Tavernari Leads Cougars to Second Win on the Season

MALIBU -- With four Cougars in double figures and solid play from the bench, BYU improved its record to 2-0 on the season by defeating the Waves of Pepperdine (0-1) 82-53.

“We were much better prepared for this game than for Long Beach State,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose. “We isolated Pepperdine's three or four best offensive players and our guys did a good job of executing. We have a lot of new players, but when we get them doing the right things at the right pace we dominate the game.”

The four double-figure leaders on the night included junior Jonathan Tavernari with 17 points, sophomore Jimmer Fredette with 16 points, senior reigning Mountain West Conference Player of the Year Lee Cummard with 13 points and junior Chris Miles with 10 points.

Eleven of Pepperdine’s 12 players scored against the Cougars, but none had double digits on the night.

The 29-point margin of victory was the largest in the series versus Pepperdine, surpassing the 19-point victory set last season. This win ties the Cougars and Waves with four wins apiece.

The Cougars went 24-for-28 in free throw shooting on the night (85.1-percent), a season-high.

Tavernari led the Cougars in points with 17, starting his second game of the season and making his 31st career start. After going two years without a dunk, Tavernari now has two dunks in two games. He threw one down with 11:25 to go in the first half.

“Jonathan is becoming a terrific all-around player for us,” Rose said. “I think when he takes the shots that you want him and expect him to take, he’s probably an 80-percent shooter. I give Jonathan a lot of praise — he is a solid defender, great rebounder and is able to score in a variety of ways.”

“I didn’t even realize it was a 30-point game until I got off the court,” said Tavernari. “We played really strong defense and our shots were really good tonight. We did rush a few shots, but this is the second game of the season and we will continue to improve.”

Sophomore Jackson Emery, who is back from an LDS mission to Mexico, posted a career-high nine assists on the night, also racking up nine points for the Cougars. He played the role of facilitator in the first half, dishing out a career-high six assists before the break.

“Jackson had a lot of energy defensively,” said Rose. “He had the first steal of the game and gave us a boost that way. He just needs more time on the floor to feel more relaxed for longer periods of time. Nine and nine is a great way to play. Jackson is a team guy.”

Starting out the Cougar scoring was Miles and the Cougars maintained the lead the entire game. An 8-0 run early in the first half held off the Waves and BYU led at the half by 11 points (32-21).

Coming out of the locker room, the Cougars pulled away in the second half shooting 60.5-percent and making 90.8-percent of its free throws.

After BYU had an 18-point lead early in the second half, Pepperdine chalked up nine points on three-pointers in a 1:03 span while Cummard was on the bench.

Cummard entered the game and gave the Cougars a four-point push to pace the Cougars in a 16-2 run, widening the margin of victory and leaving the Waves scoreless for five and a half minutes.

Continuing their solid defense, the Cougars held off the Waves in an 82-53 victory on their home court.

Other key players included freshman Noah Hartsock who set a career high in points in the first half, scoring six on 2-for-2 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 shooting from the line.

BYU will host the Basketball Travelers Invitational at home Thursday-Saturday, playing three games in three days. They will play North Florida Thursday, Rice Friday and Cal Poly Saturday in the Marriott Center at 7:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., respectively.

“We don’t know a lot yet about the three teams this week, but I think the goal with these back-to-back-to-back games is to prepare the team for the end-of-season tournaments,” said Rose.

CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young vs Pepperdine
11/18/08 7:05 p.m. at Malibu, Calif. (Firestone Fieldhouse)
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 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
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f  7-13   3-7    0-0    1  9 10   3  17  1  2  1  3  32
54 MILES, Chris........ c  3-5    0-0    4-5    0  3  3   0  10  0  2  0  1  20
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  3-5    0-2    3-5    0  2  2   2   9  9  4  0  2  27
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g  5-9    0-4    3-3    3  2  5   3  13  1  2  0  2  29
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  5-10   2-5    4-5    1  0  1   1  16  5  2  0  1  32
01 ABOUO, Charles......    1-2    1-1    6-6    0  2  2   1   9  1  0  1  0  13
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont.    0-2    0-1    0-0    0  3  3   4   0  2  0  0  1  19
15 ANDERSON, James.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   8
20 PINEGAR, Matthew....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  2  0  0   3
34 HARTSOCK, Noah......    2-3    0-0    2-2    1  1  2   2   6  0  1  0  0  14
53 MACGREGOR, Gavin....    0-0    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   0   2  0  1  0  0   3
   TEAM................                         2  5  7
   Totals..............   26-50   6-21  24-28   9 27 36  17  82 19 16  2 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-27 44.4%   2nd Half: 14-23 60.9%   Game: 52.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-13 23.1%   2nd Half:  3-8  37.5%   Game: 28.6%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-7  71.4%   2nd Half: 19-21 90.5%   Game: 85.7%    3
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HOME TEAM: Pepperdine 1-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
15 THOMPSON, Mychel.... f  2-6    1-2    0-0    1  0  1   2   5  3  3  0  1  26
32 DARBY, Taylor....... f  3-9    0-0    1-2    2  1  3   3   7  0  0  0  0  20
50 AGRE, Denis......... c  1-3    0-0    0-0    1  4  5   4   2  0  0  0  0  23
03 BELL, Keion......... g  3-10   0-2    3-4    3  4  7   3   9  5  3  0  2  26
31 HOLMES, Ryan........ g  1-3    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   3   2  0  4  0  0  19
01 SUTTLE JR., Dane....    2-5    2-4    2-2    0  1  1   2   8  0  0  0  0  17
14 TUCKER, Rico........    1-5    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   0   2  0  1  0  2  12
20 JACKSON, Lorne......    1-2    0-0    4-5    0  0  0   2   6  1  1  0  1  11
22 DUPRE, Jonathan.....    3-7    2-3    0-0    1  1  2   2   8  0  1  0  0  21
24 HORNBUCKLE, Mike....    1-2    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   2   2  1  3  0  1  12
44 MOORE, Corbin.......    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   2  0  2  0  0  10
45 SHANNON, Andy.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  1  0   3
   TEAM................
   Totals..............   19-53   5-14  10-13   8 16 24  24  53 10 18  1  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-22 40.9%   2nd Half: 10-31 32.3%   Game: 35.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-6  33.3%   2nd Half:  3-8  37.5%   Game: 35.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-2  50.0%   2nd Half:  9-11 81.8%   Game: 76.9%    2
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Officials: Dick Cartmell, Rick Batsell, Chris Rastetter
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Pepperdine-None.
Attendance: 1642
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young.................   32   50  -   82
Pepperdine....................   21   32  -   53
Points in the paint-BY 26,PEP 14. Points off turnovers-BY 23,PEP 12.
2nd chance points-BY 4,PEP 6. Fast break points-BY 8,PEP 4.
Bench points-BY 17,PEP 28. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-BY 2nd-03:44, PEP 2nd-01:27.
Largest lead-BY by 33 2nd-02:23, PEP None.