Cougars Fall to Aztecs in Semis

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LAS VEGAS -- In the semifinal match between BYU and San Diego State, the Cougars fell to the Aztecs 64-62 at the Conoco Mountain West Conference Championships on Friday.

“I think it was two really good teams battling to try to get to the Mountain West Conference championship game,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose. “Both teams played really hard.”

Jimmer Fredette led the team in scoring, posting 17 points on the night, going 6-for-7 from the free throw line. Lee Cummard had 11 points and four rebounds, playing 40 minutes for the Cougars.

Noah Hartsock and James Anderson came off the bench to score seven and six points, respectively. Hartsock added five boards and each posted two blocks apiece. The team posted eight turnovers, six blocks and seven steals, along with 17 bench points and 28 points in the paint.

BYU started out the scoring on the night throwing the ball inside to Miles to put two points on the board at the 19:43 mark. SDSU fired back with a bucket on a second-chance play at 19:00.

Fredette would gain the lead back at the 18:33 mark at 4-2, followed by a jumper by Emery. The Aztecs came back with a 4-0 run but was cut short when Cummard got open off an in-bounds play, making the score 8-6.

Coming off the bench was Noah Hartsock to get to a basket at the 13:15 mark to complete a three-point play. He helped his Cougars regain the lead at 11-9.

The Aztecs would take off on a 9-0 run, giving them a seven-point lead at the 9:00 mark. After remaining scoreless for three and a half minutes, Tavernari posted his first points on the night with a three pointer, cutting the SDSU lead to four at 20-16. He sparked an 8-3 BYU run, with baskets also coming from bench players Hartsock and Charles Abouo.

Cummard knotted the score at 25 shooting two from the charity stripe at the 4:54 mark. The Aztecs battled back with back-to-back baskets. Fredette scored the last points of the first half with a three-point play, going into the locker rooms at 28-31.

Hartsock led the Cougars in scoring in the first half with seven points, a career-high. He was followed by Cummard with six, where he shot 2-for-2 free throws. Fredette also posted five points in the first half.

The Cougars shot 40.7 percent from the field in the first half, with only 18.2 percent from the three-point arc. They also shot 66.7 percent from the charity stripe. BYU scored 14 points from the paint in the first half, as well as 10 points off the bench and seven off of turnovers.

Four minutes after coming out of the locker rooms, the Cougars posted a 9-2 run, knotting the score at 42 at the 12:54 mark on a layup by James Anderson.

SDSU regained the lead with a two-point jumper at the 12:21 mark, followed by a three-point shot by Cummard nine seconds later to give the Cougars their first lead since 13-11.

The Aztecs regained the lead at the 11:26 mark, only for the Cougars to tie up the score again and to eventually take a three-point lead after Fredette passed the ball inside, only for Miles to immediately kick it back out for a three. The trey was Fredette’s 15th point on the night.

After regaining the lead at 52-49, the Aztecs posted a 7-0 run and a four-point lead. It was silenced by Miles making 1-of-2 free throws at the 4:45 mark (53-56).

With 39.2 seconds left in the game SDSU in-bounded the ball, getting it inside to make an easy layup to put the Aztecs up by three with 25 seconds left. BYU called a timeout with 22 seconds left to regroup, having Fredette throw up a three, getting fouled in the process.

With 10.6 seconds left in the game, Fredette went to the foul line, putting both in the bottom of the net to put the Cougars behind by one point. The Aztecs brought the ball in, getting fouled and going to the line to shoot 1-and-1, making both of the foul shots to bring them to 60-62. BYU fouled again on the in-bounds play, with Lorenzo Wade of SDSU making both of his foul shots, putting them up by four points.

Cummard drove the length of the court to come out with a two-point basket with 1.6 seconds left in the game. The Aztecs in-bounded the ball, which was stolen by Abouo. He put up a three-point shot, only to have it bounce off the backboard as the buzzer sounded.

The Cougars now wait to see if they will be selected to play in the NCAA tournament.

BYU vs. San Diego State Slideshow.

CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
San Diego State vs BYU
03/13/09 6:00 PM at Las Vegas, Nev. (Thomas and Mack Center)
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VISITORS: San Diego State 23-8
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
15 SPAIN, Kyle......... f  5-16   1-6    2-4    2  3  5   2  13  0  1  1  1  26
31 WADE, Lorrenzo...... f  6-11   1-2   11-11   3  4  7   2  24  1  2  0  3  38
32 WHITE, Billy........ f  2-4    0-0    0-0    2  2  4   0   4  1  1  1  1  26
43 AMOROSO, Ryan....... f  4-7    0-0    1-1    1  1  2   2   9  0  1  1  0  21
03 WILLIAMS, Richie.... g  2-7    1-4    0-1    2  6  8   5   5  1  2  0  0  27
21 THOMAS, Matt........    0-2    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  4  0  0  0  14
23 GAY, D.J............    1-2    0-1    3-3    0  2  2   0   5  0  2  0  0  16
24 SHELTON, Tim........    1-3    0-0    2-2    1  2  3   4   4  2  1  0  1  20
42 CHERIET, Mehdi......    0-1    0-0    0-0    2  2  4   4   0  0  0  0  0  12
   TEAM................                         2  1  3             1
   Totals..............   21-53   3-14  19-22  15 24 39  20  64  9 11  3  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-24 41.7%   2nd Half: 11-29 37.9%   Game: 39.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-6  16.7%   2nd Half:  2-8  25.0%   Game: 21.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-11 90.9%   2nd Half:  9-11 81.8%   Game: 86.4%   1,1
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HOME TEAM: BYU 25-7
                          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  2-8    1-4    0-0    1  3  4   0   5  0  1  0  1  31
54 MILES, Chris........ c  2-4    0-0    3-6    4  3  7   2   7  3  0  1  0  25
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  2-6    1-4    0-0    0  0  0   5   5  1  1  0  2  28
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g  4-10   1-3    2-2    2  2  4   2  11  2  1  1  0  40
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  5-14   1-4    6-7    1  2  3   2  17  4  3  0  1  38
01 ABOUO, Charles......    1-1    1-1    1-3    2  2  4   3   4  0  2  0  2   8
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont.    0-3    0-2    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  1   4
15 ANDERSON, James.....    2-2    0-0    2-3    1  1  2   1   6  0  0  2  0   6
34 HARTSOCK, Noah......    3-5    0-0    1-2    2  3  5   2   7  0  0  2  0  20
   TEAM................                            3  3
   Totals..............   21-53   5-18  15-23  13 19 32  17  62 10  8  6  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-27 40.7%   2nd Half: 10-26 38.5%   Game: 39.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-11 18.2%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 27.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-6  66.7%   2nd Half: 11-17 64.7%   Game: 65.2%    2
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Officials: Verne Harris, Bob Staffen, Shawn Lehigh
Technical fouls: San Diego State-None. BYU-EMERY, Jackson.
Attendance:
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
San Diego State...............   31   33  -   64
BYU...........................   28   34  -   62
2009 Mountain West Conference Semifinal
Points in the paint-SD 24,BY 28. Points off turnovers-SD 9,BY 13.
2nd chance points-SD 20,BY 10. Fast break points-SD 2,BY 2.
Bench points-SD 9,BY 17. Score tied-8 times. Lead changed-9 times.
Last FG-SD 2nd-00:26, BY 2nd-00:03.
Largest lead-SD by 8 2nd-16:53, BY by 4 1st-18:03.