Cougars Triumph in Home Opener

PROVO -- The BYU men's basketball team defeated Idaho State, 90-69, in the season home opener. The win extended the Cougars' home win streak to 32 games, which is the second-longest active home victory streak in the nation.

"As a staff, what we were pleased with the most tonight was the way our players shared the ball," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "I felt that the intensity of the game early on was good because we came out early and defensively put on a good presence."

Sam Burgess led the Cougars during the game with 18 points, breaking his previous career high of 15 points. Lee Cummard became the first Cougar to post a double-double this season with 10 rebounds and 13 points.

As a team BYU shot 12-for-25 from three-point range, marking the 14th time in the program's history a Cougar team has made at least 12 three-pointers in a game.

BYU got a small lead early in the game, leading Idaho State 4-0 before allowing a Bengal shot to fall after 4:22 had ticked off the clock.

The Cougars broke ahead of the Bengals with a 10-point streak. The streak was put to an end after a timeout and a jump shot gave the Bengals two points.

BYU quickly retaliated with three-pointer from Ben Murdock followed by two consecutive three-pointers from Jonathan Tavernari, bringing the Cougars' lead to 26-8. Tavernari was the first Cougar to enter double digits and finished the game with 17 points.

The Cougars closed the first half with a 19-point lead over the Bengals at 44-25. BYU's defense held Idaho State to a 29.6 field-goal percentage, forcing nine turnovers.

Sam Burgess led BYU in the first half with 16 points, shooting 5-for-7 from the field with four three-point shots.

The Cougars lost no momentum coming into the second half of the game. During the first minute Cummard stole the ball from Idaho State and sent BYU down the court on a fast break. Cummard passed the ball to Trent Plaisted to put the Cougars up 46-25.

Idaho State staged a comeback, narrowing BYU's lead to within 14 points with 13 minutes left. The Bengals led the Cougars in points scored during the first six minutes of the second half at 16 points to BYU's 14 before the Cougars gained energy.

BYU got a surge of momentum topped off by a dunk from Plaisted to give the Cougars a 23-point lead over the Bengals with 11 minutes left.

Idaho State battled against the Cougars, but an eight-point run from BYU, fueled by an undefended one-handed dunk from Plaisted, gave BYU an 83-59 lead with three minutes left in the game. From there, the Cougars cruised to the 90-69 win.

The Cougars return to the Marriott Center hoping to keep their streak alive when they play Jackson State Friday at 7 p.m.

CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
Idaho State vs BYU Cougars
11/14/07 7:05 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Idaho State 0-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
31 STUCKI, Matt........ f  3-10   1-4    3-5    1  1  2   2  10  2  3  0  2  29
42 TATUM, Chron........ f  8-13   0-1    4-4    2  4  6   4  20  0  1  0  0  31
32 O'BRIEN, Cory....... c  2-3    1-2    1-2    0  4  4   3   6  0  1  0  1  12
04 KINGHORN, Logan..... g  2-7    1-3    0-0    0  2  2   2   5  0  5  0  1  28
14 STEIJN, Lucas....... g  0-4    0-0    7-8    2  4  6   4   7  1  2  0  0  34
01 MORGAN, Amorrow.....    5-7    0-1    3-3    1  1  2   1  13  2  0  0  2  21
05 ANDERSON, Steve.....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
10 MAYE, Scooter.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  4  1  0  0   9
20 CARSON, Donnie......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   7
21 MONROE, Demetrius...    0-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   3   0  0  1  0  0   5
23 KILPATRICK, Austin..    2-3    2-2    0-0    1  1  2   3   6  0  2  0  0  11
54 TAYLOR, Tom.........    1-2    0-0    0-1    0  1  1   0   2  0  0  1  0   9
   TEAM................                         1  3  4
   Totals..............   23-53   5-14  18-23   8 23 31  22  69  9 17  1  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-27 29.6%   2nd Half: 15-26 57.7%   Game: 43.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-7  28.6%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 35.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-8  87.5%   2nd Half: 11-15 73.3%   Game: 78.3%    3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 2-0
                          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  5-9    1-4    2-4    2  8 10   4  13  4  1  0  2  28
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f  6-13   3-8    2-2    0  4  4   2  17  1  3  0  2  25
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... c  5-9    0-0    7-8    3  5  8   3  17  1  2  0  0  28
20 BURGESS, Sam........ g  6-11   4-6    2-2    0  4  4   3  18  5  2  0  1  33
24 MURDOCK, Ben........ g  2-3    1-2    0-0    0  0  0   3   5  5  0  0  1  30
01 LOYD, JR., Michael..    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  2  0  0   4
05 ROSE, Archie........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  1  0  0  0   2
10 IVANOVIC, Vuk.......    2-3    0-0    3-4    2  1  3   3   7  1  1  0  0   8
14 MARTINEAU, Nick.....    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   3  3  1  0  0   7
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer....    4-7    2-3    0-0    0  0  0   0  10  1  0  0  1  17
41 COLLINSWORTH, Chris.    0-3    0-1    0-2    0  1  1   2   0  2  0  1  0  15
54 MILES, Chris........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  1   3
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   31-59  12-25  16-22   9 24 33  22  90 24 13  1  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-26 53.8%   2nd Half: 17-33 51.5%   Game: 52.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  8-15 53.3%   2nd Half:  4-10 40.0%   Game: 48.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  8-11 72.7%   2nd Half:  8-11 72.7%   Game: 72.7%    2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Chris Rastatter, Jimmy Casas, Brian Shelley
Technical fouls: Idaho State-None. BYU Cougars-CUMMARD, Lee.
Attendance: 12153
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Idaho State...................   25   44  -   69
BYU Cougars...................   44   46  -   90
Points in the paint-ISU 14,BY 30. Points off turnovers-ISU 13,BY 23.
2nd chance points-ISU 6,BY 9. Fast break points-ISU 2,BY 18.
Bench points-ISU 21,BY 20. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-ISU 2nd-00:28, BY 2nd-00:42.
Largest lead-ISU None, BY by 24 2nd-02:52.