Kansas State University Athletics
Kansas State University
BYU
Second half comeback lifts BYU past Wildcats, 73-64
Nov 23, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Nov 23, 2002
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands - Marques Hayden scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds in his college debut and Tim Ellis added 14 points off the bench, but it wasn't enough to stop a huge Brigham Young comeback in the second half as the Cougars outlasted Kansas State, 73-64, before 2,372 Saturday night at the Paradise Jam.
The loss marked the first time Kansas State (0-1) has dropped a season opener under head coach Jim Wooldridge.
"We missed some easy shots and had some turnovers and they made their free throws and that was the difference in the game," Wooldridge said. "I though we had some opportunities down the stretch. The offense generated some foul shots for us and some lay-ups and we just didn't take advantage of it."
Travis Hanson led BYU (2-0) with 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting before being ejected after a double technical foul with 8:48 to go.
Mark Bigelow finished with 18 points and Jared Jensen added 10 points for the Cougars, who trailed Kansas State 36-31 at the break before connecting on their first seven shots of the second half during a 16-4 run that put BYU on top 47-40 with just under 15 minutes remaining.
"We came out in the second half kind of relaxed," said Hayden. "We weren't as pumped up as in the first half. Everything was going right (at the end of the first half) and everyone expected that to continue. (BYU) came out and played harder and we just reacted too late."
The Cougars' lead would swell to as many as eight before Hayden, who scored 14 of his points in the second half, almost single-handedly rallied the Wildcats with 12 straight Kansas State points for a 54-53 lead with 8:50 showing on the clock.
In all there were five ties and three lead changes during the second half, the last coming with just under three minutes to play when a Bigelow jumper put the Cougars up for good, 65-63. BYU went on to make 6 of 8 from the free throw line to hold on for the win.
BYU led by as many as six midway through the first half before the Cats rallied to go on top at intermission, scoring 14 of the period's final 19 points.
Kansas State returns to action at 4:15 p.m (CST)/6:15 p.m. (AST) when the Wildcats take on Toledo (0-1) in their second game of the Paradise Jam.
