Nov. 29, 2000

By SCOTT BELL
The Daily Herald

PROVO, Utah - Five games left.

Five games until Trent Whiting becomes eligible, finally giving the BYU basketball team a second point guard.

Until then, coach Steve Cleveland will continue to rely heavily on junior Matt Montague, with some help from shooting guard Terrell Lyday.

So far, Montague has done just fine. Before the year, there were questions if he would even be able to play since his Achilles' heel, which bothered him last season, still hadn't healed.

But in two games, Montague has yet to miss a shot, going 6-for-6, including 3-of-3 behind the 3-point arc. More importantly, he's averaged 6.5 assists per contest in a team-high 31.5 minutes per game.

"Matt's Achilles is not perfect," Cleveland said. "It always flares up when he plays. When we get Trent, he won't have to play 30 minutes a night. But I'm very pleased with the way Matt's been playing. He's not 100 percent and he probably never will be until he has surgery. But he's our best floor general."

Montague was BYU's best ball-handler and passer last year as well, but his injuries and offensive deficiencies limited his minutes late in the season. This year though, his shot has been perfect.

"I've been pretty selective," Montague said. "I'll just keep shooting when I'm open."

When Montague does get a rare rest, Lyday has swung over and run the team. Playing the point limits his offense, but Cleveland has no other options.

"Right now, we need to get 6-8 minutes from Terrell at the point," Cleveland said. "He's not completely comfortable there, but when he's playing there, he's got to realize his first priority is running the team. His second is to score. He has to do that. He's the only other guy in the program who can run the point."

ZONING ISSUES: Cleveland expects San Francisco, Thursday's opponent, to throw some zone defense at the Cougars. UC Santa Barbara went to a zone for several minutes against the Cougars last Saturday and had some success.

"The zone hurt us," Cleveland said. "We had only worked on that for two days."

In the two days of practice since then, the Cougars have spent extra time preparing for the zone. San Francisco played zone for 40 minutes in a game earlier this year.

"We've spent a couple of days working on the zone and the press," Cleveland said. "But it's difficult to simulate the pressures of making shots against those defenses in a game."

TRAVELING SQUAD: In addition to the 12 players who will suit up for the Cougars, Whiting and Nate Knight will make the swing to San Francisco and Arizona State. Whiting and Knight will both become eligible Dec. 16 against Utah State.

BYU can travel 15 players in non-league games, but redshirts Garner Meads and Jesse Pinegar will both stay home. Meads had his wisdom teeth out this week in preparation for an LDS mission and Pinegar still can't practice due to a stress fracture in his foot.

Cleveland said Meads and Pinegar will both go on future road trips.

"I want them to see what it's like to go on the road," Cleveland said. "When it's their turn, I don't want it to be new."