Cougars prevail in tourney opener

PROVO — If one of the reasons for hosting a preseason tournament is to fatten up the win total, it appeared BYU had invited the right team in Liberty.

The Flames, members of the Big South Conference, came into Thursday night's game against the Cougars having lost 17 straight road contests.

Make that 18 — after BYU dispatched Liberty, 73-59, in the inaugural BYU Holiday Classic before a crowd of 9,284 at the Marriott Center.

Still, while the Cougars never trailed, the Flames put the heat on BYU for much of the contest.

Hosting their first regular-season tournament since 1999 — back when they had the annual Cougar Classic — it took the Cougars a while to get going.

The visiting Flames confused BYU early on with a different game plan than it was expecting. Instead of pushing the ball, Liberty kept possession until deep into the shot clock.

The scheme worked in the first half as the Flames managed to keep the game close. BYU held a slim 29-25 lead at intermission.

"I guess they changed their style of basketball tonight," said BYU guard Rashaun Broadus, who scored 10 points.

"Credit Liberty. They ran the shot clock, then came after us," said coach Dave Rose. "For whatever reason, we were a little rushed and didn't make many shots in the first half."

Center Trent Plaisted was held scoreless in the first half after playing just 10 minutes due to foul trouble while Keena Young managed only four points through the first 20 minutes of play.

"At halftime, the coaches pulled us aside and told us we could score whenever we wanted," said Young.

The Cougars did just about anything they wanted in the second half, capitalizing on their height advantage. Young finished with a game-high 17 points, and Plaisted finished with 11.

While BYU shot only 34 percent in the first half, it hit 59 percent of its attempts in the second.

"We got better shots coming out of halftime," Rose said. "Keena and Trent got the ball down low. Perimeter shooting is mental, and it's easier to make those shots when you have a bit of a cushion."

"They were strong in the second half," Liberty coach Randy Dunton said of BYU. "We couldn't get our guys going tonight."