BYU Claims MWC Season Opener

FORT COLLINS -- The BYU men's basketball team (13-2) defeated the Colorado State Rams (5-11) 86-60 to open Mountain West Conference play on Saturday.

“I thought that our focus defensively was great," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "We were sharing the ball effectively and our team was dialed in. We executed on the offensive end as well as the defensive end. We got great minutes from our starters and great help from our bench.”

Senior reigning MWC Player of the Year Lee Cummard led the Cougars in scoring, posting 18 points on the afternoon. Sophomore Jimmer Fredette had 15 points while junior Lamont Morgan, Jr., tallied 11.

The Cougars kicked off conference play with a 6-0 run in the first two minutes of the game. CSU’s only lead of the game was at 13-12 and the final tie of the game was 15-all at the 11:20 mark.

Making adjustments to the defensive play before halftime, BYU was able to shut down the CSU offense, pulling away with a 16-point lead going into the locker room.

The BYU bench helped the Cougars post a 46-30 lead at the half with Lamont Morgan, Jr. scoring nine points while adding two assists and one steal. Charles Abouo had five points and three rebounds while Gavin MacGregor tallied two points, two boards and a block.

“The more time they can get on the floor, the more confident they become and the better they play,” said Rose concerning his bench players.

In the last seven minutes of the half, 14 of the 16 bench points came during a 21-8 run.

Jimmer Fredette led the Cougars in the first half scoring 12 points, dishing out two assists and grabbing two boards. With BYU only three points ahead of CSU, he scored seven points during a 9-2 run to extend the lead to 34-24.

Lamont Morgan, Jr., had his best first half of the season, scoring nine points on 4-for-6 shooting. He also grabbed three boards and two assists in the first half.

The Cougars pulled away in the second half with Cummard leading his team in the second half posting 11 points. He posted 18 total points and eight rebounds on the afternoon. Cummard shot 8-for-10 from the field with 2-for-2 treys.

“We came out playing a little bit harder in the second half,” said Cummard. “We didn’t turn over the ball as much in the second half as we did in the first.”

The Cougars have now posted more than 40 points at the half in eight games, as well as finishing off the game with more than 80 points in nine games.

BYU will return to the Marriott Center for its MWC home opener against TCU on Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. MT. Follow the game live on www.byucougars.com and listen live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 7 p.m. MT on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City or via the Internet at KSL.com. The game will be televised live on The Mtn.

CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
BYU vs Colorado State
1/10/09 1 PM at Moby Arena (Fort Collins, Colo.)
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VISITORS: BYU 13-2 (1-0)
                          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  3-9    1-2    0-0    1  4  5   3   7  1  2  0  1  17
54 MILES, Chris........ c  2-3    0-0    2-3    1  2  3   2   6  2  2  2  2  21
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  3-5    2-4    0-0    0  3  3   2   8  3  1  1  2  20
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g  8-10   2-2    0-0    3  5  8   2  18  2  2  1  0  23
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  6-12   2-6    1-1    0  3  3   0  15  4  2  0  2  31
01 ABOUO, Charles......    3-5    2-3    0-0    1  3  4   1   8  0  2  0  0  20
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont.    5-8    1-2    0-0    3  0  3   3  11  3  2  0  1  23
05 ROSE, Archie........    2-3    0-0    0-0    0  3  3   1   4  1  1  0  0  11
15 ANDERSON, James.....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  1   5
20 PINEGAR, Matthew....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  2  0  0   3
34 HARTSOCK, Noah......    0-1    0-0    1-2    0  1  1   3   1  0  0  0  1  12
53 MACGREGOR, Gavin....    4-6    0-0    0-2    1  3  4   4   8  0  0  1  0  14
   TEAM................                            1  1
   Totals..............   36-63  10-19   4-8   10 28 38  22  86 16 16  5 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-34 55.9%   2nd Half: 17-29 58.6%   Game: 57.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-9  55.6%   2nd Half:  5-10 50.0%   Game: 52.6%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half:  1-4  25.0%   Game: 50.0%    1
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HOME TEAM: Colorado State 5-11 (0-2)
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
01 FRANKLIN, Travis.... f  2-4    0-0    0-1    1  0  1   1   4  1  2  0  0  20
13 McFARLAND, Andre.... f  1-7    0-4    0-0    2  2  4   0   2  1  0  1  0  25
32 OGIDE, Andy......... f  6-13   0-0    0-0    3  5  8   3  12  0  4  0  1  23
11 CARR, Jesse......... g  1-4    0-1    1-2    0  1  1   1   3  1  2  1  0  19
43 GARDNER, Willis..... g  2-7    0-2    2-3    0  0  0   0   6  0  1  0  1  26
03 CLAYMAN, Flynn......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
04 WALKER, Marcus......    3-9    1-3    5-5    0  2  2   2  12  0  5  0  0  26
12 NIGON, Adam.........    0-4    0-3    1-2    1  2  3   1   1  0  1  1  1  18
15 ANNESE, Mike........    2-2    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   5  0  0  0  2   3
20 PERRY, Harvey.......    0-2    0-1    0-0    2  2  4   0   0  1  0  0  1   3
21 SIMMONS, Josh.......    1-2    0-0    6-8    0  1  1   2   8  0  1  0  0   8
33 LEBSACK, Michael....    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  1  0  0  0   2
40 DUNN, Arin..........    1-2    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   3  0  2  0  1   8
44 BOCAR BA, Mame......    1-2    0-0    2-3    3  3  6   1   4  0  1  1  0  17
   Team................                            1  1
   Totals..............   20-58   3-16  17-24  13 20 33  11  60  5 19  4  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-33 33.3%   2nd Half:  9-25 36.0%   Game: 34.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-8   0.0%   2nd Half:  3-8  37.5%   Game: 18.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  8-12 66.7%   2nd Half:  9-12 75.0%   Game: 70.8%    4
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Officials: Bill Gracey, Scott Thornley, Darron George
Technical fouls: BYU-None. Colorado State-None.
Attendance: 2958
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
BYU...........................   46   40  -   86
Colorado State................   30   30  -   60
Points in the paint-BY 42,CS 26. Points off turnovers-BY 20,CS 17.
2nd chance points-BY 13,CS 13. Fast break points-BY 10,CS 2.
Bench points-BY 32,CS 33. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-BY 2nd-03:39, CS 2nd-01:25.
Largest lead-BY by 37 2nd-03:39, CS by 1 1st-13:31.