Four Score in Double Figures as Cougars Down Bengals

POCATELLO -- Four players scored in double figures to help BYU men’s basketball remain perfect on the season with an 85-65 victory over Idaho State in Holt Arena on Saturday. The Cougars are now 6-0 for the first time since the 1991-92 season while the Bengals fall to 1-4.

“I was really proud of how our players responded to playing a good team in a difficult environment," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "We came in very prepared but didn’t get off to a good start. After that first media timeout we came out and improved our effort. We finished with a strong defensive effort in the first half and that’s what allowed us to have a lead at the break.”

Jonathan Tavernari scored a game-high 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting to go with six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Fredette tied two career highs with 19 points and six assists while Jackson Emery set a career-high with 15 points. Lee Cummard added 17 points, three assists, one block and three steals.

The Cougars hit 56.6 percent (30-of-53) from the field and 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from downtown. BYU held Idaho State to 41.1 percent (23-of-56) shooting from the field. Matt Stucki led the Bengals with 19 points and five assists.

BYU runs defined the first half as the Cougars used spurts of 16-2 and 14-0 to take a 40-28 lead into the locker room. Trailing 12-6 BYU outscored Idaho State 16-2 to take a 22-14 lead. Cummard scored four points during the run and Tavernari scored five-straight — on a three and a fast break dunk — to make it 17-12 in favor of the Cougars. Fredette tipped in his own miss and Emery scored on a fast break layup to make it 22-14 BYU.

The second big run came after the Bengals chipped away at the lead and got within four at 26-22 on an Amorrow Morgan layup. Fredette hit two free throws, assisted a dunk by Chris Miles and hit a three in transition. Tavernari hit two layups during the run and Cummard’s three in transition gave BYU its largest lead of the half at 40-22 with 2:51 remaining before the half.

Tavernari, who went scoreless when the Cougars defeated Cal Poly in their last outing, finished the half with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Cummard had nine first half points and Fredette and Emery had seven apiece. BYU hit 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from the field in the first half, had nine steals — three each by Cummard and Emery — and scored 16 points off turnovers.

During the second half BYU responded to every Idaho State challenge and never allowed the Bengals to get the lead down to single digits. A Morgan layup cut the lead to 45-34 but Tavernari and Emery hit back-to-back threes to make it 51-34.

The Bengals went on an 8-2 run to get back within 11 but Charles Abouo hit two free throws and Tavernari threw down a dunk to finish a play off a steal by Fredette. With 6:54 remaining Fredette hit a three to give BYU a 19-point lead at 67-48. Cummard’s two free throws with 1:48 left on the clock gave the Cougars their biggest lead at 81-61. His two free throws with 55 seconds remaining equaled the 20-point lead and made the score final at 85-55.

BYU will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at Weber State at 7 p.m.

CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young vs Idaho State
11-29-08 7:05 pm at Pocatello, ID (Holt Arena)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Brigham Young 6-0
                          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 10-17   2-7    1-2    1  5  6   2  23  4  1  0  2  39
54 MILES, Chris........ c  1-1    0-0    2-2    2  3  5   4   4  2  1  1  2  25
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  6-9    2-4    1-1    0  4  4   5  15  2  2  0  3  31
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g  6-11   1-3    4-6    2  2  4   4  17  3  1  1  3  35
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  6-12   3-6    4-4    2  2  4   1  19  6  4  0  1  32
01 ABOUO, Charles......    0-0    0-0    3-4    0  3  3   0   3  0  1  0  0   9
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont.    0-0    0-0    2-4    1  2  3   3   2  1  1  0  0  14
15 ANDERSON, James.....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   2   0  0  0  0  0   7
20 PINEGAR, Matthew....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
53 MACGREGOR, Gavin....    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   0   2  0  0  0  0   7
   TEAM................                            1  1
   Totals..............   30-53   8-21  17-23   8 25 33  21  85 18 11  2 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-27 55.6%   2nd Half: 15-26 57.7%   Game: 56.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-11 36.4%   2nd Half:  4-10 40.0%   Game: 38.1%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-8  75.0%   2nd Half: 11-15 73.3%   Game: 73.9%   2,1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Idaho State 1-4
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
21 MONROE, Demetrius... f  3-5    0-0    2-2    1  2  3   0   8  1  1  0  0  31
33 BUSMA, Deividas..... c  2-6    0-0    2-2    1  2  3   0   6  1  2  0  0  16
01 MORGAN, Amorrow..... g  3-10   0-1    1-3    0  1  1   3   7  4  2  0  0  35
20 CARSON, Donnie...... g  3-8    1-2    0-2    2  3  5   2   7  3  0  0  3  27
31 STUCKI, Matt........ g  6-12   3-5    4-6    2  2  4   4  19  5  4  0  0  30
02 BAY, Kal............    2-4    1-2    2-2    0  2  2   3   7  0  2  0  0  12
03 TAYLOR, Phyllip.....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
04 STEIJN, Lucas.......    3-5    0-0    2-4    2  2  4   2   8  0  0  0  0  19
12 BALDWIN, Sherrod....    0-0    0-0    0-1    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
23 KILPATRICK, Austin..    0-3    0-3    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  1  1  0  1  11
32 CASPARI, Felix......    1-2    0-0    1-4    5  0  5   3   3  0  0  0  0  14
   TEAM................                         1  1  2             1
   Totals..............   23-56   5-14  14-26  14 17 31  18  65 15 13  0  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-25 44.0%   2nd Half: 12-31 38.7%   Game: 41.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-5  40.0%   2nd Half:  3-9  33.3%   Game: 35.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-10 40.0%   2nd Half: 10-16 62.5%   Game: 53.8%   5,2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Byrne Haskins, Michael Irving, Wilson Holland
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Idaho State-None.
Attendance: 4374
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brigham Young.................   40   45  -   85
Idaho State...................   28   37  -   65
Points in the paint-BYU 41,ISU 22. Points off turnovers-BYU 20,ISU 12.
2nd chance points-BYU 8,ISU 10. Fast break points-BYU 20,ISU 2.
Bench points-BYU 7,ISU 18. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-5 times.
Last FG-BYU 2nd-02:15, ISU 2nd-01:10.
Largest lead-BYU by 20 2nd-01:48, ISU by 6 1st-15:54.