Cummard's Career Night Leads Cougars Over Lamar

PROVO -- A monster game from BYU forward Lee Cummard extended the No. 25 Cougars' home winning streak to 36 games in an 88-66 victory over Lamar Wednesday night in the Marriott Center.

In the first half alone, Cummard tallied 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting, three rebounds and three assists. Cummard was 3-for-4 from the three-point line in the half, but he wouldn't stop there. Cummard finished the game with 27 points, a career high, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

"Lee (Cummard) was terrific tonight," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "He started well and had a solid game on both ends. He shared the ball well and stayed aggressive offensively. He had one of the better games we've seen in a while."

Joining Cummard in the record books was BYU center Trent Plaisted. With 14:10 remaining in the game, Plaisted scored the 1,000th point of his career. He becomes the 37th member of BYU's elite 1,000 Point Club and is just the 10th Cougar to reach that milestone as a junior of four-year players.

"One thousand points is really a tribute to a lot of people who helped me get here," Plaisted said. "Most of the credit goes to my teammates and the coaches. It's an honor to be a part of that club, but it's just a number."

The Cardinals did a solid job limiting Plaisted in the first half, forcing him to score his points from the free-throw line, where Plaisted went 5-for-10 in the half.

But stopping Plaisted early only opened the floor for Cummard. Cummard propelled his team to a 10-4 lead in the first four minutes of the game, scoring seven points and dishing out an assist. A short run by the Cardinals, sparked by a three-pointer from guard Currye Todd, got Lamar back to within three points.

But BYU would extend its man-to-man defense and not allow the Cardinals to score for five straight minutes midway through the first half. In that run, Cummard and BYU forward Jonathan Tavernari combined for eight points, extending the Cougar lead to 24-9.

Despite a series of turnovers by the Cougars as the first half came to a close, they led the Cardinals 42-30 at the half.

Lamar forward Justin Nabors drew first blood in the second half by getting to the line and hitting both free throws. Cardinal forward Lamar Sanders scored the next time down the court, bringing the score to 42-34.

A three-pointer by Sam Burgess and a dunk by Plaisted was the Cougars' response, returning the BYU lead back to double digits.

The Cougars extended their lead to 63-45 toward the end of the second half on a three-pointer from freshman point guard Michael Loyd, Jr. Lamar would respond as the Cougars turned the ball over again at the seven-minute mark of the second half. The Cardinals went on an 8-0 run highlighted by a steal and layup from Lamar guard Kenny Dawkins.

But BYU pulled away with solid perimeter shooting at the end of the game and a fast break off-the-glass ally-oop from Cummard to Plaisted that had the crowd on its feet. Three-pointers from Cummard and true freshman Chris Collinsworth blew the game open with four minutes left.

BYU soon went up by 25 points and had no problem securing, along with Memphis, the longest home winning streak in the nation.

Plaisted finished the game with 22 points, going 7-for-10 from the field with seven rebounds and five assists.

Collinsworth got his first start of the year, scoring five points and nabbing six rebounds.

Leading the stat line for the Cardinals was Sanders with 11 points and five rebounds.

The Cougars will be in action on Saturday at home against Pepperdine at 7 p.m.

CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
Lamar vs BYU Cougars
12/08/07 7:05 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Lamar 3-6
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
24 NABORS, Justin...... f  1-6    0-1    4-4    1  0  1   0   6  0  2  0  0  17
33 SANDERS, Lamar...... f  5-8    0-0    1-3    2  3  5   3  11  0  0  1  0  21
55 NWEVO, Lawrence..... c  0-3    0-0    0-0    0  3  3   4   0  0  1  1  1  13
12 MCTHAY, Brandon..... g  3-8    0-2    0-0    1  0  1   0   6  0  1  0  2  20
14 DAWKINS, Kenny...... g  3-6    2-3    1-2    2  3  5   4   9  4  4  0  2  33
15 HALL, Ashton........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  1  0  0   2
21 HOPKINS, Darren.....    2-6    0-2    2-3    0  2  2   2   6  2  4  1  2  25
23 BARROW, Matthew.....    2-5    2-5    1-2    1  3  4   2   7  2  0  0  1  19
31 TODD, Currye........    3-9    1-5    2-4    0  1  1   2   9  0  0  0  0  16
40 BROWN, Jay..........    3-8    0-0    0-0    0  4  4   4   6  1  0  1  0  14
44 WORRELL, Tristan....    1-2    0-0    2-2    0  2  2   1   4  1  0  0  1  11
52 CUSTER, Coy.........    1-2    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   2   2  0  1  0  0   9
   TEAM................                         1  4  5
   Totals..............   24-63   5-18  13-20   8 26 34  24  66 11 14  4  9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-31 35.5%   2nd Half: 13-32 40.6%   Game: 38.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-9  33.3%   2nd Half:  2-9  22.2%   Game: 27.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-6  83.3%   2nd Half:  8-14 57.1%   Game: 65.0%    4
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 8-2
                          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 11-16   5-7    0-0    7  3 10   2  27  8  0  1  1  33
41 COLLINSWORTH, Chris. f  2-5    1-1    0-2    4  2  6   3   5  0  0  1  0  15
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... c  7-10   0-0    8-16   1  6  7   2  22  5  3  0  0  27
20 BURGESS, Sam........ g  2-6    2-4    0-0    0  1  1   4   6  2  0  0  1  18
24 MURDOCK, Ben........ g  0-4    0-3    0-0    0  3  3   2   0  2  2  0  0  23
01 LOYD, JR., Michael..    1-2    1-2    2-2    0  0  0   0   5  2  3  0  0  10
05 ROSE, Archie........    0-0    0-0    1-2    0  2  2   1   1  0  0  0  0   8
10 IVANOVIC, Vuk.......    1-2    0-0    0-0    3  6  9   3   2  0  3  0  0  10
14 MARTINEAU, Nick.....    0-2    0-1    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  1  0  0  0   7
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer....    2-6    1-4    2-2    0  0  0   0   7  2  0  0  2  19
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan.    4-12   1-6    2-2    1  7  8   2  11  1  3  1  0  25
54 MILES, Chris........    0-2    0-0    2-4    0  1  1   1   2  0  0  0  0   5
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   30-67  11-28  17-30  17 33 50  20  88 23 14  3  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-33 48.5%   2nd Half: 14-34 41.2%   Game: 44.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-14 35.7%   2nd Half:  6-14 42.9%   Game: 39.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-10 50.0%   2nd Half: 12-20 60.0%   Game: 56.7%   7,1
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Officials: David Hall, Chris Rastatter, Darron George
Technical fouls: Lamar-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 8130
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Lamar.........................   30   36  -   66
BYU Cougars...................   42   46  -   88
Points in the paint-LU 28,BY 34. Points off turnovers-LU 19,BY 11.
2nd chance points-LU 4,BY 19. Fast break points-LU 6,BY 10.
Bench points-LU 34,BY 28. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-LU 2nd-00:24, BY 2nd-00:35.
Largest lead-LU None, BY by 25 2nd-03:02.