PROVO— Eric Mika’s 26 points led the BYU Cougars to a 77-66 victory over Weber State at the Marriott Center Wednesday night in a game that saw 44 fouls and 51 free throws attempted.
“It was a really hard fought game and competitive on both ends,” BYU head coach Dave Rose said. “Both teams had each other scouted pretty well, so it was hard to run stuff. They came and tied it in the second half. Our guys had to dig in. We didn’t have a good flow to us offensively, but defensively we did a good job of contesting possession by possession.”
The Cougars shot 47.5 percent from the field as three players scored in double digits. Mika also led BYU with 10 boards and scored 21 of his 26 points in the second half. TJ Haws added 15 points, including 12 in the first half. Kyle Davis rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 and Nick Emery contributed seven.
The big difference in the game: BYU was 18 for 25 from the free throw line, Weber State made just 11 of 26.
BYU (6-3) took a 7-0 lead before Weber State (2-6) responded with a 7-3 run of its own. A 3-pointer from Emery gave the Cougars a 10-7 lead with 16:17 on the clock.
Weber State fought to tie it 13-13 before taking its only lead of the night, 14-13. BYU regained the lead before the Wildcats tied the game for the second time on a jumper, 22-22, with 9:49 left in the half.
The Cougars led by as many as 11 points before taking a nine-point, 37-28, advantage going into halftime.
The Wildcats came out of the locker room ready to play, using a 10-2 run to come back within three points, 41-38. Weber State then made it a one-possession game, 43-41, on a jumper with 13:41 left. The Wildcats held the Cougars scoreless for almost three minutes before Davis ended the drought and hit two shots from the free-throw line.
Weber State sunk 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to tie the game 47-47 with 12:28 on the clock. Less than a minute later, the Cougars responded and took the lead for good. Mika converted a three-point point on a jumper and free-throw shot to give BYU a 50-47 lead with 12:12 left.
The Cougars extended their lead to double digits, 67-55, on a pair of Mika free throws and a jumper from Davis with 6:02 in the game. They led by as many as 13 points and finished the night with a 77-66 win.
BYU continues its home stand by hosting Colorado on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 8 p.m. MST the Marriott Center. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and broadcast on the Cougar IMG Sports Network, KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM and BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143.
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