Wolves Fall Victim to the Cougars at the Marriott Center

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PROVO -- Behind 22 points from Jonathan Tavernari and 13 points from Jimmer Fredette the Cougars returned to their winning ways in the Marriot Center, defeating the Western Oregon Wolves 85-64 Tuesday.

“There was a lot of good that came out of this game for us," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "We have a lot of games on Saturdays and Tuesdays and that turnaround can be a challenge. This game got us in the right mindset for the upcoming conference play.”

After going scoreless for the first 5:25 of the first half and falling behind 11-0, the Cougar offense caught fire and BYU worked themselves back into the game, scoring all 42 of their first-points in the last 15:35. After a Fredette jumper tied the game at 25, Lamont Morgan, Jr. stole the ball at halfcourt and drove for a layup to give the Cougars their first lead of the game.

Tavernari scored 10 points in the first half on 3-of-5 shooting. BYU forced 10 turnovers and was able to convert them into 11 points.

After going 0-for-9 from the field, the Cougars shot 14-of-23 (60.8 percent) to finish the first half. BYU led at halftime, 42-33.

The Cougars did not let up in the second half, and scored 80 points for the eighth time this season. BYU out-rebounded the Wolves 21-15 in the last twenty minutes, and had 22 points in the paint.

Tavernari led all scorers in the game with 22 points. Wolf Mike McLaughlin had a game-high 12 rebounds, and Tavernari’s nine boards led the Cougars. BYU had five players in double-figures, including Tavernari, Fredette (13), Lee Cummard (12), Lamont Morgan, Jr. (12) and Archie Rose (11).

“We tried to give our bench guys good quality minutes that they have not previously had," Rose said. "We need to expand. Lamont (Morgan, Jr.) and Archie (Rose) got a chance to score points and gain confidence.”

BYU outscored Western Oregon in bench points 34-7, and fast-break points 14-2. The Cougars went to the line twice as often as the Wolves, and finished 22-of-29 (76 percent) from the charity stripe. The 34 bench points are a new season high for BYU.

The team heads on Fort Collins to take on Colorado State on Sat., Jan. 10 at 1 p.m., in the team’s first Mountain West Conference game of the season. The game will be broadcast live on The Mtn. and KSL Radio.

After the victory, BYU improves to 12-2, and Western Oregon drops to 6-5 in 2008.

The Cougars then return home to the Marriott Center and host the TCU Horned Frogs on Tue., Jan. 13. The game will also be broadcast live on The Mtn. and KSL Radio.

CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
Western Oregon vs BYU Cougars
1/6/09 7:35 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Western Oregon 6-5
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
30 KUHNS, Travis....... f  5-10   4-7    1-3    1  6  7   2  15  2  2  2  0  34
32 RATCLIFF, Stanley... f  6-7    0-0    0-2    1  1  2   2  12  0  0  0  1  32
23 MCLAUGHLIN, Mike.... c  4-12   0-1    4-4    0 12 12   2  12  1  5  1  0  29
03 WHEADON, Blair...... g  3-8    1-2    0-0    1  3  4   2   7  4  2  1  2  39
24 KELLY, Sam.......... g  5-17   1-7    0-0    1  3  4   4  11  2  2  0  0  39
04 SCHMIDT, Matt.......    1-6    0-2    1-2    1  1  2   3   3  1  3  0  3  14
05 HARRIS, Marcus......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   1
12 BOURNE, Alex........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
33 BLOK, Tyler.........    1-3    1-3    1-2    1  0  1   5   4  1  0  0  0   8
55 THRASH, Gabe........    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
   TEAM................                         3  1  4
   Totals..............   25-65   7-23   7-13   9 27 36  20  64 11 15  4  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-31 38.7%   2nd Half: 13-34 38.2%   Game: 38.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-11 45.5%   2nd Half:  2-12 16.7%   Game: 30.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-7  57.1%   2nd Half:  3-6  50.0%   Game: 53.8%    4
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 12-2
                          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  5-11   0-2    2-2    0  5  5   1  12  3  1  1  2  27
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f  8-15   2-5    4-6    2  7  9   0  22  1  1  1  3  27
54 MILES, Chris........ c  1-3    0-0    1-2    0  4  4   1   3  0  3  0  2  16
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  0-2    0-0    1-2    1  4  5   2   1  3  2  0  0  25
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  5-12   0-2    3-3    1  2  3   0  13  4  1  0  0  24
01 ABOUO, Charles......    2-6    0-1    0-0    0  4  4   0   4  1  1  0  1  19
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont.    4-5    2-2    2-4    0  1  1   1  12  3  1  0  1  22
05 ROSE, Archie........    2-4    1-1    6-6    2  1  3   1  11  0  0  0  0  17
15 ANDERSON, James.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
20 PINEGAR, Matthew....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  1   1
34 HARTSOCK, Noah......    2-3    0-0    3-4    1  3  4   3   7  0  1  3  1  17
53 MACGREGOR, Gavin....    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   29-61   5-13  22-29  10 33 43   9  85 15 11  5 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-32 43.8%   2nd Half: 15-29 51.7%   Game: 47.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-6  33.3%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 38.5%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 12-16 75.0%   2nd Half: 10-13 76.9%   Game: 75.9%    2
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Officials: Ronnie Hernandez, Duane Allen, Casey McClellan
Technical fouls: Western Oregon-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 8885
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Western Oregon................   33   31  -   64
BYU Cougars...................   42   43  -   85
Points in the paint-WOU 22,BY 40. Points off turnovers-WOU 8,BY 13.
2nd chance points-WOU 8,BY 16. Fast break points-WOU 2,BY 14.
Bench points-WOU 7,BY 34. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-WOU 2nd-02:32, BY 2nd-00:38.
Largest lead-WOU by 11 1st-17:17, BY by 21 2nd-00:38.