Game 11 - Arizona State Up Next in the Stadium Shootout

BYU GAME #11 FAST FACTS

BYU (10-0)

vs.

Arizona State (8-1)

Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008

University of Phoenix Stadium

Glendale, Ariz.

2:30 p.m. MT

Coaches:

BYU, Dave Rose (82-26 in fourth season; same overall)

Arizona State, Herb Sendek (37-36 in 3rd season; 291-194 in 16th season)

Series:

BYU leads, 26-21, including a 64-60 win at Arizona State in 2002

TV:

Live on FSN (Ted Robinson Play-by-play; Marques Johnson, game analysis; Jody Jackson, sideline)

Radio:

KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM) and the Cougar Sports Network (1:30 p.m. MT pregame show — Mark Durrant, play-by-play; Russ Larson, game analysis)

Web:

Live audio links are available on the basketball schedule page at www.byucougars.com/basketball_m/

Stadium Shootout Against Arizona State on Saturday

BYU (10-0) men’s basketball will play a ranked opponent for the first time since playing Michigan State last season when the Cougars face No. 20/17 Arizona State (8-1) at University of Phoenix Stadium on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. MT. BYU is coming off a 91-76 win against Portland at home while the Sun Devils snuck away with a 59-58 overtime win against IUPUI in their last outing. BYU is looking to extend its best start since the 1987-88 season when the Cougars started 17-0. Saturday’s game will be televised live on FSN and can be heard live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 1:30 p.m. MT on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City or via the Internet at KSL.com.

Up Next

BYU will play its final home game of the calendar year on Tuesday, Dec. 23, against Western Oregon at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center. Follow the game on www.byucougars.com and listen live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 6 p.m. MT on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City or via the Internet at KSL.com.

Cougar Quick Hits

— At 10-0 BYU is off to its best start since the 1987-88 season.

— BYU extended its nation’s-best home winning streak to 53 games with a 91-76 victory over Portland in the Marriott Center. The Cougars went 16-0 at home last year. The streak is the longest in school history.

— Two-time MWC Coach of the Year Dave Rose has guided BYU to three-straight 20-win seasons and three-straight postseason appearances. In his first season the Cougars were 20-9 and made a trip to the NIT. In his second campaign he guided the Cougars to the outright MWC title, a top-25 ranking, a trip to the NCAA Tournament and a 25-9 overall record. Last season he led BYU to a 27-8 overall record, a second-straight outright league title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. He has the best record through 100 games of any BYU basketball coach.

— BYU has been picked to finish second (five first-place votes) in the MWC preseason poll by the league’s media.

Looking at Arizona State

Arizona State is 8-1 on the season after pulling out a 59-58 overtime win against IUPUI. The Sun Devils are 4-0 at home, 3-1 at neutral sites and 1-0 on the road. The team’s only loss came against Baylor at the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif. James Harden leads Arizona State with a 23.7 ppg scoring average. He also leads the team in shooting percentage (57.9 percent), three-point shooting (20-39, 51.3 percent) and steals (13) and is second in rebounding (6.9 per game) and assists (35). Three other players average double figures, including Jeff Pendergraph (11.8), Ty Abbott (11.1) and Rihards Kuksiks (10.9). Pendergraph leads the squad in rebounding (7.1) and blocks (10). The Sun Devils are coached by Herb Sendek, who helped turn the team around with a 21-win season last year after posting just eight victories in his first year.

Series Notes

Saturday’s game will mark the 48th meeting between BYU and Arizona State and the first since Dec. 4, 2002 when the Cougars won 64-60 at Arizona State. The Cougars hold a 26-21 advantage in the series, which dates back to Dec. 5, 1946. BYU leads 20-4 in Provo while Arizona State leads 16-5 in Tempe. The teams have split the only two neutral site games in the series, which were the first two meetings in the series. The two teams played every year from 1999 to 2002 with BYU winning three times and Arizona State once. The Cougars have won four of five overall in the series.

BYU vs. Ranked Opponents

When the Cougars take on Arizona State on Saturday it will be BYU’s first game against a ranked opponent since playing No. 9 Michigan State at Energy Solutions Arena on Dec. 8, 2007. The Cougars dropped a close one, 68-61, to the Spartans. Including the Michigan State game BYU played three ranked opponents in 2007-08, defeating then No. 6 Lousiville 78-76 and falling to then No. 1 North Carolina 73-63. All three games were played at neutral sites. The last time BYU played a ranked non-conference foe on the road was on Dec. 2, 1995 at No. 8 Mississippi State. The Cougars lost 79-74. BYU is 50-111 all-time against ranked teams.

Jimmer Fredette - MWC Player of the Week (Dec. 15)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – BYU sophomore Jimmer Fredette and New Mexico junior Roman Martinez have been named the Mountain West Conference Men’s Basketball Co-Players of the Week. Fredette is a first-time player of the week honoree and is the second Cougar this season to earn the award. Lee Cummard was named player of the week on Nov. 17. A 6-foot-2 guard from Glens Falls, N.Y., Fredette averaged 20.0 points per game while shooting 72.7 percent from the field (16-for-22) and 87.5 percent from the charity stripe in helping BYU to wins against Boise State (94-56) and Portland (91-76) last week. He started the week scoring a career-high 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting, while tying a career-best with four steals vs. Boise State. Fredette also tallied two assists vs. the Broncos. Against Portland, Fredette scored 17 points (6-for-7 from the field), while also collecting three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

1,000-Point Man

Including a season-high performance with 36 against Long Beach State, 30 against Weber State and 28 against Cal Poly, Lee Cummard now has 182 total points for the season and 1,195 for his career. He is now tied for 21st all-time in scoring in BYU history with Eldon Brinly. Cummard is 11 points from passing Gary Trost to break into the top-20.

Downtown Record Watch

With five treys against Portland Jonathan Tavernari has 144 career threes, including 27 this season. He started the season with 117 and has passed Andy Toolson for third place and is 20 downtown makes from passing Mike Rose (163) for second. Tavernari also has 393 attempts from downtown, good for second all-time, now 12 ahead of Mike Rose. Lee Cummard hit two threes against Boise State to give him 131 for his career, now four ahead of Terrell Lyday for fifth all-time and 13 behind Tavernari for fourth.

Magic Number: 70

With a 91-76 victory against Portland at home BYU is now 9-0 when scoring at least 70 points in 2008-09. BYU’s only game without scoring 70 points was a 68-63 win against Utah State. In 2007-08 the Cougars were nearly perfect when scoring at least 70 points, posting a record of 22-1. The Cougars scored 90 or more points in five games last season (three times this season), reaching 100 against Jackson State, and were 10-0 when scoring more than 80 points. BYU is 6-0 when scoring more than 80 points in 2008-09. Portland is BYU’s only opponent to have reached 70 points in a game in 2008-09.

Big Second Half

Leading 33-29 at the break against Boise State the Cougars exploded for 61 points in the second half. BYU ran away from the Broncos with a 22-5 run in the fist 4:31 to start the second half. The 61 points scored is tied for the 18th-most points scored in a half in school history. It was the most points scored in a half since the Cougars scored 62 in the first half against Sacramento State on Feb. 25, 1993. BYU scored 61 in the second half against Morgan State on Dec. 28, 1995.

Home Winning Streak

BYU extended its home winning streak to 53 games with a 91-76 victory over Portland on Dec. 13. The Cougars are 6-0 at home in 2008-09. The streak is a school record and currently the longest in the nation. The Cougars set the school record with their 67-59 win over Utah in the Marriott Center on Feb. 20, their 45th straight home win. The Cougars were 16-0 at home last year and won 17 home games the prior season after going 14-1 at home in 2005-06. BYU’s last home loss was in the 2005-06 season opener against Loyola Marymount. BYU has since won 29 straight over nonconference opponents and 24 consecutive over MWC foes. BYU’s last league loss at home was its season finale in 2005 to UNLV. BYU is 425-116 (.786) all-time in the Marriott Center, and Cougar head coach Dave Rose is 53-1. Prior to the current streak, BYU’s longest homecourt victory streak was 44 games from Feb 19, 2000 to Jan 16, 2003.

Top-10 Pick Pockets

With nine steals this season Lee Cummard has climbed to ninth all-time in BYU history in career steals with 109. Cummard had 16 as a freshman, 50 as a sophomore and 33 last season. Jonathan Tavernari is also climbing the list with 17 thefts this season and 83 for his career. He is now tied for 20th.

Iron Man Cummard

Since arriving at BYU as a freshman in 2005-06 senior Lee Cummard has not missed a single game. His streak of 108 games played currently ranks 11th for the longest such streak in school history. Cummard has also started the last 79 games he has played, dating back to the first game of the 2006-07 season, a streak that ranks seventh longest in school history. In his career Cummard has played in 108 games and with 20 regular season games remaining, the MWC tournament and the possibility of postseason play he has the potential to claim the top spot in career games played. Below are the streaks for consecutive games started and consecutive games played.

Shutting ‘Em Down

One key to BYU’s success this season has been shutting down its opponent’s leading scorer. In eight of 10 games the Cougars have held their opponent’s leading scorer under their average coming into the game. In seven of those games the opponent’s leading scorer was held to single digits. In all 10 games the opponent’s leading scorer is averaging 7.6 points less than his average coming into the game.

Hitting a High Percentage

BYU has been hot from the floor through 10 games in 2008-09. The Cougars are connecting on 52.2 percent (first in the MWC) of their shots from the field. After hitting 43.3 percent in the opener BYU hit 50.0 percent or better in six-consecutive games, including a 57.4 percentage against Weber State. In fact, BYU set a new season-high shooting percentage in three-straight games, from 52.4 percent against Cal Poly to 56.6 at Idaho State to 57.4 at Weber State. After an off game against Utah State (41.5 percent) the Cougars hit 53.0 percent against Boise State and went for a new season high of 61.7 percent against Portland.