Nov 24, 2001
PROVO, Utah (AP) - Mark Bigelow scored 31 points and Travis Hansen added 18 points and a career-high 15 rebounds as BYU held off a late rally to beat Arizona State 82-70 on Saturday.
BYU (2-0) survived a furious comeback by Arizona State (1-2), which rallied from a 13-point deficit in the final six minutes. Tommy Smith had six points in a 12-2 run, pulling the Sun Devils to 73-70 with 1:53 to play.
But Arizona State went cold from the field, with two badly missed 3-pointers in the final minute, and BYU scored the final nine points, all from the foul line, to pull away.
Chad Prewitt led Arizona State with 20 points and Smith finished with 19 points and nine rebounds despite playing only 27 minutes because of foul trouble. He picked up his fourth foul five minutes into the second half.
Bigelow scored 11 of BYU's first 13 points in the second half and ended up two points shy of his career-high of 33. Eric Nielsen, one of two seniors on the BYU squad, added 19 points.
The Cougars hit 17-of-20 free throws in the second half and shot 81 percent from the line, the second straight game BYU has been higher than 77 percent. Last season, the Cougars led the nation in free-throw percentage at 78 percent.
BYU has won two of the last three meetings with Arizona State and improved to 20-4 at home against the Sun Devils.