BYU races to victory

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Dec 1, 2005 | by Jeff Call Deseret Morning News

On the same court where BYU scored a total of 46 points in a loss last season to Washington State, the Cougars accumulated more than that -- 48 -- at halftime.

In the end, BYU raced to a 97-74 victory over Lamar Wednesday night at the Delta Center, the same court, by the way, where the Utah Jazz scored only 60 the previous night.

For the 8,883 Cougar fans that attended the contest, the only disappointment was that their team didn't reach the century mark.

"Our guys like playing here," said BYU coach Dave Rose.

It showed.

In fact, it was so exhilarating for the Cougars that Cardinals coach Billy Tubbs didn't stick around to watch the ending. That was because the officials ejected Tubbs, one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history, after he received two technical fouls.

BYU (3-1), which has won three straight games, jumped out early, knocking down its first four 3-point attempts, and road-weary Lamar (1-4) never made it much of a contest. The Cardinals were playing their fifth straight game away from home after playing their first three games in Alaska and suffering a loss Monday at No. 9 Memphis.

"As a coach, you feel bad for guys who play that many games away from home," Rose said. "Coach Tubbs was obviously pretty frustrated."

Tubbs, who guided Oklahoma to the national title game in 1988, expressed his displeasure with the officiating early and often, drawing his first technical in the first half. He drew the second with 12:48 remaining in the game (and his team trailing by 16) after his star player, Alan Daniels, flew in for a dunk on a fast break. Tubbs wanted the referees to call a foul on Cougar freshman Jackson Emery, who was defending on the play. Not long after Tubbs protested, he was sent to the locker room.

"To tell you the truth, he was on the refs the whole game for little bitty stuff," said BYU guard Rashaun Broadus, who scored seven points and recorded a game-high nine assists. "He was complaining the whole game. I knew he was going to get tossed after that first technical."

Tubbs didn't miss much more than what he had seen throughout the game, except for an electrifying dunk by Cougar freshman center Trent Plaisted. BYU spread the wealth as three players scored in double figures. Jimmy Balderson poured in 21 points while Plaisted added 16 and Keena Young came off the bench to score 10. Young also had a team-high eight rebounds.

For Young, this game meant something special since he hails from Beaumont, Tex., home of Lamar University. "They were bragging all summer, telling me how they'd come in and play with us," Young said. "They're a good team, I have to give them credit. But we executed the way we needed to."

Rose was happy with Young's contributions. "He played with a lot of energy and made a lot of hustle plays," he said. "He can give us a lot of different things -- scoring, good defense and tonight I was really pleased with the minutes he played."

Of course, Rose was really pleased with the play of almost every player. Thirteen Cougars saw action and all but one scored.

"We knew we were going to get pressed and they were going to change a lot of defenses on us," Rose said. "We looked a little confused at times in the first half. But for the most part, we had guys make big plays and hit shots. We got the early lead and kept the lead throughout the game."

Lamar cut its deficit to eight, 50-42 early in the second half, but BYU responded with a 12-0 run to go back on top by 20. BYU shot 56 percent on 35-of-62 shooting and hit 7 of 14 from 3-point range.

"BYU played great. They can really shoot," said Lamar assistant Kermit Holmes. "I've been watching a lot of basketball and I haven't seen many teams shoot like that. If they keep shooting that way they are going to be tough to beat."

The Cardinals were led by Daniels, who scored a game-high 23 points (on 6-of-20 shooting) and had nine rebounds.

But for the Cougars, it was a much better night than it was a year ago at the Delta Center, when they scored 46. They enjoyed hanging 97 on Lamar. "It's all it was cracked up to be," Broadus said. "Big arena, fast-paced team just like us. They got tired in the second half and we were still pushing it on them. The only thing they could do was watch us play."

E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com