a 19-3 run, led by junior forward Silester Rivers and freshman guard Michael Vranes, the Cougars came back to make up a 14-point halftime deficit.
Trailing by three with 12.7 seconds remaining, sophomore Nathan Cooper hit two free throws to bring the Cougars to cut the Rainbows' lead to 58-57. Mark Bigelow immediately fouled Hawaii's Casey Cartwright who only hit one of his two foul shots, giving the Warriors a two-point advantage with 11.7 seconds left.
Without calling a timeout, BYU ran the length of the floor where Wesley's shot capped the Cougars' comeback. Hawaii's last-second desperation shot was off the mark, as the Cougar team celebrated at mid-court.
Taking a 12-6 lead early in the game, the Cougars seemed to hit a wall as the Warriors, led by Cartwright and Erin Galloway, went on to outscore BYU 31-11 to take a 37-23 lead as the first half ended.
Hawaii maintained their lead through most of the second half, even stretching it to 16 with 8:40 remaining.
'We were stuck there for awhile,' assistant coach David Rose said. 'We got some leadership in the second half from Vranes and Rivers that really made a difference.'
Rivers, who led all scorers with 20 points, had 16 of those in the second half. Wesley ended the game with 18 points and Vranes finished with 11. BYU's leading scorer, freshman Mark Bigelow was held to a single three pointer that came midway through the first half.
'It's even more amazing that we did it without Bigelow scoring,' Rose said. BYU got the victory despite shooting just 39 percent from the floor compared to Hawaii's 48 percent.
The Cougars also turned the ball over more than Hawaii did -- BYU tallied 18 turnovers, compared to the Warriors' 14.
Fortunately for the Cougars, the free-throw line kept them in it. With 26 attempts compared to Hawaii's 10, BYU spent much more time at the line. Not only did they shoot more free throws, the Cougars were more accurate, shooting 73 percent as opposed to the Rainbows' 50 percent.