The opening minutes of the second half, however, was when BYU really began to assert itself and take over the game.

"We needed to make adjustments offensively, but mainly we needed to make adjustments defensively," Fredette said.

By holding the Wildcats to 32 percent shooting in the second half, while the Cougars shot 80 percent over the first 10 minutes, they quickly raced out to a 21-point lead and cruised from there. .

"We're just much better playing in transition and at our pace, and that's what we were able to do in the second half," Cummard said.

Even a wicked windmill baseline dunk by Weber State's Davin Davis that momentarily sent the Wildcat crowd into hysterics couldn't turn things around.

"BYU is one hell of a good basketball team and they exposed us to the hilt tonight," Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. "When you don't compete with them and don't fight them back, they're going to expose you."

NOTES: This was Weber State's second-worst loss in the series history, with the worst being a 33-point defeat in 1987 ... BYU forward Archie Rose, back from stress-fracture surgery, saw his first action of the season, going scoreless but grabbing six boards in nine minutes.

---

E-mail: jimr@desnews.com