Cougars Maul Yellowjackets in Provo (Jan. 11, 2004)
Box Score

PROVO, UT – Any hopes Yellowjacket fans had of a big upset Tuesday night faded after about thirteen minutes as Brigham Young ran away from Montana State-Billings, 110-70.  The Cougars improved to 6-10 overall, dropping the Yellowjackets to 8-5.  It was the fourth straight loss for MSU Billings.

“BYU played very hard and very intelligent,” said Yellowjacket head coach Craig Carse.  “They have so much more size than we have.  They’re so much more physical.  BYU is a wonderful basketball program.  They shot the ball extremely well tonight.  They’re having a tough year, but I don’t care who you play when you shoot the ball like that, you’re going to win.  Our kids battled hard.  We just don’t have the depth, the size or the experience.  We’re thankful to BYU for giving us this opportunity.  We’ll take a lot of good things from this game.”

The Yellowjackets played with the Division I Cougars for much of the first half until a late surge propelled BYU to a 57-30 halftime advantage.  MSU Billings was within two at 23-21 with 10:16 left in the half on a Cameron Munoz (Jr., Chino, CA) 3-pointer.  After the Cougars built a nine point lead, a Justin Hassell (Sr., Brooklyn, NY) 3-pointer at the 7:15 mark pulled MSU Billings to within six at 33-27.  The Yellowjackets scored just three points over the remainder of the half as BYU put the game out of reach by the intermission.

As close as MSU Billings could manage in the second half was 23 points on two occasions.  Buddy Windy Boy’s (Jr., Lodge Grass, MT) 3-pointer made the score 61-38 with 17:40 to play.  After a BYU basket, Munoz’s jumper pulled the Jackets to within 63-40 with 17:07 remaining.  It was all Cougars from that point as BYU pulled away, snapping a two game losing streak. 

The Yellowjackets’ Hassell was the leading scorer in the game with 22 points.  He was 8-of-15 from the field and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.  Hassell finished with a double-double, grabbing 11 rebounds.

Munoz scored 20 points, hitting 4-of-11 from 3-point range.  He played 38 minutes after missing playing time with injuries on the recent trip to Hawaii.  Windy Boy finished with 15 points, all on 3-pointers.  He was 5-of-14 from long range.  Freshmen Lucas Walker (Launceston, Australia) and Carlin Hughes (Perth, Western Australia) added five points apiece.  Munoz, Hughes and Jonathan Wiley (So., Westlake Village, CA) each dished out four assists.

The Yellowjackets were 14-of-36 from 3-point range, but the Cougars rarely missed from behind the arc, connecting on 10-of-16.  BYU out rebounded the Jackets, 47-39, and shot 55 percent from the field.  MSU Billings shot 33 percent from the field.

The Cougars were paced by 16 points from Jared Jensen.  Mike Hall and Mike Rose added 14 points apiece.  Austin Ainge, Keena Young and Terry Nashif each netted ten points.  Garner Meads pulled down 11 rebounds and scored seven points.

The Yellowjackets return to Billings for an alumni exhibition game on Saturday, January 15.  They open a long PacWest Conference home stand on January 18 when they host BYU-Hawaii.  MSU Billings plays eight-straight conference home games between January 18 and February 12.