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BYU ends losing streak at Utah |
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JaredLloyd | Wednesday, January 31, 2007, 11:48 pm
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Jared Lloyd
DAILY HERALD
Move over, Robbie Reid, Russell Larsen and Ken Roberts.
Your 13-year reign as the last BYU team to knock off Utah in the Huntsman Center is finally over.
The Cougars used a 10-0 run at the end of the first half and start of the second to blow open a close game Wednesday night, then cruised to the 76-66 victory over the Utes.
“That was a great team win,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose. “It feels really good (to beat Utah). It’s good for the players and also for the program. This is one of those things we wanted to do as a program.”
The last victory for the Cougars in Salt Lake City came on Jan. 8, 1994 when Reid hit a late trey to beat Utah, 64-62.
The experience of breaking the streak was sweet for all of the players, especially the seniors.
“It was a blast,” said senior guard Austin Ainge. “I’ve had a lot of nasty things yelled at me in this building, so it was nice to be able to walk off the court and point at the scoreboard.”
Behind the inside play of senior forward Keena Young and the outside shooting of freshman forward Jonathan Tavernari and senior guard Jimmy Balderson, BYU was able to stave off every run Utah had.
Young finished with a team-high 21 points, including a pair of big plays late. After the Utes had cut the 18-point Cougar advantage in half, the senior made a short runner in the lane, then added a mid-range jumper to thwart any Utah hopes of a comeback.
“You can’t stop playing just because they start hitting shots,” Young said. “You have to execute and we work on those plays in practice.”
After the first few minutes were tight, BYU built a 30-23 advantage. The Utes got a layup and 2-of-4 free throws from sophomore center Luke Nevill to make it a one-possession game with 1:58 left in the half.
But that was as close as Utah would get. The visiting Cougars scored four points before the break, then opened the second half with 3-pointers by Balderson and sophomore forward Lee Cummard to push the lead to 13.
“I thought those shots by Jimmy and Lee gave us the momentum,” Rose said. “Jonathan kept us going and K.T. (Keena Young) hit big shots down the stretch.”
Tavernari scored nine of his 17 points in the second half, including a run of three straight hoops that pushed the lead to 18.
The Utes pounded the ball down low to Nevill for much of the game. The 7-foot-1 sophomore scored a game-high 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting, but also turned the ball over five times.
BYU sophomore center Trent Plaisted only played 19 minutes because of foul trouble, but the Cougars got big minutes from backups Vuk Ivanovic and Gavin MacGregor.
“We got a lot of help from our bench,” Rose said. “We were unable to stop Luke, but we were able to make him work really hard. He’s a tough player to cover.”
Those two also added seven rebounds as the Cougars out-boarded Utah 33-26 for the game. BYU is undefeated (15-0) when it wins that statistical category.
“One of the keys for us was rebounding the basketball because they are so big,” Rose said. “I thought we did a pretty good job.”
The home team also got a big night from senior guard Ricky Johns, who put in 18 points in the losing effort.
BYU (16-6, 6-2) moved into a tie for first place with Air Force and UNLV in the Mountain West Conference. The Cougars, who have now won two straight road games and three in a row overall, will try to continue their success when they host No. 25 UNLV on Saturday. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 3:30 p.m.
∫ Extra points: BYU had its fewest turnovers of the year, only coughing up the ball seven times. ... The victory secured the Oquirrh Bucket for the Cougars for best record against in-state opponents. BYU hadn’t won the award since 2001. ... MacGregor, a walk-on, had career highs in minutes (10), rebounds (2) and points (4).
∫ Jared Lloyd can be reached at 344-2552 or
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