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PROVO -- A consistent offensive effort powered BYU over Rice, 83-52 in the Cougars’ second game in the Basketball Travelers Invitational in the Marriott Center on Friday.

“What I was most impressed with tonight was that we played with focus defensively,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose. “We played with intensity and we played like that in longer stretches. I think it’s a sign of a team that’s progressing when we can reach the goals we’ve aimed to accomplish.”

The Cougars started strong from the beginning, jumping out to a 10-3 lead just 3:02 into the game behind three-point shots from Lee Cummard and Jonathan Tavernari. The team made 9-15 (60 percent) three-pointers in the first half and was 12-22 (54 percent) for the game.

BYU used a 16-0 run to continue to increase their lead throughout the half, and went into the break leading by 20, 43-23. Tavernari had 14 points on 5-11 shooting in the first half.

The Cougars broke open another run, outscoring the Owls 15-0 after the teams traded buckets in the first minutes of the second half. Guard Jimmer Fredette sparked the run with a fast-break layup and a three-pointer, and had nine points during the run.

Tavernari led all scorers with 18 points, and Owl Lawrence Ghoram was the leading rebounder with ten. Tavernari, Chris Miles, Jackson Emery and Noah Hartsock all had five boards for the Cougars.

Overall, the Cougars out-rebounded Rice 31-28. BYU’s defense forced 16 turnovers, and was able to convert those into 23 points. The team shot 30-54 (55 percent) from the field compared to Rice, which went 20-52 (38 percent).

“We did a much better job tonight with knowing which shot was coming,” said Rose. “We did a better job rebounding the ball, attacking, and getting on their heels.”

The win over Rice was the 50th in a row for the Cougars at the Marriott Center, which is currently the longest active home winning-streak in the nation. Coach Rose has not lost at home since his first game in Provo.

The Cougars take the hardwood again in the final game of the Invitational Saturday, Nov. 22 when they face off against Cal Poly at 8:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on BYUTV and a tape-delay broadcast on KSL beginning at 10 p.m. A live radio broadcast can be accessed online at KSL.com.

The Cougars then hit the road to face Idaho State on Sat. Nov. 29 in Pocatello. The game will be broadcast live on KSL radio and BYUTV.

CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.

Cal Poly Defeats North Florida

PROVO -- In game three of the Basketball Travelers Invitational Cal Poly defeated North Florida 76-42 Friday night in the Marriott Center.

“I think the team came out and we played really hard,” said Cal Poly head coach Kevin Bromley. “We had a terrific first half and we did a good job on defense. The second half was harder, we had to work a little bit more, but I thought the team did a good job.”

The Mustangs quickly overtook the Ospreys in the first half, allowing a mere seven points in the first 16:38 of the game. Cal Poly’s Lorenzo Keeler had 14 points, contributing to the Mustangs’ field goal percentage of 44 and a score of 38-14 at the half.

North Florida couldn’t keep up, shooting 4-30 (13 percent) and 0-9 in three-pointers.

Things looked up for the Ospreys in the second half, but it was too little too late as the Mustangs solidified their lead and ended the game at 76-42.

Cal Poly dominated in shooting percentage (44 percent to 25 percent), free throw success (78 percent to 55 percent) and shooting from behind the three-point line (74 percent to 7 percent).

“It’s still early in the season and I feel the team learned a lot from last night and I feel like the team is learning and getting better.”

The Mustangs outplayed the Osprey’s defensively as well, resulting in seven blocks and 19 North Florida turnovers.

Cal Poly is now 1-2 on the season and North Florida drops to 0-3.

Official Basketball Box Score
Rice vs BYU Cougars
11/21/08 8:30 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, UT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Rice 1-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
43 PERKA, Aleks........ f  2-6    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   4  0  3  0  0  16
15 STANTON, Trey....... c  2-4    1-1    2-2    0  2  2   2   7  0  1  0  0  19
04 FRIZZELLE, Connor... g  2-6    0-4    0-0    0  3  3   1   4  0  1  0  0  17
21 FOSTER, Rodney...... g  3-7    0-3    0-0    0  2  2   1   6  2  2  0  0  24
32 PFLIEGER, Cory...... g  1-4    1-3    1-2    0  3  3   1   4  2  1  0  0  28
01 SCHWARZE, Nate......    1-2    1-2    1-2    0  0  0   0   4  0  2  0  1   9
05 HERNDON, Emerson....    1-3    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   1   2  2  0  1  1   6
11 BRAIMOH, Suleiman...    1-2    0-0    1-2    2  1  3   3   3  0  3  0  0  10
12 BEASLEY, Bryan......    1-4    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   3   2  2  2  0  2  24
20 KUIPERS, Lucas......    2-9    2-6    0-0    0  1  1   1   6  0  1  0  0  20
33 GHORAM, Lawrence....    4-4    1-1    1-2    3  4  7   2  10  1  2  0  0  21
34 BOLTE, P.J..........    0-1    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  0  0  0  2   6
   TEAM................                         2  2  4
   Totals..............   20-52   6-20   6-10   9 19 28  15  52  9 18  1  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-24 41.7%   2nd Half: 10-28 35.7%   Game: 38.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-12 16.7%   2nd Half:  4-8  50.0%   Game: 30.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-2  50.0%   2nd Half:  5-8  62.5%   Game: 60.0%    4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 4-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ f  5-7    2-3    1-1    0  1  1   4  13  3  0  1  0  21
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f  7-16   3-8    1-2    1  4  5   2  18  1  1  0  3  29
54 MILES, Chris........ c  1-1    0-0    1-2    2  3  5   3   3  3  2  0  0  16
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  3-4    2-3    0-0    0  5  5   2   8  3  0  0  0  25
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  5-8    2-3    1-2    1  3  4   1  13  5  2  0  3  25
01 ABOUO, Charles......    2-6    1-2    4-4    0  2  2   1   9  2  1  0  0  21
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont.    3-5    2-2    2-3    0  0  0   0  10  4  4  0  2  24
15 ANDERSON, James.....    2-3    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   2   4  0  0  0  0   8
20 PINEGAR, Matthew....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  1   9
34 HARTSOCK, Noah......    2-3    0-0    0-0    1  4  5   2   4  0  0  0  0  16
53 MACGREGOR, Gavin....    0-0    0-0    1-2    0  0  0   0   1  1  0  0  0   6
   TEAM................                         2     2
   Totals..............   30-54  12-22  11-16   8 23 31  17  83 22 11  1  9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-29 55.2%   2nd Half: 14-25 56.0%   Game: 55.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  9-15 60.0%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 54.5%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-5  40.0%   2nd Half:  9-11 81.8%   Game: 68.8%    2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Winston Stith, Mike Giarratano, Doran Gotschall
Technical fouls: Rice-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 9277
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Rice..........................   23   29  -   52
BYU Cougars...................   43   40  -   83
Points in the paint-RICE 22,BY 26. Points off turnovers-RICE 12,BY 23.
2nd chance points-RICE 9,BY 12. Fast break points-RICE 4,BY 12.
Bench points-RICE 27,BY 28. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-RICE 2nd-02:01, BY 2nd-01:49.
Largest lead-RICE None, BY by 39 2nd-08:10.

GAME TWO OF BASKETBALL TRAVELERS ON FRIDAY

BYU (3-0) enters day two of the Basketball Travelers Invitational on Friday with a game against Rice at 8:30 p.m. in the Marriot Center. The Cougars are coming off a 74-41 victory against North Florida and Rice defeated Cal Poly 81-76 in its opening game of the Basketball Travelers Invitation. Also on Friday Cal Poly will take on North Florida at 6 p.m.

BASKETBALL TRAVELERS INVITATIONAL

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

5 p.m. Rice 81, Cal Poly 76

7:30 p.m. BYU 74, North Florida 41

Friday, Nov. 21, 2008

6 p.m. Cal Poly vs. North Florida

8:30 p.m. Rice at BYU

Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008

6 p.m. North Florida vs. Rice

8:30 p.m. Cal Poly at BYU

LOOKING AT RICE

Rice is 0-1 to open the 2008-09 season after losing to Portland State, 78-74. Rice led Portland State 38-33 at the half but was outscored 45-38 in the second half. Cory Pflieger scored 17 points to lead Rice while Aleks Perka added 15 points and nine rebounds and Rodney Foster scored eight points and dished out nine assists. Ben Braun is in his first season as the coach of the Owls. He has a career record of 552-390 with stints at Siena Heights, Eastern Michigan and California.

RICE’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Pos.#NameHt. Wt.Yr. PPGRPG

F43Aleks Perka6-7205Sr.11.77.5

C15Trey Stanton6-10230So.8.03.0

G4Connor Frizzelle6-1180Fr.8.53.5

G21Rodney Foster6-1185Sr.12.03.0

G32Cory Pflieger6-2185Jr.17.03.5

SERIES NOTES

This will be the seventh meeting between Rice and BYU. The Cougars lead 4-2 and have won the last two meetings, including a 96-56 victory in the Marriott Center on Nov. 30, 2002. BYU won the first two meetings of the series before dropping the next two, one at home and one on the road. The Cougars are 3-1 all-time in Provo against Rice.

RECORD WATCH

With five threes against North Florida, Jonathan Tavernari has made at least one three-pointer in 19 consecutive games, putting him three games from tying Mark Bigelow’s school record of 22 straight games with a trey (over two seasons; 1998-99 and 2001-02). In addition, Jonthan Tavernari has passed Terrell Lyday for fourth place on BYU’s career list for three-point attempts with 338. His 127 made threes tie him with Lyday for fourth place in career treys.

With a perfect 10-for-10 start from the line through two games in the 2008-09 season Lee Cummard has made 20 consecutive free throws dating back to the Colorado State game at the 2008 MWC Tournament. The BYU record for consecutive made free throws made is 32 in a row by Michael Smith.

HOME WINNING STREAK

With a 74-41 victory over North Florida in the opener of the Basketball Travelers Invitational, BYU has won a school-record 49 straight games in the Marriott Center, which also ranks first nationally. The Cougars set the school record with their 67-59 win over Utah in the Marriott Center on Feb. 20, their 45th straight home win. The Cougars were 16-0 at home last year and won 17 home games the prior season after going 14-1 at home in 2005-06. BYU’s last home loss was in the 2005-06 season opener against Loyola Marymount. BYU has since won 24 straight over nonconference opponents and 24 consecutive over MWC foes. BYU’s last league loss at home was its season finale in 2005 to UNLV. BYU is 420-116 (.783) all-time in the Marriott Center, and Cougar head coach Dave Rose is 48-1. Prior to the current streak, BYU’s longest homecourt victory streak was 44 games from Feb 19, 2000 to Jan 16, 2003.

1,000-POINT CLUB

Including a season-high performance with 36 against Long Beach State, Lee Cummard now has 61 total points for the season and 1,069 for his career. He is now one-point ahead of Keena Young in the BYU 1,000-point club and 15 points behind Mel Hutchins.