SALT LAKE -- The Cougars remained undefeated with a 68-63 victory over Utah State in a close Oquirrh Bucket showdown at Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City on Saturday. BYU is off to its best started since 1987-88 when the Cougars opened 17-0.

Jimmer Fredette was 3-of-5 behind the three-point line and had 11 points to pace the Cougars in the first half along with Jonathan Tavernari, who had 12. BYU’s aggressive defense forced the Aggies into mistakes, and the Cougars had seven steals before halftime.

The teams traded buckets through the first eight minutes of the half, but BYU went on a 10-4 run and moved out to a 24-16 lead on one of Tavernari’s two first-half three-point shots.

After leading by as much as ten during the first twenty minutes, the Cougars’ lead was cut to three, 38-35, at the half.

The game was hard-fought during the second half, even though the Cougars stretched the lead to 11, 51-42, at the 7:35 mark on a Chris Miles jumper. The Aggies pushed hard throughout the second half, matching BYU almost shot for shot, closing the gap to five at the 0:42 mark.

Utah State had chances to cut the lead, but was not able to convert. The Cougars shot only 61.9 percent (13-21) from the free-throw line in the second half, but it was enough to preserve the win.

Tavernari led all scorers in the game with 24 points had matched Utah State's Tyler Newbold and Gary Wilkinson with a game-high nine rebounds. Gavin McGregor set a new career-high with seven points. Aggie Gary Wilkinson led all Utah State scorers with 22.

BYU finished with 12 steals and converted Utah State’s 17 turnovers into 15 points. The Cougars were 8-of-19 (42 percent) from behind the three-point arc, compared to 5-of-22 (22 percent) for the Aggies. Utah State out-rebounded BYU 39-27.

On the season BYU improves to 8-0, while Utah State drops to 5-1.

Back-to-back wins over Weber State and Utah State this week gives the Cougars an early lead in the battle for the Oquirrh Bucket. Named after the Oquirrh Mountains to the west of Salt Lake City, the Oquirrh Bucket is the symbol of in-state basketball supremacy in Utah. Each year the trophy is awarded to the in-state college team (Utah, BYU, Southern Utah, Utah State and Weber State) that has the best win-loss record against in-state competition. In 2007-08, BYU posted a 4-0 record against in-state schools and brought home the bucket for the second year.

The Cougars will next be in action on the hardwood at the Marriott Center on Dec. 10 at 8 p.m. to defend their nation’s-best 52-game home-court winning streak against the Boise State Broncos. The game will be televised live on the mtn. and will be broadcast on KSL Radio. BYU will host Portland on Sat., Dec. 13 at 8:00 p.m.

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Official Basketball Box Score
Utah State vs Brigham Young
12/06/08 5:07 p.m. at Salt Lake City, UT(EnergySolutionsArena)
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VISITORS: Utah State 5-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
42 Wesley, Tai......... f  4-8    0-0    4-5    4  2  6   5  12  4  4  0  2  34
55 Wilkinson, Gary..... f  6-11   0-1   10-11   2  7  9   2  22  2  3  1  1  31
21 Quayle, Jared....... g  3-8    1-5    0-0    2  5  7   2   7  2  0  0  0  25
24 Newbold, Tyler...... g  4-9    3-5    0-1    2  7  9   3  11  1  0  1  0  28
25 Myaer, Jaxon........ g  1-7    1-7    0-0    0  0  0   5   3  2  5  0  1  25
05 Williams, Pooh......    1-3    0-1    0-0    1  1  2   1   2  0  1  0  0  16
12 Geiger, Deremy......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   2   0  2  2  0  1  15
14 Williams, Stavon....    0-2    0-2    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  0  0  0  11
44 Formisano, Matt.....    2-3    0-0    2-2    1  2  3   0   6  1  2  0  0  15
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   21-52   5-22  16-19  14 25 39  20  63 15 17  2  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-25 44.0%   2nd Half: 10-27 37.0%   Game: 40.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-7  28.6%   2nd Half:  3-15 20.0%   Game: 22.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 11-12 91.7%   2nd Half:  5-7  71.4%   Game: 84.2%   0,1
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 8-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f  7-17   3-9    7-8    2  7  9   3  24  1  1  1  4  39
54 MILES, Chris........ f  3-3    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   4   6  1  1  1  1  18
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  2-5    1-2    4-8    1  5  6   1   9  3  0  1  5  37
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g  2-9    1-2    1-1    0  1  1   5   6  6  4  0  1  27
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  6-13   3-6    1-3    1  4  5   0  16  2  1  0  0  35
01 ABOUO, Charles......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  1  0   3
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont.    0-2    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  1  0  0  18
05 ROSE, Archie........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
15 ANDERSON, James.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   0  0  0  0  0   2
53 MACGREGOR, Gavin....    2-3    0-0    3-4    1  1  2   3   7  1  0  2  1  20
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   22-53   8-19  16-24   7 20 27  18  68 14  9  6 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-28 50.0%   2nd Half:  8-25 32.0%   Game: 41.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  7-15 46.7%   2nd Half:  1-4  25.0%   Game: 42.1%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-3  100 %   2nd Half: 13-21 61.9%   Game: 66.7%    6
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Officials: Randy McCall, Larry Spaulding, Michael Irving
Technical fouls: Utah State-None. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 13890
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Utah State....................   35   28  -   63
Brigham Young.................   38   30  -   68
Points in the paint-USU 22,BY 20. Points off turnovers-USU 6,BY 15.
2nd chance points-USU 16,BY 6. Fast break points-USU 0,BY 0.
Bench points-USU 8,BY 7. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-7 times.
Last FG-USU 2nd-00:07, BY 2nd-02:47.
Largest lead-USU by 1 1st-19:41, BY by 10 1st-03:46.

BYU GAME #8 FAST FACTS

BYU (7-0)

vs.

Utah State (5-0)

Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008

Energy Solutions Arena (19,911)

Salt Lake City, Utah

5 p.m. MT

Coaches:

BYU, Dave Rose (79-26 in fourth season; same overall)

USU, Stew Morrill (242-86 in 11th season; 460-224 in 23rd season)

Series:

BYU leads, 134-90, with BYU winning the last meeting 75-62 in 2006 in Provo

TV:

Live on the KJZZ and BYUTV (Steve Brown, Play-by-play; Andy Toolson, game analysis)

Radio:

KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM) and the Cougar Sports Network (4 p.m. MT pregame show — Greg Wrubell, play-by-play; Mark Durrant, game analysis)

Web:

Live audio and live stats links are available on the basketball schedule page at www.byucougars.com/basketball_m/

Cougars to Play Utah State at Energy Solutions

BYU (7-0) will take on Utah State at Energy Solutions Arena on Saturday at 5 p.m. The game will be the 225th meeting between the in-state rivals and the first at a neutral site. The Cougars are coming off a 92-62 victory against Weber State on Wednesday and the Aggies defeated UC Irvine 74-62 on Tuesday. BYU is looking to extend its best start since the 1991-92 season, a year BYU also started 7-0. Saturday’s game will be televised live on KJZZ and BYUTV (online at www.byutv.org/streaming/) and can be heard live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 4 p.m. MT on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City or via the Internet at KSL.com.

Up Next

BYU will return to the Marriott Center and look to extend its nation’s-best home win streak to 52 games against Boise State on Dec. 10. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised live on The Mtn.

Cougar Quick Hits

— At 7-0 BYU is off to its best start since the 1991-92 season.

— BYU extended its nation’s-best home winning streak to 51 games with a perfect 3-0 record at the Basketball Travelers Invitational in the Marriott Center. The Cougars went 16-0 at home last year. The streak is the longest in school history.

— Two-time MWC Coach of the Year Dave Rose has guided BYU to three-straight 20-win seasons and three-straight postseason appearances. In his first season the Cougars were 20-9 and made a trip to the NIT. In his second campaign he guided the Cougars to the outright MWC title, a top-25 ranking, a trip to the NCAA Tournament and a 25-9 overall record. Last season he led BYU to a 27-8 overall record, a second-straight outright league title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. He has the best record through 100 games of any BYU basketball coach.

— BYU has been picked to finish second (five first-place votes) in the MWC preseason poll by the league’s media.

Looking at Utah State

Utah State is off to a 5-0 start this season. The Aggies are 4-0 at home and 1-0 on the road. Their most recent victory was a 74-62 home win against UC Irvine on Tuesday. Utah State’s previous victories came against common foes, including a 75-49 win against Weber State and a 97-57 win against Cal Poly, both at home. BYU defeated Weber 92-62 on the road and Cal Poly 76-64 at home. The Aggies are shooting 56.6 percent from the floor and averaging 75.6 points per game. Gary Wilkinson leads the squad in scoring (16.4 ppg), rebounding (8.2 rpg) and is second in shooting percentage (.769). Tai Wesley is second in scoring (12.6 ppg), rebounding (7.0) and first in field goal percentage (.774). Tyler Newbold also averages double figures at 11.4 points per game while shooting .579 from the field.

Series Notes

Saturday’s game will mark the 225th meeting between BYU and Utah State, a series that dates back to Feb. 23, 2006. The Cougars lead the all-time series 134-90 and won the last meeting 75-62 in Provo on Dec. 16, 2006. Prior to that BYU victory Utah State had won four straight, including three in Logan and one in Provo. Saturday’s game will mark the first neutral site game in the history of the series. The teams have played 115 times in Provo and 109 times in Logan but have never met on neutral grounds.

1,000-Point Man

Including a season-high performance with 36 against Long Beach State, 30 against Weber State and 28 against Cal Poly, Lee Cummard now has 144 total points for the season and 1,157 for his career. He is now 24th all-time in scoring in BYU history. He passed Steve Schreiner (1,128), Travis Hansen (1,137), Doug Howard (1,143), Elwood Romney (1,150) and Kari Liimo (1,156) during the Weber State game. Cummard is 10 points from hurdling Randy Reid for 23rd all-time and 49 from passing Joe Richey, Eldon Brinley and Gary Trost to crack the top-20.

Oquirrh Bucket Battle

The Old Oquirrh Bucket (named after the Oquirrh Mountains to the west of Salt Lake City) is the symbol of in-state basketball supremacy in Utah. Each year the trophy is awarded to the in-state college team (Utah, BYU, Southern Utah, Utah State and Weber State) which has the best won-loss record against in-state competition. BYU has claimed the Bucket nine times since its inception, including the last two seasons. With Wednesday’s win against Weber State the Cougars are 1-0 in Oquirrh Bucket competition. Utah State is also 1-0 with a victory over Weber State. Utah and Southern Utah have yet to play an in-state game while Weber State is 0-2.

Downtown Record Watch

With one three against Weber State Jonathan Tavernari has 133 career threes, including 16 this season. He started the season with 117 and has passed Terrell Lyday for fourth place and is eight away from tying Andy Toolson (141) for third. Tavernari also has 367 attempts from downtown, good for third all-time and 14 from tying Mike Rose for second. Lee Cummard hit three treys against Weber State to give him 128 for his career, now one ahead of Terrell Lyday and fifth all-time.