Second Half of Conference Opens With Win

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PROVO -- The BYU men’s basketball team opened the second half of Mountain West Conference play with a win, defeating CSU 94-60 in the Marriott Center Wednesday night. With the win the Cougars improve to 18-5 overall and 6-3 in league play.

Jonathan Tavernari recorded a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds, marking his fourth double-double of the season and sixth of his career. The junior was a perfect 5-for-5 from the three-point line.

“JT played the best he’s played in quite a few weeks tonight,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose. “Defensively he was really engaged and shared the ball well. Our guys play off of him some nights and tonight was one of those nights.”

Also scoring in double figures for the Cougars was James Anderson, with a career-high 16 points, Jimmer Fredette with 15, Lee Cummard with 14 and Charles Abouo with 11 points.

Anderson helped get the Cougars going early, recording two quick dunks in the first five minutes. Though trailing from the start, the Rams kept the score close at 15-14. Hot shooting by BYU extended its one-point lead as Fredette and Tavernari made back-to-back three-point shots, sparking an 18-2 BYU run.

The Cougars’ tough defensive play held CSU scoreless for over five minutes, until Andre McFarland connected on his first three-pointer of the night. With 5:02 remaining in the first half, and up 35-19, Fredette stripped the ball, resulting in a steal and running layin by the sophomore.

“I thought we came out in the first half and were really focused defensively,” said Rose. “We guarded CSU really well and rebounded the ball well. The most impressive thing in that first half was how we shared the ball, always looking for one more pass.”

As the first half wound down BYU continued to extend its lead by as many as 27 points. A quick 2-for-2 trip to the free throw line by Cummard gave the Rams one final possession before the break. A three-point make by CSU’s Marcus Walker sent both team into the locker room with BYU up 51-27.

The Cougars shot an impressive .724 percentage from the field in the first 20 minutes of play, converting 21-of-29 shot attempts—the team’s best first-half shooting percentage of the season.

The second half started much like the first with Anderson’s strong offensive presence. The redshirt freshman scored eight points in the first seven minutes of the half as the Cougars’ extended their lead to 29.

“James really went in and gave us a good look defensively,” said Rose. “He got started defensively and then caught the ball really low on the block. That was a good lift for our team, to come in and defend and score the way he did.”

With 13:39 remaining in the game Cummard leaped over his CSU defender for an impressive two-handed dunk, putting BYU up 68-41.

Tavernari remained perfect on the evening from beyond the arc, hitting his fifth three-pointer with 11:29 to play. The BYU bench continued to contribute, as Abouo added a three-point make of his own and several late free throws. BYU’s reserves accounted for 33 of the team’s total points.

As a team the Cougars set team season highs in field goal percentage (.649), rebounds (49), assists (28) and tied the team season high for points (94).

Up next the BYU travels to Fort Worth, Texas, to take on the TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast live on The Mtn.

CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
Colorado State vs BYU Cougars
2/11/09 6:05 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Colorado State 8-16, 3-7
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
13 McFARLAND, Andre.... f  1-6    1-6    1-2    0  1  1   0   4  1  0  0  2  25
32 OGIDE, Andy......... f  2-11   0-0    2-3    3  2  5   2   6  1  2  1  0  28
04 WALKER, Marcus...... g  8-20   3-8    0-1    0  0  0   2  19  0  0  0  1  34
11 CARR, Jesse......... g  4-10   1-4    0-0    0  1  1   1   9  3  4  0  1  29
43 GARDNER, Willis..... g  3-6    1-1    5-5    0  3  3   3  12  1  0  1  2  31
01 FRANKLIN, Travis....    1-3    0-0    3-5    2  0  2   4   5  0  1  1  0  11
12 NIGON, Adam.........    0-2    0-2    0-0    0  2  2   2   0  2  0  0  3  10
20 PERRY, Harvey.......    1-6    1-3    0-0    0  3  3   2   3  0  2  0  0  22
40 DUNN, Arin..........    1-2    0-1    0-0    0  2  2   1   2  0  0  0  0  10
   Team................                         3  3  6
   Totals..............   21-66   7-25  11-16   8 17 25  17  60  8  9  3  9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-31 32.3%   2nd Half: 11-35 31.4%   Game: 31.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-11 36.4%   2nd Half:  3-14 21.4%   Game: 28.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-5  60.0%   2nd Half:  8-11 72.7%   Game: 68.8%    0
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 18-5, 6-3
                          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  6-9    0-2    2-2    0  5  5   3  14  4  4  0  0  22
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f  8-11   5-5    0-0    1 10 11   1  21  4  1  0  0  28
54 MILES, Chris........ c  4-6    0-0    0-0    2  0  2   2   8  2  2  0  0  16
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  1-1    1-1    0-0    0  3  3   2   3  8  3  0  1  20
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  5-10   2-4    3-3    0  3  3   1  15  4  2  0  1  33
01 ABOUO, Charles......    3-5    2-2    3-5    0  6  6   2  11  1  0  0  0  17
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont.    1-2    0-1    0-0    0  3  3   1   2  5  2  1  0  24
05 ROSE, Archie........    0-1    0-1    2-2    0  0  0   0   2  0  1  0  0   4
15 ANDERSON, James.....    8-11   0-0    0-1    2  5  7   4  16  0  1  2  1  23
34 HARTSOCK, Noah......    1-1    0-0    0-2    0  4  4   2   2  0  2  1  0  13
   TEAM................                         2  3  5
   Totals..............   37-57  10-16  10-15   7 42 49  18  94 28 18  4  3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 21-29 72.4%   2nd Half: 16-28 57.1%   Game: 64.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  7-9  77.8%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 62.5%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-2  100 %   2nd Half:  8-13 61.5%   Game: 66.7%    1
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Officials: Bob Staffen, Mike Reed, Kevin Brill
Technical fouls: Colorado State-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 11772
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Colorado State................   27   33  -   60
BYU Cougars...................   51   43  -   94
Points in the paint-CS 20,BY 48. Points off turnovers-CS 12,BY 13.
2nd chance points-CS 7,BY 8. Fast break points-CS 2,BY 14.
Bench points-CS 10,BY 33. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-CS 2nd-00:47, BY 2nd-01:11.
Largest lead-CS by 1 1st-18:08, BY by 36 2nd-04:15.