By Randall Champion
LAS VEGAS - The BYU men''s basketball team is no stranger when it comes to entering an arena and having vicious fans from the opposing team give it a harsh and hostile reception.
Rarely, however, do the Cougars have to endure such treatment from seven schools at once.
Thanks to a heroic, 25-point effort from Terrell Lyday, the Cougars silenced everyone but themselves in an intense 69-54 victory over Air Force on Thursday in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
Though the Air Force''s colors are blue and white, fans dressed in shades of red, yellow and green lent their support to the underdogs, hoping for an upset of second-seeded BYU.
In the end, though, BYU''s Big Three - seniors Lyday, Mekeli Wesley and Trent Whiting - combined for 55 points to silence the crowd and usher the Cougars into a semifinal meeting against ***** tonight at 7 in the Thomas and Mack Center. The game will be televised locally on KJZZ.
Lyday hit four three-pointers and scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half as the Cougars overcame an 11-point deficit.
'Terrell kick-started us, hit some big shots and took over the game,' BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. 'That''s what the seniors are supposed to do.'
With the win, BYU (22-8) moved one game closer to an elusive bid to the NCAA Tournament, which likely hinges on tonight''s semifinal game.
'These young men know that there is no backdoor to the NCAA Tournament,' Cleveland said. 'We need to earn it.'
The Cougars almost threw away their chance to dance with a sluggish start. Feeding off the supportive crowd and smarting from a last-second loss to the Cougars on Saturday, the Falcons fired out of the gate with lots of emotion and tried to sink the Cougars early.
Shooting a blistering 65 percent from the field - including a perfect four of four from the three-point line - the Falcons led by as many as nine in the first half.
It appeared that would be the halftime margin, but a Matt Montague three-pointer as time expired trimmed the lead to six at 31-25.
In the second half, BYU knew it was battling not just Air Force, but also unfriendly fans from the rest of the conference eager to watch the Cougars fall.
In their hour of truth, the Cougars turned to their seniors. After the Falcons opened up an 11-point lead with 18 minutes remaining, the veterans got hot.
Sparked by four quick three-pointers by Lyday and Whiting, the Cougars pulled within one at 39-38 with 13 minutes to go.
With fans from both sides now hanging on the edge of their seats, Lyday threw down a statement-making dunk over Air Force star Tom Bellairs.
'Once we got a momentum swing, I knew that was it,' Lyday said. 'After the dunk, when we went up by one, I knew we had this game won.'
Lyday finished with 25 points and had the Falcons scrambling to find a way to respond. The effort was futile, as Air Force was outscored 44-23 in the second half, including a 24-5 BYU run to seal the victory.
'I felt that, as a senior, it was my job to step it up and get things going,' Lyday said.
After battling through three rough shooting games, as well as a bronchial infection, Whiting finally broke out of his slump, finishing with 17 points and five rebounds in somewhat of a game of redemption.
'It felt great to knock down a few shots and get back into the flow of the game,' Whiting said. 'This game felt good.'
Conference player of the year Wesley finished with 13 points and hit four of five from the free-throw line down the stretch.