GAME 4 - BYU Hosts Southern Utah Friday at 8 p.m.

GAME #4 FAST FACTS

BYU COUGARS (2-1)

vs.

SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS (3-1)

Friday, Nov. 24, 2006

Marriott Center (22,700)

Provo, Utah

8:05 p.m. MT

Coaches:

BYU, Dave Rose (22-10 in second season; same overall)

SUU, Bill Evans (196-210 in 15th season; same overall)

Series:

10th meeting, BYU leads 9-0 (BYU won last year, 86-61, in Provo on Nov. 26, 2005)

TV:

MountainWest Sports Network--the mtn. (BIll Doleman, play-by-play; Joe Cravens, game analysis)

Radio:

KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM) and the Cougar Sports Network (7 p.m. pregame show -- Greg Wrubell, play-by-play; Mark Durrant, game analysis)

Web:

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

BYU HOSTS SOUTHERN UTAH FRIDAY AT 8 P.M.

BYU (2-1) host in-state foe Southern Utah (3-1) Friday at 8 p.m. MT in the Marriott Center. The game will be televised on the MountainWest Sports Network (the mtn.), while the radio broadcast can be heard on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City and via the Internet at KSL.com. The Cougars are coming off back-to-back home wins over Idaho State and Portland while the Thunderbirds are coming off a home-opening win over Idaho Wednesday and already have two wins on the road this year, including a season-opening win at the University of Utah. BYU currently owns the nation's seventh-longest active homecourt winning streak at 16 games.

UP NEXT

BYU will go on the road to face Boise State Wednesday in Taco Bell Arena at 7 p.m. The game will be televised locally in Boise on KTVB.

COUGAR QUICK HITS

-- Cougar head coach Dave Rose guided BYU to a 20-9 record and an NIT appearance last season in his first year at the helm after eight years as BYU's lead assistant. He was named the Mountain West Conference and USBWA District VIII Coach of the Year. Rose coached his team to a second-place MWC finish -- one game behind league-champion San Diego State -- while turning a 9-21 team into a 20-9 success that proved to be the second-best improvement among all Division I programs.

-- BYU was picked to finish second in the Mountain West Conference in the preseason MWC media poll behind reigning champion San Diego State.

-- BYU's roster this season includes a solid core of returning players, including six seniors and Trent Plaisted, the MWC Freshman of the Year last year. One of nine returning lettermen, Plaisted was named a Freshman All-American after leading BYU in both scoring (13.6) and rebounding (6.9) one year ago. 2006 All-MWC Third Team forward Keena Young leads BYU this year in scoring (15.7) and rebounds (7.7).

LOOKING AT SOUTHERN UTAH

The Southern Utah Thunderbirds are 3-1 so far this season including a 76-73 win at in-state rival Utah, whom the Cougars will play at least twice this season in Mountain West Conference play, and a 77-68 loss at Boise State, whom BYU will play on Nov. 29. The Thunderbirds return five letterwinners, including one starter, from last year's 10-20 team that tied for fourth place in the Mid-Continent Conference with an 8-8 record. Senior guard Steve Barnes is SUU's lone returning starter after earning Mid-Con Honorable Mention last season. The Snow College transfer currently leads the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game on .525 shooting from the field and .500 from three-point range. Barnes also adds 4.3 rebounds per game, third on the team, while dishing out 5.5 assists per game. Daytona Beach transfer Nurudeen Adjepoju, a native of Nigeria, is second on the team in scoring with 13.3 ppg on .676 shooting from the field. The junior forward is second on the team in shooting, trailing junior forward Tate Sorenson, who averages 9.8 ppg on .750 shooting from the field. Sorensen also paces the Thunderbirds in rebounds with 5.3 boards per contest. Southern Utah is without the services of its top three scorers from last season in Henry Uhegwu (13.5 ppg), Lubor Olsovsky (9.9 ppg) and Nate Janes (9.9 ppg). As a team, the Thunderbirds are averaging 71.2 ppg on .529 shooting from the field, including a .456 mark from three-point range. SUU opponents are averaging 67.0 ppg on .457 shooting from the floor. SUU outrebounds its opponents 30.5-28.3. Head coach Bill Evans is in his 15th season with the Thunderbirds and has a 196-210 overall record.

SUU'S POSSIBLE STARTERS

Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG

G 05 Steve Barnes 5-11 180 Sr. 14.3 4.3

G 24 Justin Allen 6-0 170 Sr. 9.0 2.8

F 03 Orlando Griego 6-7 208 Jr. 7.0 2.8

F 04 Nurudeen Adepoju 6-5 185 Jr. 13.3 2.5

F 23 Tate Sorenson 6-7 215 Jr. 9.8 5.3

LAST OUTING -- Southern Utah Downs Idaho in Home Opener

CEDAR CITY -- Nurudeen Adepoju scored 13 points to lead three Thunderbirds in double figures as Southern Utah used a stifling defensive effort to upend Idaho Wednesday night, 67-50. The Thunderbirds held Idaho to 16-of-44 shooting (36.4 percent), including a 7-of-21 effort in the first half when SUU built a 36-21 lead. SUU held Keoni Watson, who scored 30 and 26 in his last two games, to 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting and held the Vandals' second-leading scorer, Mario Mackey, to just four points on 1-of-6 shooting from the floor. The Thunderbirds also controlled the glass, out-rebounding Idaho 39-25, with a 12-6 edge on the offensive end. "I really liked the way we played defense tonight," SUU Coach Bill Evans said. "We did a good job getting after their shooters and I thought we disrupted what they wanted to do offensively." In addition to Adepoju, Southern Utah got double-figure scoring from Justin Allen, with 12 points and Steve Barnes with 10, while junior forward Swaney Cooper pulled down a career-best eight caroms to lead all rebounders. Cooper also blocked two shots for the Thunderbirds. "Our offense wasn't as crisp as it's been but the credit for some of that goes to Idaho," Evans said. "We didn't move the ball as well as we can but those are things you can work on in practice." With that said, Evans did note the Thunderbird shot-selection was good, pointing out the team's .500 shooting effort from the floor. "I thought we shot it better in the second half (when the team hit 11-of-21 attempts) but we took good shots for the most part," he pointed out. "We didn't do as well from the perimeter as we have, but sometimes that happens." Southern Utah wound up hitting just 4-of-12 3-point attempts, or 33.3 percent, its worst percentage of the season, but held Idaho to 2-of-11 from beyond the arc, 18.2 percent.

BYU VS. SOUTHERN UTAH SERIES NOTES

BYU has never lost to Southern Utah, owning a 9-0 all-time series lead with all nine contests coming in Provo. The two teams have met every year for the past seven seasons, including an 86-61 Cougar victory on Nov. 26, 2005 in BYU head coach Dave Rose's first season. The series began with two Cougar Classic meetings, the first of which came in 1992 with a 108-62 BYU win. The game marked the Cougars' largest margin of victory (46 points) and most points scored in the series. The Thunderbirds have never scored more than 70 points on the Cougars with their high of 67 coming in an 82-67 loss in 1994 while BYU has scored under 75 points just once in the series, a 58-52 win in 2000.

BYU SERIES RECORD VS. SOUTHERN UTAH

Overall Series Record: BYU leads 9-0

BYU Record in Provo: 9-0

BYU Record in Cedar City: 0-0

BYU Record at Neutral Sites: 0-0

BYU Record under Dave Rose: 1-0

BYU Record in Overtime Games: N/A

Longest BYU Win Streak: 9 (1992-Present)

Longest Southern Utah Win Streak: N/A

Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 46, 108-62 in 1992

Largest Southern Utah Margin of Victory: N/A

Most Points Scored by BYU: 108 in 1992

Most Points Scored by Southern Utah: 67 in 1994

Date Opponent Score W/L

12-11-92 Southern Utah* 108-62 W

12-9-94 Southern Utah* 82-67 W

11-24-99 Southern Utah 92-66 W

12-14-00 Southern Utah 58-52 W

12-29-01 Southern Utah 79-58 W

12-28-02 Southern Utah 93-60 W

11-21-03 Southern Utah 88-54 W

12-28-04 Southern Utah 77-52 W

11-26-05 Southern Utah 86-61 W

*Cougar Classic

LAST YEAR VS. SUU -- Hot Shooting Propels BYU over Southern Utah

PROVO -- BYU extended its winning streak against in-state opponent SUU to 9-0 Saturday night with an 86-61 victory. The Cougars achieved their highest-scoring game on the season while improving to 2-1 overall. "The guys shared the ball well tonight," said BYU coach Dave Rose. "A lot of times we gave up a good shot for a better shot." Thirty-three of the Cougar's points came from behind the three-point line, with a team three-point percentage of .647, the fifth-highest three-point percentage in BYU history with a minimum of 10 attempts. BYU made a season-high 58.5 percent overall as the Cougars have now topped 50 percent shooting from the floor and from behind the arc in the past two games. The Cougars took a 37-25 lead at the half -- the Cougars' highest scoring first half of the season. The Cougars started the second half with back-to-back-to-back threes, one by Broadus and two in a row by Reichner, to push the lead to 21 points. The Thunderbirds scored their first point of the half on a free throw to stop a 9-0 BYU run almost four minutes into the period, but the Cougars held them to without a field goal the first six minutes of the second half. Freshman Jackson Emery entered the game late in the half and immediately contributed to the Cougars' lead, scoring off a fast break assist by junior Austin Ainge to push the Cougar lead to 55-32. Emery also made two threes and two free throws and finished with a career-high 10 points, while Ainge totaled a career-tying eight assists on the night. The Cougars carried their momentum to the final buzzer and sent the Thunderbirds home with a 25-point defeat. The Cougars dominated the Thunderbirds across the court, finishing with 31 points in the paint compared to SUU's four. BYU added another nine off of fast breaks while SUU failed to convert in transition. "Coach Rose loves to play fast and he did," said SUU coach Bill Evans. "I think BYU shot the ball extremely well offensively. We were on the other end of the spectrum tonight." BYU had four players score in double digits, with freshman Trent Plaisted leading the pack at 13 points. Broadus added a career-high 11, while Reichner contributed another 11 and Emery tallied his career-high 10. Junior Keena Young led the Cougars on the boards bringing down five rebounds, while Ainge led the team in assists with eight. SUU was led by senior Nate Janes with 11 points and junior Henry Uhegwu with 10 points. The Thunderbirds fall to 0-5 on the year, having played all five contests on the road.

WHAT WAS SAID AFTER THE GAME ...

BYU Head Coach Dave Rose:

- "Defensively we played well tonight, but we fouled too much. Offensively we played a lot better in the second half. It took the post guys a while to get going, but once they did they played really well."

- "I was really happy with how Derek Dawes came in and played some quality minutes after not having played much. Malaman can play the three and four spot so he plays a lot of minutes. I think he is the king of minutes for us."

- "The guys shared the ball well tonight. A lot of times we gave up a good shot for a better shot."

Southern Utah Head Coach Bill Evans:

- "Coach Rose loves to play fast and he did. I think BYU shot the ball extremely well and played well offensively. We were on the other end of the spectrum tonight."

BYU NOTES FROM LAST SUU OUTING

-- BYU's 86-61 victory gives the Cougars a 9-0 advantage in the series against Southern Utah.

-- Eighty-six points is the highest point total for BYU this season and marks the most points the Cougars have scored in a game since Jan. 11, 2005 when they scored 110 against Montana State-Billings

-- Junior center Derek Dawes saw his first action of the year against Southern Utah after sitting out the first two games of the season due to a shoulder injury. Dawes appeared in 29 games and started 13 games in 2004-05. Dawes also scored his first point of the season on a free throw with :57 remaining in the first half. He finished with five points.

-- Redshirt freshman Jermaine Odjegba stepped onto the floor for the first time, playing for four minutes.

-- BYU scored 37 points in the first half, making it the highest scoring first half of the season for the Cougars. BYU is now 2-0 when leading at halftime.

-- The Cougars went on a 9-0 run in the first 3:26 to start the second half behind two three-pointers from Brock Reichner and one from Rashaun Broadus. The run was stopped by a Thunderbird free throw. Southern Utah did not score a field goal until 14:09 remaining in the second half.

-- Rashaun Broadus scored a career-high 11 points, topping the nine points he scored in the season-opener against Loyola Marymount. Broadus went three-for-three from behind the arc.

-- Freshman Jackson Emery netted a career-high 10 points on three-for-four shooting from the field and two-for-three shooting from three-point range.

-- Rashaun Broadus, Jackson Emery, Brock Reichner and Trent Plaisted all scored in double figures. In last season's contest with SUU, five Cougars scored in double figures.

-- Against Southern Utah, the Cougars continued their trend of getting stronger as the game goes on. Including exhibition games, BYU has yet to score 40 points in any first half, but has scored more than 40 points in every second half of play.

-- As a team the Cougars shot .647 from three-point range. This is the fifth highest three-point percentage in BYU history with a minimum of 10 attempt. The Cougars made 11 three-pointers, which is the most the Cougars have made since Dec. 8, 2004 against Boise State. BYU has shot over 41 percent from behind the arc in each of its three games this season. BYU has shot 50 percent or better in the last two games.

-- BYU's 58.5 percent shooting overall set a new season high, topping the 55 percent the Cougars made against Washington State on Tuesday.

-- Junior Austin Ainge finished with eight assists and no turnovers to tie his career high. It marks the fourth time Ainge has totaled eight assists in a game.

BYU NOTES

BYU's LAST OUTING -- Cummard, Burgess set career scoring highs to pace BYU

PROVO -- Three Cougars scored in double figures as BYU defeated Portland, 79-50, in a 29-point rout on Wednesday in front of 8,022 fans at the Marriott Center. Lee Cummard paced BYU with a career-high14 points, while Keena Young and Sam Burgess each added 13 points. Young and Vuk Ivanovic led the Cougars with nine rebounds apiece. Sherrard Watson and Jamie Jones both tallied eight points apiece for Portland, and Kevin Field led all players with 11 boards. BYU got off to a hot start, jumping out to an early 9-0 lead, including five points thanks to three Cougar steals. Ivanovic netted a turnaround jumper on BYU's first possession, followed by a long two from Jimmy Balderson. On Portland's next possession, Balderson made his first theft of the night that resulted in a bucket by Young. Balderson again made a steal on the very next Pilot possession but stepped out of bounds while trying to advance the ball up court. The Cougars immediately got the ball back, however, when Austin Ainge capped the Cougar run by making a steal and feeding Cummard for a three-pointer. Parker Emerson finally put Portland on the board at the 14:55 mark when he sank two free throws. Trent Plaisted was noticeably missing from the first five minutes of action as he is nursing a sprained ankle. On Plaisted's first possession, he netted a hook shot, extending the Cougar lead back to nine points, 11-2. Both teams traded baskets for several possessions until Walter Thompson hit a three-point shot with nine minutes to go in the half, cutting BYU's lead to two, 14-12. With 6:20 left in the first period Sam Burgess was fouled on a drive to the basket off a full-court pass from Ainge, extending the Cougar lead to five points, 22-17. On the next BYU possession, Ainge faked a three-point shot, waited for Brian McTear to fly by him and then nailed a three-pointer. Thompson hit a jumper with 15 seconds left to cut BYU's lead to seven points, 31-24, at the break. BYU continued to build on its lead to open the second period as the Cougars started the half with a 7-0 run off a free throw from Young, a bucket from Cummard and a layup from Balderson, giving BYU a 12-point lead, 36-24. Burgess added a spark four minutes into the second period when he hit back-to-back-to-back three pointers, widening the BYU lead to 17 points, 45-28. Burgess took just 1:24 to hit all three buckets. The two teams spent a good portion trading baskets back-and-forth until the Cougars went on a 10-0 run with five minutes left in the game. Cummard scored a tip-in basket, hit two free throws and sank a three-pointer, while Rashaun Broadus ended the run with a three-point play. BYU shot 44.4 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from behind the arc, while the Pilots shot 25 and 20 percent, respectively. The Cougars held the advantage in points in the paint (34-10), points off turnovers (21-6), second-chance points (25-4) and bench points (36-23).

WHAT WAS SAID AFTER THE GAME ...

BYU Head Coach Dave Rose

-- "We left a lot of points out there at the free-throw line and in transition. We were able to pull away in the end, but we have to work on those areas."

-- "We wanted to establish Vuk (Ivanovic) as a starter with Trent Plaisted hurt this week at practice. He did well. (Rashaun Broadus) has been pressing a lot lately, but he played well tonight. Austin (Ainge) and Rashaun have a lot of experience, and they give us a lot of depth at that position."

-- "We've been working on turnovers and defensive rebounds. We didn't want them to go to the line any more, so we went to zone. We haven't played a lot of zone, so we had a hard time rebounding in our zone defense."

-- "Sam is just a tough competitive player. He plays with energy all the time, and he works hard all the time. I'm excited for him and our team that he had a break-out game tonight."

-- "One of the strengths of our team is our perimeter shooting, but we can't go away from the inside game. We tend to do that some times, but we are working hard to establish our inside game."

Portland Head Coach Eric Reveno

-- "It was a tough shooting night, and you can't let that affect other parts of your game. We were defended well in the half court, or we turned it over. You look at points off of offensive rebounds and points off of turnovers, and that's where they got a lot of their offense."

-- "Once you dig yourself that hole and you're always playing from eight, 10, 12 and 15 down, then all of a sudden every basket feels so critical -- especially on the road. You just have to get the mindset of taking it one possession at a time as cliche as that is. You've got to make a shot, and then make a stop. You can't just get it all back at once."

-- "That was a stretch where I felt like our offense affected our defense. [BYU] can hurt you in a variety of ways, and we knew that. The scouting report is pretty easy. Just guard them like they're all shooters, and go from there. We let our offense affect our defense in that stretch."

BYU NOTES FROM LAST OUTING

-- BYU's starters were Austin Ainge, Jimmy Balderson, Lee Cummard, Vuk Ivanovic and Keena Young. Ivanovic made his first career start while Ainge made his first start of the season. Ainge started four games last year. His last start was Jan. 25, 2006 in the Cougars' 89-80 win over TCU. Trent Plaisted and Rashaun Broadus started the second half for BYU making the second-half starters the same as the Cougars' starting lineup in their first two games.

-- Having missed practice Monday and Tuesday with an ankle injury, Plaisted did not start Wednesday against Portland, marking the first game he has not started since the 2004-05 season. Plaisted started all 29 games last season for the Cougars. In 2004-05 Plaisted played in five games (starting none) before receiving a medical redshirt.

-- Individual Career Highs: Sam Burgess -- 13 points; Cummard -- 14 points.

-- BYU scored the first nine points of the game over the first 5:05. BYU held Portland without a field goal for the first seven minutes of the game. The Pilots first scored with 14:55 to go in the half on two free throws.

-- Portland's first field goal was made by Jamie Jones with 13 minutes remaining in the half.

-- Seven different Cougars combined to score BYU's first 14 points. Ivanovic, Balderson, and Young each made two-point baskets before Cummard hit a three-pointer. Trent Plaisted followed with a bucket, Rashaun Broadus made one-of-two foul shots and Sam Burgess made a reverse layup before Plaisted made a pair of foul shots to become the first BYU player to score on multiple possessions.

-- Walk-on Gavin MacGregor made his first career appearance in the first half. In the second half MacGregor scored his first points as a Cougar. MacGregor also blocked a shot.

-- Burgess went on a 9-0 run by himself for BYU early in the second half, hitting three three-pointers in a 1:24-span.

-- BYU started the second half on a 14-4 run to give the Cougars a 45-30 lead.

-- BYU forced 19 turnovers while only giving up the ball nine times. The Cougars scored 21 points off turnovers while the Pilots only managed six points off BYU turnovers.

- BYU's nine turnovers are a season low.

- Lee Cummard became the third different BYU player in as many games to lead the Cougars in scoring. Cummard posted 14 points to lead all scorers.

- All 12 BYU players that played scored. The Cougars had three players in double figures (Cummard, Young and Burgess).

- BYU's 48 second-half points were the most scored in a half this season. The Cougars' 48 second-half points were two fewer than Portland scored all game.

- Portland scored 24 points in the first half and 26 points in the second half. Prior to tonight's game, the fewest points a BYU opponent had scored in one half was Idaho State's 29 first-half points.

- The Cougars' 79-50 victory is the largest regular-season margin of victory (29 points) for BYU since the Cougars beat Eastern Washington, 97-66, on Dec. 27, 2005 (31 points).

TAVERNARI TO PLAY FRIDAY

BYU men's basketball coach Dave Rose announced Thursday that 6-foot-6 freshman forward Jonathan Tavernari will play Friday when the Cougars host Southern Utah in the Marriott Center. A native of Sao Bernardo, Brazil, Tavernari has not played in BYU's first three regular-season games as a potential redshirt while a review of his two years of high school in the United States was being conducted by the NCAA.

"We decided to redshirt Jonathan indefinitely until the matter was resolved," Rose said. "We received initial news from the NCAA that Jonathan would need to sit out three games and have been waiting to hear on the results of the complete review. We received word from the NCAA this week that their extensive review is now finished and that no further action is required. After sitting out the first three nonconference games, we have made the decision that he will not redshirt this season. He will dress and be ready to go Friday against Southern Utah."

Despite BYU seeking and obtaining appropriate approvals, Tavernari's three-game suspension stems from living with longtime family friend and current BYU assistant coach Walter Roese when Tavernari first came to the United States from Brazil.

In the spring of 2004, the Tavernari family contacted Roese, a fellow Brazilian and close family friend, to ask if Tavernari could stay with the Roese family to attend high school in Utah. Roese, then the director of men's basketball operations, sought guidance from the BYU Compliance Office, which requested and was granted permission from the Mountain West Conference Compliance Office for Tavernari to live with the Roese family for that year.

Tavernari lived with Roese's family while attending one year at Timpview High School, a public school in Provo, Utah, in 2004-05. He then completed his senior year at Bishop Gorman High School, a private school in Las Vegas, in 2005-06. After Tavernari signed with the Cougars this past spring, BYU, at the request of Coach Rose and his staff, asked the NCAA to confirm the MWC interpretation regarding Tavernari's stay in Utah with the Roese family and also review his year in Las Vegas.

The NCAA review of Tavernari's two years in the United States, both in Provo and in Las Vegas, found no issues related to any BYU staff members. The NCAA determined that despite the documented 2004 decision rendered by the MWC Compliance Office, Tavernari must pay living expenses for the year he stayed with the Roese family to a nonprofit charity and sit out three games.

"After being told the original interpretation we received was not correct, we wanted to make sure the NCAA conducted a thorough review of Jonathan's entire high school experience, including his senior year in Las Vegas," Rose said. "Jonathan's a good kid. He did everything right. We wanted to make sure there were no other issues or surprises before we made any definitive decisions about his redshirt situation this year. We appreciate the efforts of our compliance office and the NCAA in bringing closure to this matter."

Tavernari can play both the small forward and power forward positions. He averaged 7.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 10.5 minutes of action in BYU's two exhibition games this season while making 4-of-7 three-point attempts.

AINGE, BALDERSON, YOUNG NAMED TEAM CAPTAINS

Coach Rose and the Cougar coaching staff have announced this year's team captains, calling upon seniors Austin Ainge, Jimmy Balderson and Keena Young to lead this year's team. "I'm proud of the way these three players have developed and of their dedication to our team," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "They are totally commitment to this program and have earned the respect and confidence of their teammates. They will provide us with good leadership as we work together as a team to achieve our goals." Ainge, a co-captain of last season's team, proved a valuable asset off the bench in 2005-06 after starting at the point guard spot and receiving All-Mountain West Conference honorable mention as a sophomore. Last season he ranked 11th in the MWC in assists while helping BYU lead the league in both scoring and assists. Balderson also provided a spark off the bench for the Cougars last season as he scored in double figures in 11 of the last 13 games and was the only player in the conference averaging more than 10 points per game off the bench with a 10.2 scoring average. Young led BYU in rebounding as a sophomore before becoming an All-MWC Third Team pick last year after starting the last 14 games of the year and ranking second on the team in rebounding (5.8 rpg) and third in scoring (10.3 ppg).

"ONE MORE"

BYU players have been able to make that one extra pass to find an open teammate so far this year. The Cougars have four players averaging more than two assists per game (Ainge - 3.67, Balderson - 2.67, Broadus - 2.3, Cummard - 2.0) and are collectively making 6.3 more assists on average than their oponents (15.0-8.7).

OFF THE BENCH

One of BYU's strengths is the overall depth of the team. BYU's bench has outscored Cougar opponents in each of the first three games this year by nearly nine points per game on average. Last year BYU got more scoring production off the bench than its opponents in 24 of 29 games.

BYU BASKETBALL MAKES ITS DEBUT ON THE MTN.

BYU men's basketball will appear for the first time on the MountainWest Sports Network (the mtn.) when it hosts Southern Utah Friday. The Mountain West Conference's 2006-07 men's basketball television schedule features an unprecedented 99 games on national and regional television, including 65 of the 72 conference contests and all eight MWC Championship matchups. The television coverage provided by the MWC broadcast partners in 2006-07 is more than triple the national and regional telecasts MWC men's basketball has received in previous years. Seventy-five games will be shown on the MountainWest Sports Network (the mtn.), with 17 to be broadcast nationally on College Sports Television (CSTV) and seven on VERSUS (formerly OLN). BYU will have 18 regular-season games televised as part of the 2006-07 MWC television schedule, including three games on CSTV, one on VERSUS and 14 on the mtn. With the exception of a road game at TCU, BYU's entire conference schedule will be televised in 2007. BYU's nonconference games featured in the MWC broadcast schedule include home dates with Southern Utah (Nov. 24, 8 p.m. MT), San Jose State (Dec. 6, 7 p.m. MT) and Utah State (Dec. 16, 4 p.m. MT). While not part of the MWC television package, BYU's regular-season opener at 2006 NCAA runner-up UCLA on Nov. 15 will be televised on Fox Sports Net Prime Ticket, while the BYU-Michigan State matchup on Dec. 9 at The Palace at Auburn Hills will be carried on ESPN2 and BYU's game at Boise State on Nov. 29 will be aired on KTVB in Boise. Additional games on the BYU schedule could also be televised but have not yet been announced.