The word dominance used to describe the Cougar basketball team when referring to match-ups with the Air Force Academy Fighting Falcons.

Not anymore.

From tip-off to the final seconds Saturday, Jan. 24, 2004, words like tired, impatient and confused would be more likely descriptions of BYU.

The Falcons took advantage of the Cougars and showed that they are a serious Mountain West Conference contender by beating them in convincing fashion, 74-52.

Beginning the game in what has become signature road style for the Cougars, BYU committed four turnovers in the first four minutes of play. Air Force took advantage of BYU's early mistakes and went on a 12-2 run, constantly finding open men for three-point shots and beating post protection for easy lay-ups down low.

With 11:15 remaining in the half and trailing 20-7, BYU finally started to get things moving when senior Mark Bigelow drained a three and started to help bring the Cougars back from their early 13-point deficit.

The Cougars would manage to cut the Falcon lead to seven at 23-16, but Air Force surged back at BYU going on another big 19-3 run to end the half, 42-19.

In the first half the Falcons hit 6-of-11 from three-point range and sophomore center Nick Welch ran over the Cougars for 11 points, beating his points-per-game average with 20 minutes still to play.

On the flip side, the Falcons limited Rafael Araujo to just four points in the first half, and went 5-for-17 shooting, giving them their lowest first half point total since 1998.

"They took us out of the game in the first 20 minutes," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "They gave us a good whooping. They shot 72 percent tonight. You can beat anyone shooting 72 percent."

Coming out in the second half, Bigelow became the Cougars' single man offense in their attempt to cut the huge deficit. He hit every Cougar basket until, with 11:35 remaining in the game, Araujo scored a lay-up to bring the score to 57-32, Air Force leading.

Throughout the half, the Cougars managed to barely keep pace with the confident and smiling Falcon squad who enthusiastically drained every second from every possession in order to set-up good shots and successfully limit the Cougar possessions.

At the end of 40 minutes, the Falcons had extended their lead back to 22 points, and swept BYU out of Clune Arena with its largest losing margin ever in MWC regular season play.

Bigelow finished the game with a season scoring high of 19 points and six rebounds. His 6-of-10 shooting was good enough to lead BYU, followed by Araujo who finished the game with 12 points and six rebounds.

The Cougars struggled all night to feed Araujo in the post, who, with the pressure of multiple defenders, missed shots he's normally capable of making.

The Falcons had four players in double figures, all led by Welch who scored a season-high of 20 points and added four rebounds and three steals. Overall, Air Force shot an amazing 72.5 percent compared to BYU's 43.2 percent, and hit 9-16 from long range.

"Welch was the difference in the game tonight. He really stretched the defense," Cleveland said. "But all five of the guys on the floor can score and shoot so it makes it really hard to defend."

For their performance at Air Force, BYU drops to 12-5 overall and 2-2 in conference play. Air Force improves to 3-0 in conference while taking sole possession of first place.

Tonight the Cougars look for redemption as they travel to Albuquerque to face the New Mexico Lobos. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN at 10 p.m.