By Randall Champion
BYU Head Coach Steve Cleveland was hoping for a strong start for his Cougars as they began Mountain West Conference play and he received exactly that Saturday, January 13 as the Cougars dominated the improved San Diego State Aztecs 79-50 in an impressive conference opener at the Marriott Center.
After leading 9-8 early into the game, the Cougars caught fire and never looked back. They outscored the Aztecs 29-10 over the next twelve minutes, and took a comfortable 40-21 lead into halftime. The intensity continued into the second half, as the Cougs led by 37 points at 73-36 with 9:45 to play, before cruising to the 29 point victory. Terrell Lyday led all scorers with 24 points, while Mekeli Wesley added 10 points and Jacob Chrisman pulled down 8 rebounds for the Cougars. In perhaps his best performance this year for the Cougars, Trent Whiting scored 17 points, while going 5 for 8 from the 3-point line.
“The basket got really big. I liked it. It was big time,” Whiting said.
A big factor in the game was the difference in field goal percentages between the Cougars and the Aztecs. BYU shot 51 percent for the game from the field and 50 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. San Diego State shot 37 percent from the floor, and only 19 percent from 3-point land.
Coach Cleveland knows that such a lopsided victory can be somewhat misleading. “I don”t get a false sense of achievement from a game like this. They are a good team that didn”t play well tonight,” he said.
San Diego State coach Steve Fisher added, “we got an old-fashioned whipping. They were great tonight, and we contributed to that.”
The win was the sixth straight victory for the Cougars over the Aztecs, and the 14th win in the last 15 games against San Diego State in Provo. The Cougars improved to 12-4 this season, and 1-0 in conference play. They remain undefeated at home with a perfect 9-0 record.
BYU faces a stern conference test Monday night as the UNLV Rebels come to town for a big Mountain West Conference showdown. After losing to Utah 79-70 Saturday afternoon, the Rebels will be hungry for a conference victory on the road. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN, at 10:00pm.
