PROVO -- A career-high 24 points from Chris Miles and 28 points from Lee Cummard powered the Cougars as they defeated Cal Poly 76-64 in the final game of the 2008 Basketball Travelers Invitational Saturday at the Marriott Center.

“The most important thing we did tonight was figure out a way to win," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "It was a tough game after a tough week and I’m proud of our players. We defended well and rebounded like we needed to.”

After a Chris Miles lay-up got the scoring started, the Cougars trailed through the early stages of the game until Cummard hit a five-foot jumper from the right side of the key to put BYU up 20-19 at the 8:27 mark. Seven of Cummard’s 11 first-half points came in an 18-8 run through the middle of the first half that helped the Cougars take a ten-point lead at the three-minute mark.

The end of the first half was punctuated when Lamont Morgan, Jr. stole the ball, drove the length of the court and was fouled as he made a lay-up. He hit the foul-shot to convert the three-point-play to and gave the team a 44-28 lead at halftime.

BYU shot 20-of-37 in the first half (54 percent), but was only 1-of-7 from behind the three-point-line (14 percent). The team was a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. Miles bested his career high by halftime with 18 first-half points.

In the second half, Cal Poly closed the margin to 52-58 at the 9:15 mark on a three-pointer by Charles Anderson, but Cummard added five quick points on a jumper and three-point shot to give the Cougars a 11-point cushion, 63-52, and the Mustangs would not get any closer than six the rest of the game.

Cummard and Miles were the leading scorers in the game. Cal Poly had three players in double figures. Jonathan Tavernari had a game-high ten boards. BYU out-rebounded Cal Poly 44-26.

“Chris Miles was terrific,” said Rose. “He had a great game. He gets better and better and will improve as the season goes on.”

BYU shot 52 percent (33-63) from the field for the game, compared to 39 percent (23-59) for Cal Poly. The Cougars were nearly perfect from the free-throw line, converting seven-of-eight attempts

The Cougars now begin a three-game road swing as they travel to face Big Sky member Idaho State. The game will tip off Sat. Nov. 29 at 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on KSL Radio and BYUTV.

2008 Basketball Travelers Invitational Tournament Champion: BYU

2008 Basketball Travelers Invitational All-Tournament Team

MVP – Lee Cummard, BYU

Jonathan Tavernari, BYU

Chris Miles, BYU

Lorenzo Keeler, Cal Poly

Cory Fleiger, Rice

Rodney Foster, Rice

CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.

Rice vs. North Florida

PROVO -- Despite a strong battle in the opening minutes of the first half by North Florida, the Rice Owls managed to pull away late in the half on their way to an easy 68-46 victory.

Rice was led by junior Cory Pflieger, who scored 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting and 4-of-8 from three-point range, also providing two steals for the Owls. Senior Rodney Foster scored 3-of-7 three-point attempts and recorded seven assists in the game.

“I was really proud of the boys tonight,” Rice head coach Ben Braun said. “Our poise was better and we shot a lot better tonight than we did last night. Foster played really well for us and if he can continue playing like that for the rest of the season, we’ll be in good shape.”

Bryan Beasley and Lucas Kuipers scored nine and eight points, respectively. Combined the team shot 47 percent on 25-of-53 shooting.

North Florida managed a strong beginning to the first half, but couldn’t maintain momentum as the Ospreys fell midway through the opening half. Senior Cortez Riley led the team with 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Cameron Lovelace contributed with big treys late in the second half and finished with 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

Kyle Groothuis poured in seven points with Ian Gibson given credit for three steals on the night. The Ospreys’ 28 percent shooting in the first half improved slightly in the second half with 38 percent shooting, finishing at 32 percent overall, making 16-of-49 shots.

Rice got off to a good start as Pflieger, Foster and Connor Frizzelle combined to score four three-pointers to lead the Owls to a quick 16-6 lead halfway through the first half.

Beasley and Kuipers then converted shots for Rice as the Owls slowly built a 34-21 halftime lead. At the half, Aleks Perka, Frizzelle, Beasley and Kuipers each scored six points to lead the team. The Owls shot a combined 52 percent on 14-of-27 shooting.

Stan Januska and Riley helped North Florida to stay in the game. Germaine Sparks made a steal and scored a layup on a breakaway with Riley converting a few jumpers. Januska and Lovelace combined to score the final five points for the Ospreys before halftime.

Riley and Januska each scored six points at the break with Kyle Groothuis pitching in four points. The Ospreys shot a combined 28 percent in the first half on 7-of-25 shooting.

Both teams started slowly in the second half as neither scored for nearly three minutes. The Owls got going as Trey Stanton, Foster, Pflieger and Kuipers built the lead to 49-25 halfway through the second half.

The Ospreys were held to five points in the first 10 minutes of the final half. Riley scored a few buckets with Lovelace and Groothuis contributing several treys to finish out the game.

“We have a young team,” North Florida head coach Matt Kilcullen said. “We started three freshmen tonight. This trip was about getting experience and playing high-caliber competition. It will only help us as we progress down the season.”

Official Basketball Box Score
Cal Poly vs BYU Cougars
11/22/08 8:30 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, UT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Cal Poly 1-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
24 Dipprey, Wes........ f  0-1    0-0    0-0    1  8  9   0   0  0  1  0  0  25
35 Shelton, Titus...... c  8-16   0-0    6-8    2  1  3   2  22  3  3  3  3  36
00 Clark, Trae......... g  1-7    0-2    0-0    0  2  2   3   2  2  2  0  0  18
12 Keeler, Lorenzo..... g  1-6    1-5    1-2    0  1  1   0   4  1  1  0  0  19
23 Lewis, Shawn........ g  5-11   3-7    2-2    0  2  2   3  15  1  0  0  0  25
10 Thomas, Chaz........    4-7    1-1    2-2    0  2  2   5  11  3  2  0  2  23
14 Henning, Bo.........    0-5    0-2    0-0    0  2  2   0   0  2  2  0  2  22
21 Anderson, Charles...    2-4    1-2    1-2    0  0  0   1   6  0  1  0  0  17
34 Hanson, David.......    2-2    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   2   4  1  0  0  0  15
   Team................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   23-59   6-19  12-16   6 20 26  16  64 13 12  3  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-31 35.5%   2nd Half: 12-28 42.9%   Game: 39.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-10 30.0%   2nd Half:  3-9  33.3%   Game: 31.6%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-5  60.0%   2nd Half:  9-11 81.8%   Game: 75.0%    1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 5-0
                          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 13-17   1-2    1-2    2  7  9   1  28  2  7  0  0  37
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f  0-11   0-7    0-0    1  9 10   3   0  3  1  0  1  26
54 MILES, Chris........ c 12-17   0-0    0-0    2  4  6   5  24  1  1  2  1  28
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  3-3    1-1    2-2    0  3  3   3   9  3  1  1  1  33
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  3-9    1-4    2-2    1  1  2   0   9  5  2  0  0  33
01 ABOUO, Charles......    1-2    0-1    1-1    1  3  4   0   3  1  1  0  0  15
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont.    1-3    0-0    1-1    0  1  1   1   3  1  3  0  1  14
15 ANDERSON, James.....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   2   0  0  0  0  0   7
34 HARTSOCK, Noah......    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   2   0  2  0  0  0   7
   TEAM................                         3  3  6
   Totals..............   33-63   3-15   7-8   11 33 44  17  76 18 16  3  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 20-37 54.1%   2nd Half: 13-26 50.0%   Game: 52.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-7  14.3%   2nd Half:  2-8  25.0%   Game: 20.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-3  100 %   2nd Half:  4-5  80.0%   Game: 87.5%    0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Winston Stith, Bruce Hicks, Casey McClellan
Technical fouls: Cal Poly-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 7782
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Cal Poly......................   28   36  -   64
BYU Cougars...................   44   32  -   76
Points in the paint-CP 18,BY 38. Points off turnovers-CP 21,BY 19.
2nd chance points-CP 9,BY 13. Fast break points-CP 2,BY 10.
Bench points-CP 21,BY 6. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-4 times.
Last FG-CP 2nd-00:20, BY 2nd-01:39.
Largest lead-CP by 4 1st-14:27, BY by 18 2nd-15:41.

BYU HOSTS BASKETBALL TRAVELERS INVITATIONAL

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 76, North Florida 42

8:30 p.m. BYU 83, Rice 52

Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008

6 p.m. North Florida vs. Rice

8:30 p.m. Cal Poly at BYU

LOOKING AT CAL POLY

Cal Poly opened the 2008-09 season with a 67-40 loss to Arkansas-Little Rock at home. The Mustangs were led by Titus Shelton’s 15 points and Wes Dipprey added nine points and five boards. Cal Poly is coached by Kevin Bromley, who is in his ninth season at the helm. He has a career record of 92-125.