Feb 10, 2004
By DOUG ALDEN
AP Sports Writer
PROVO, Utah (AP) - Mike Hall took the opening tip of overtime in for a dunk to start a 16-0 run in Brigham Young's 83-69 victory over San Diego State on Monday night.
Garner Meads added a career-high 19 points and Luiz Lemes scored 11 for the Cougars (14-7, 4-4 Mountain West), who led by 12 in the second half before San Diego State (12-11, 3-5) rallied to force overtime and nearly win in Provo for the first time since 1996.
But once the OT started, it was all BYU.
Hall grabbed a loose ball off a tip and ran uncontested for a dunk and the Cougars ran away from there. Rafael Araujo, finished 12 points below his average with just seven points, scored four in overtime, including a two-handed dunk that put the Cougars up 83-67.
San Diego State didn't score in the overtime until Aerick Sanders' jumper in the lane with about a minute remaining.
Chris Walton scored 17 and pulled down eight rebounds, Sanders scored 13 and Marcus Slaughter finished with 11 points for San Diego State, which fell to 2-23 in Provo. The Aztecs last won at BYU in December 1996 and were one shot away from breaking the streak.
Johnson made two free throws with 7:14 remaining, Walton scored on a layup and Johnson took a steal all the way in for another layup to start a 9-1 run by the Aztecs, who cut BYU's lead to 61-59 with 3:49 remaining on two free throws by Sanders.
BYU went without a field goal from Hall's steal and dunk with 8:19 remaining until Hall made a layup with about 3:22 left to play to put the Cougars up 63-61. But Walton pulled down a rebound off his own miss and drew a foul, tying the game at 63-all with 2:34 remaining.
Tied at 67-all, the Aztecs had the last shot, but Brandon Heath's pull-up jumper bounced off the rim and nobody could put in the rebound before the buzzer. Heath had just made his first basket of the game to put San Diego State up 67-65, but Mark Bigelow tied it for BYU at the other end.
Meads scored 10 as BYU opened the second half on a 13-2 run. Araujo was back after missing much of the first half in foul trouble and had the Aztecs focusing on him, freeing up Meads for his career night.
Meads put the Cougars up 43-31 when he slammed in a rebound off a missed 3-pointer by Bigelow, then added three points when he was fouled on a layup with 9:32 remaining to tie his career best of 13 he scored Jan. 19 in a win over Wyoming.