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After being stunned by neighboring Utah Valley on Saturday night, BYU was out to prove a few things against another in-state rival on Wednesday night.

As Utah State can attest, the Cougars bounced back with a vengeance.

Sophomore center Eric Mika scored 20 points, senior guard L.J. Rose added 18 and BYU dominated the Aggies around the basket during a 77-63 victory at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

The Cougars led most of the way, thanks primarily to a 55-31 rebounding edge and 23-6 advantage in points off free throws.

As Utah State coach Tim Duryea noted after his team's third straight loss, both statistics underscored the Cougars' domination.

"Totally embarrassing performance physically," he said. "We totally got out-toughed. Rebounding numbers I've never seen before. Physically out-toughed. Physically manhandled. Whatever term you want to use for it. Physically got out-toughed. ... That's really the long and the short of the game."

BYU's five starters combined for 36 rebounds. Utah State's starters grabbed 17. The Cougar starters shot 25 free throws compared to 11 for the Aggies' starters.

"The most impressive thing to me was how the guys responded as far as the energy we played with," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "… We sustained that pretty much for the whole game, except for a couple lapses."

Duryea was almost at a loss for words to explain Utah State's no-show on the glass.

"That's all we talked about" during time-outs, he said. "… We subbed. We tried different combinations. We went big. We went small. It's really all we talked about all night long: rebound the ball, rebound the ball."

For BYU, the win was important because it allowed the Cougars to put Saturday's unsettling 114-101 loss behind them. They limited Utah State to 41 percent shooting, including 5-for-19 from the 3-point line.

"We couldn't wait to play again," said L.J. Rose.

Along with his 18 points — double his previous season-high — Rose contributed nine rebounds and six assists. He helped the Cougars survive a miserable shooting night by Nick Emery and TJ Haws, who went a combined 5-for-23 from the field.

"Rose did a good job when we doubled off him," Duryea said. "He made a couple of big shots. Give him credit. But, again, it was really all about the last six seconds of their possessions. You have to get the ball off the board and we … were … terrible."

BYU, which played without starting forward Kyle Davis because of an undisclosed injury, overcame an early 5-0 deficit.

The Cougars opened a 25-13 lead before the Aggies fought back. It was 27-25 with three minutes left in the first half when Mika limped off the floor. But his replacement, sophomore Braiden Shaw, scored six second-chance points and helped the Cougars to a 37-31 lead by halftime.

BYU never trailed in the second half and the Cougars put the game away at the foul line in the final four minutes, making 12 of 14 free throws.

"We are not a very tough basketball team right now," Duryea said, "and that's got to change."

Twitter: @sluhm —

Storylines

R Eric Mika scores 20 points and BYU rolls to a 77-63 win over Utah State at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

• Jalen Moore finishes with 15 for the Aggies, who lost their third straight game.

• L.J Rose contributes a season-high 18 points for the Cougars, who are 4-2.