BYU 76, Air Force 57

3/1/2008 10:11 PM

PROVO (AP)-Trent Plaisted scored 20 points to lead Brigham Young to a 76-57 win over Air Force on Saturday night.

BYU (23-6, 12-2 Mountain West) improved its home court winning streak to 46 games, the longest active streak in the nation. The Cougars have also won 11-of-12 in the Mountain West to maintain their slim lead over UNLV at the top of the conference.

Air Force (14-13, 6-8) struggled from the floor shooting 32 percent for the game and 25 percent in the second half. The Falcons who normally shoot 38 percent from beyond the 3-point arc were only 1-of-12 for the game.

The Cougars scored the final six points of the first half and the first 10 points of the second half to push a 26-24 lead in the first half to 42-24 with 17:20 remaining in the game. Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds received a technical foul following a Plaisted dunk that gave Lee Cummard two free throws to cap the Cougars 16-0 run.

After the Falcons broke their scoring drought with a basket by Evan Washington, the Cougars went on another run, this time 25-3, to push the lead to 57-29 with 10:44 remaining.

In the first half, BYU jumped out to a 9-1 lead on the strength of six quick points by Plaisted, but Air Force fought back to tie the game at 14-14 with 11:12 remaining in the half on a basket by Anward Johnson.

The Cougars shot 49 percent for the game including 55 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Jonathan Tavernari and Lee Cummard scored 12 and 10 points respectively for the Cougars.

Andrew Henke led Air Force with 14 points and was the only Falcon in double figures.