By Brandon Judd
SALT LAKE CITY ? Poor shooting and a second-half collapse cost the BYU men?s basketball team on Saturday in a 49-46 loss to Washington State at the Delta Center.
BYU (2-6) dropped its fourth game in five tries despite leading 25-18 at the half and outscoring WSU 18-6 in the paint.
A big reason for the loss was BYU?s shooting from the field: 17-of-48 for 35.4 percent. Also, Washington State (4-3) forged a methodical, defense-driven comeback to take home the victory after trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half and 10 in the second half.
?We have not figured out how to play two halves,? BYU head coach Steve Cleveland said. ?Somebody?s got to step up and make shots, and no one?s doing that.?
BYU had a chance to force overtime after Washington State?s Shami Gill hit 1-of-2 free throws with 7.6 seconds left, but sophomore guard Austin Ainge?s 3-point attempt was no good.
Ainge scored a game- and career-high 16 points, including the last nine BYU points, while fellow sophomore Mike Rose added 15. Washington State?s Thomas Kelati scored 15 points as the only WSU player in double figures.
?Austin and Mike obviously did what they could do, but we need more than two guys making baskets,? Cleveland said.
BYU appeared to be headed for an easy victory midway through the first half. After Washington State?s Chris Henry hit a jumper to put WSU up 5-3, BYU responded with a 20-3 run to take a 23-8 lead with seven minutes to go until halftime.
Rose and Ainge scored 10 and seven points, respectively, during the run.
From there, however, BYU could only manage an identical 23 points the remainder of the game. After scoring a team-high 12 points in the first half, Rose was held to just a single 3-pointer in the second.
A lack of execution, Cleveland said, cost BYU another chance at a winnable game.
?When we needed to make baskets and we needed to get stops, we didn?t do it,? he said. ?That?s kind of been the mark of this team for six, eight games.?
Despite this, BYU held onto the lead until the 8:11 mark in the second half when Washington State?s Josh Akognon drilled an NBA-range 3-pointer to put WSU up 34-33. Following a pair of free throws by BYU?s Garner Meads, Washington State took control by hitting three 3-pointers in less than two minutes to take a 43-37 lead with 4:43 to play.
Washington State entered the game making only 26.6 percent of its 3-pointers. But on Saturday, WSU knocked down 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from beyond the arc, including seven in the second half.
?It really surprised me,? Washington State head coach Dick Bennett said about his team?s hot hand from long range. ?We?ve shot a lot this year and and have not made very many.?
BYU, meanwhile, struggled from outside, hitting just 6-of-25 (24 percent) from 3-point range after shooting over 50 percent in its previous two games.
?We need to get a close win, then maybe we can get some momentum,? Ainge said. ?But our offensive execution is just real bad right now.?
Washington State also held the advantage in rebounding, collecting 36 boards to BYU?s 31. WSU also had more offensive rebounds (10) than BYU (6), resulting in a 6-1 edge in second chance points.
?Their big guys just ate myself and the other big guys alive,? said BYU center Derek Dawes, who led BYU with three offensive boards.
Another point of particular concern for BYU was the lack of scoring from its starters, three of which are seniors. Forward Mike Hall, a senior, hit BYU?s first field goal of the game, a 3-pointer, but it turned out to be the only field goal made between the starting five all night. Meads? free throws were the only other points scored by a starter.
Hall, the team?s leading scorer, finished 1-for-10 with three points on the night, including 1-of-6 from 3-point range.
For BYU, it must now prepare for a rematch with Utah State on Saturday. On Dec. 1, the Aggies used a strong second half to pull away from the Cougars in Logan, 71-57.
?I hope we give them a more competitive game when they come to our place,? Cleveland said.
COUGAR TRACKS: This was the second game BYU has played at the Delta Center in as many years. Last season, the Cougars upset Oklahoma State 76-71. The Cowboys would later advance to the Final Four. ? Meads tied a career-high in rebounds with 10. ? BYU was held scoreless until the 15:24 mark in the first half, then did not score a field goal in the second half until the 15:52 mark. ? 46 points is the fewest BYU has scored since it tallying 46 in a loss to California on Nov. 26, 2003. ? BYU went 0-4 against Pac-10 teams this season, including losses to Stanford, California and USC.
