Cougars Fall Short against Arizona State

GLENDALE -- The BYU men’s basketball team (10-1) suffered its first loss of the season Saturday losing a nail-biter to No. 20/17 Arizona State (9-1) 76-75 Saturday. Charles Abouo's tip as time expired was initially counted and would have given the Cougars the win but after reviewing the play the officials waved it off.

“It was very exciting when they called the shot good and we thought we had won,” BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "It was obviously disappointing when the call was reversed.”

The Cougars led the Sun Devils the entire second half until Charles was called for a foul on Arizona State's James Harden with nine seconds remaining. Harden hit the second foul shot to give the Sun Devils a one-point lead at 76-75.

With three seconds left in the game, BYU inbounded the ball, Tavernari's shot fell short but Charles Abouo grabbed the rebound and tipped it in. After reviewing the play the officials called off the buzzer shot and confirmed the Sun Devils as the winners.

Three Cougars scored in double figures including Jonathan Tavernari leading the Cougars with 24, Jimmer Fredette with 16 and Lee Cummard with 13.

Senior Lee Cummard played in his hometown for the first time since his senior year of high school, posting 13 points, six rebounds and six assists on the afternoon.

“We played well for stretches against a very good team,” Rose said. “We did make some mistakes down the stretch but they are things we can correct. We’ll work hard in practice to get better and be ready for our next game.”

To start off the Cougars on a 9-2 run was the starting lineup of Jackson Emery, Lee Cummard, Jimmer Fredette, Jonathan Tavernari and Chris Miles. The Cougars came out strong with Cummard and Emery posting the first nine points of the game.

The Sun Devils stole away the Cougar lead at the 12:17 mark, just one point ahead of BYU. Their largest lead of the game came at the 8:31 mark pacing the Cougars 20-14. Arizona State led BYU for over 11 minutes in the first half.

The Cougars took the lead back late in the first half with 53 seconds left on the clock. With a steal from Fredette and back-to-back three pointers from Tavernari, the Cougars led the Sun Devils going into the locker room 41-36.

The Cougars kicked off the scoring in the second half with Miles posting a layup. The Cougars kept the lead until the 2:07 mark when Arizona State tied the score 73-73, and at 75-75 at the 1:00 mark. The Cougars achieved their the largest lead of the game at 10 points (66-56), coming in at the 9:31 mark.

With 33.7 seconds left in the game, a timeout was called, ASU keeping the ball for 24 seconds, stopping the clock with until a personal foul called on the Cougars. Harden of ASU made his second free throw, putting the Sun Devils up 76-75.

Harden led Arizona State with 30 points on the afternoon, including the last point to win it for the Sun Devils. There were also two other Sun Devils in double figures, Jeff Pendergraph with 22 points and Jamelle McMillan scoring 10.

Saturday’s game marks the first time in over a year that the Cougars have played a ranked opponent. BYU fell to then-No. 9 Michigan State 68-61 at Energy Solutions Arena on Dec. 8, 2007. BYU is now 50-112 all-time against ranked teams.

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.

CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
BYU vs Arizona State
12-20-08 2:30 pm MST at Glendale, Ariz.
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VISITORS: BYU 10-1
                          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 10-19   4-10   0-0    0  4  4   2  24  4  4  1  1  34
54 MILES, Chris........ c  3-3    0-0    1-3    0  2  2   3   7  1  2  0  0  26
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  2-8    1-6    0-0    0  3  3   5   5  3  0  0  2  31
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g  4-8    2-4    3-5    2  4  6   3  13  6  2  1  1  33
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  6-12   2-5    2-3    0  0  0   3  16  4  4  0  2  35
01 ABOUO, Charles......    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   4   0  1  0  0  1  11
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont.    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   0  0  3  0  1  10
05 ROSE, Archie........    1-2    1-1    3-4    2  3  5   2   6  0  1  0  0   6
53 MACGREGOR, Gavin....    0-0    0-0    4-4    1  3  4   3   4  0  0  0  0  14
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   26-52  10-26  13-19   8 23 31  26  75 19 16  2  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-26 57.7%   2nd Half: 11-26 42.3%   Game: 50.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  6-14 42.9%   2nd Half:  4-12 33.3%   Game: 38.5%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-7  71.4%   2nd Half:  8-12 66.7%   Game: 68.4%    3
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HOME TEAM: Arizona State 9-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
04 Pendergraph, Jeff... f  9-14   0-0    4-5    0  9  9   1  22  0  2  0  0  36
30 Kuksiks, Rihards.... f  2-4    1-3    0-0    1  2  3   4   5  0  3  0  1  35
03 Abbott, Ty.......... g  2-10   2-7    0-0    2  1  3   3   6  3  1  0  1  29
12 Glasser, Derek...... g  0-1    0-0    1-4    1  2  3   1   1  1  3  0  1  32
13 Harden, James....... g  7-13   0-3   16-21   3  3  6   3  30  6  3  0  5  37
02 Boateng, Eric.......    1-2    0-0    0-0    2  1  3   2   2  1  0  0  0   4
10 McMillan, Jamelle...    4-6    2-3    0-1    0  2  2   2  10  3  2  2  0  18
44 Shipp, Jerren.......    0-2    0-1    0-0    1  0  1   2   0  1  0  0  0   9
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   25-52   5-17  21-31  11 21 32  18  76 15 14  2  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-29 48.3%   2nd Half: 11-23 47.8%   Game: 48.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-10 30.0%   2nd Half:  2-7  28.6%   Game: 29.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-9  55.6%   2nd Half: 16-22 72.7%   Game: 67.7%    3
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Officials: Bobby McRoy, Kevin Brill, Frank Harvey III
Technical fouls: BYU-None. Arizona State-None.
Attendance: 10431
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
BYU...........................   41   34  -   75
Arizona State.................   36   40  -   76
Game 2 of the 2008 Stadium Shootout
Game played at University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale, AZ)
Points in the paint-BY 14,ASU 26. Points off turnovers-BY 17,ASU 15.
2nd chance points-BY 9,ASU 19. Fast break points-BY 2,ASU 4.
Bench points-BY 10,ASU 12. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-BY 2nd-01:33, ASU 2nd-01:00.
Largest lead-BY by 10 2nd-09:31, ASU by 7 1st-08:31.