By SAM NEFF
sam@newsroom.byu.edu
In a game filled with plenty of fouls and physical play, the Cougar hoopsters out-muscled a young Arizona State squad to claim a 78-67 victory Tuesday night at the Marriott Center.
Sun Devil star Eddie House, who has been experiencing a shooting slump of late, was shut out. The All-Pac-10 guard shot 0-16 from the field. It was the first time in his career that House failed to make any shots from the field. Sophomore Awvee Johnson picked up some of the slack, shooting 9-13 and scoring 22 points.
'It's difficult to win any games when Eddie goes 0-16,' said Arizona State coach Rob Evans.
BYU guard Terrell Lyday was assigned to stop House for most of the game.
'We disrupted him a little bit, but he was off,' Lyday said.
Lyday can sympathize.
'One time in junior college I went one for 19. It doesn't feel very good,' he said.
Lyday said he felt pretty good Tuesday night. He scored 17 points, including a team-high three three-pointers.
The Cougars led for most of the first half, stretching the lead to 27-19 at one point. Arizona State came back and narrowed the margin to two. The Cougars led 33-31 at halftime.
The Sun Devils came out strong in the second half, taking a 39-36 lead with six quick points from center Chad Prewitt.
Less than five minutes into the second half, 15 fouls had been called and both teams were in the penalty. Mekeli Wesley picked up three quick fouls and went to the bench.
A few possessions later, as point guard Matt Montague was driving in for a lay-up, he was fouled and fell hard to the floor. Montague was forced to leave the game and received five rough stitches on a three-centimeter gash above his left eye.
'He kind of grabbed me and pulled me to the floor with him as I went up,' Montague said.
Arizona State appeared to be taking control of the game, widening its lead to 51-46, but the tide was about to change. Wesley re-entered the game with four fouls with just under 14 minutes left. Arizona State's center went to the bench in foul trouble, leaving Wesley guarded by a 6-foot-6 player. Montague returned to the game after receiving stitches, and the stage was set for a comeback.
Two three-pointers from Michael Vranes and Lyday started a 17-3 run for the Cougars that the Sun Devils would not recover from. Wesley scored 14 of his 26 points while playing with four fouls. Wesley made 14 points the easy way, shooting 14-18 from the free-throw line.
'The last seven or eight minutes of the game was the best basketball we played all year,' said BYU coach Steve Cleveland.
Silester Rivers played one of his best games of the season, and didn't seem hobbled by persistent ankle injuries. Rivers finished with 10 points and played tough defense on Arizona State's freshman phenom, Shawn Redhage.
'Beating a Pac-10 team is real big,' Lyday said. 'It makes a statement to a lot of teams.'
The win sets the tone for a week in which the Cougars will play three home games. The Cougars will play Texas Southern on Friday in the Cougar Classic, and then face either Western Oregon or Weber State on Saturday.
'It's important to get off to a good start, knowing that we can be 6-1 at the end of the week,' Wesley said.