BYU basketball: Y. expects challenge when hitting Waves

Pepperdine will start two sophomores and two freshmen, and it is led in scoring by senior guard Mychel Thompson's nearly 18 points per game. The Waves opened the season with a nine-point win over Cal State-Monterey Bay but lost on Saturday by one point to Arkansas-Little Rock.

CUMMARD NAMED MWC PLAYER OF WEEK: On Monday, Cummard was named the Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the third time in his career.

The 6-foot-7 guard from Mesa, Ariz., scored a career-high 36 points to go with 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a career-best tying four blocks in BYU's 75-65 victory over Long Beach State on Friday in Provo. He shot 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) from the floor, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range and 7-for-7 from the foul line.

Cummard scored 22 of the Cougars' 31 first-half points on 9-of-11 shooting and kept BYU in the game by scoring 11 of 12 points during one stretch. With BYU trailing 40-33 early in the second half, he scored six straight points and assisted on another basket to give the Cougars the lead, then went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final six minutes of the game to help put the game away.

His 36 points marks the most points scored by a BYU player since 1993 and ties for the eighth-highest individual performance in BYU men's basketball history.

Cougars on the air

BYU (1-0) vs. Pepperdine (1-1)
Tonight, 8 p.m.
Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu, Calif.
TV: none Radio: KSL 1160 AM, 102.7 FM

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E-mail: jimr@desnews.com