Aggies falter again

After leading at the half 35-31, things were looking up for the Utah State basketball team. Basketball however, is a two half game.

Photo Credit: Trent Nelson/Salt Lake Tribune

PROVO, Utah (AP) - Mark Bigelow and Travis Hansen each scored 13 points, most of them during a commanding second-half run, as BYU beat Utah State 66-56 on Saturday.

BYU (7-1) extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 39. Bigelow and Hansen combined for all of BYU's points in a 14-2 run that erased Utah State's final lead and gave the Cougars a 55-46 advantage.

Utah State (5-2) was led by Desmond Penigar, the Aggies' leading scorer, to 11 points, on 3-of-13 shooting.

Utah State led 35-31 at halftime after switching to a zone defense that confused BYU.

Bigelow struggled most, missing six shots in a row after an early layup. Penigar's free throw gave the Aggies a 44-41 lead with 10:57 left. But Hansen made two free throws and a layup to give BYU the lead, 45-44.

Bigelow took over from there, scoring 10 straight points. He made a jumper and a layup and then hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 55-46 advantage.

The Cougars held Utah State to 8-of-25 shooting in the second half. Utah State also failed to make a 3-pointer for the first time since Jan. 17, 1998.

BYU's Kevin Woodberry scored 12 points, including three consecutive 3-pointers early in the game, and had six assists. Rafael Araujo added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Two Aggie reserves made big contributions. Spencer Nelson added nine points, all in the first half, and nine rebounds. BYU has won 14 straight over Utah State at the Marriott Center, a streak dating back to 1985. The game was the 219th meeting between the schools. BYU leads the series 133-86.

BOX SCORE

December 14 - FINAL	1st	2nd	Total
Utah St (5-2; B. West: 0-0)	35	21	56
Byu (7-1; MWC: 0-0)	31	35	66

Utah State
PLAYER	MIN	FGM-A	FTM-A	OFF	REB	AST	PF	PTS
D. Penigar	24	3-13	5-6	2	5	0	3	11
T. Johnson	31	4-5	0-0	3	4	1	1	8
M. Puzey	9	0-1	0-0	0	1	0	4	0
C. Butler	31	7-17	0-1	1	2	1	1	14
M. Brown	35	1-8	0-0	0	3	5	3	2
R. Ross	9	0-0	0-0	0	1	3	2	0
N. Harris	23	3-3	4-5	2	3	0	3	10
C. Brown	5	0-0	0-0	0	0	1	1	0
S. Nelson	24	2-3	5-6	1	9	1	5	9
C. Evans	9	1-1	0-2	1	1	0	1	2
Totals	200	21-51	14-20	10	29	12	24	56
		.412	.700
TEAM REBS: 3 TURNOVERS: 14 (N Harris 3, S Nelson 3, M Puzey 2, M Brown 2, C Brown, D Penigar, R Ross, C Butler) BLOCKED SHOTS: 2 (M Puzey, C Butler) STEALS: 4 (M Brown 2, D Penigar, R Ross) 3-PT FGS: 0-5, .000 (D Penigar 0-2, C Butler 0-3)

BYU
PLAYER	MIN	FGM-A	FTM-A	OFF	REB	AST	PF	PTS
M. Bigelow	34	5-10	1-2	0	4	0	0	13
J. Jensen	22	1-2	5-5	1	3	1	4	7
R. Araujo	31	4-7	2-2	1	7	2	4	10
T. Hansen	35	4-11	3-6	1	4	1	3	13
K. Woodberry	32	3-5	3-6	1	3	6	0	12
L. Lemes	5	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	1	0
J. Shoff	17	1-3	1-2	1	3	2	2	3
T. Nashif	3	0-1	0-0	0	1	0	0	0
R. Bower	13	1-2	6-6	0	0	1	0	8
J. Allen	2	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	3	0
B Jepson	1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	0
D. Howard	5	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	1	0
Totals	200	19-42	21-29	5	26	13	19	66
		.452	.724
TEAM REBS: 2 TURNOVERS: 11 (T Hansen 2, M Bigelow 2, R Araujo 2, J Shoff 2, R Bower 2, J Jensen) BLOCKED SHOTS: 3 (T Hansen, M Bigelow, R Araujo) STEALS: 3 (R Bower, J Shoff, K Woodberry) 3-PT FGS: 7-19, .368 (M Bigelow 2-6, R Araujo 0-2, T Hansen 2-4, K Woodberry 3-5, T Nashif 0-1, R Bower 0-1)

Technicals: None
Attendance: 14,734