BYU vs. Bradley: Games Notes & Quotes

Postgame Notes

BYU vs. Bradley

Nov. 13, 2009

Marriott Center

Provo, Utah

Player Notes

— Michael Loyd, Jr., shot 4-for-4 from the field, including 2-for-2 from 3-point land, scoring 10 points and adding 3 rebounds and 1 steal. Loyd, Jr., set new career marks for FG% (4-for-4, 1.000), minutes played (22) and 3FG% (2-for-2, 1.000) and tied career-highs in rebounds (4) and 3-pointers made (2)

— After missing his first two attempts from the line, Jimmer Fredette made 12 straight free throws, finishing 12-of-14, both numbers new career-highs. Fredette’s previous career-highs were 8 free throws made and 9 attempted, both set against Utah last season. Fredette also shot 6-of-14 from the field, finishing with 25 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists

— Jackson Emery scored the first basket of the season for the Cougars, a 3-pointer at the 17:59

mark. Emery also tied a career-high for the tenth time with 6 rebounds.

— Freshman Brandon Davies scored his first collegiate basket on an acrobatic putback at the 13:54 mark, having substituted into the game for Chris Miles 1:50 earlier

— Freshman Tyler Haws scored his first point on a free throw at the 10:39 mark subsequent to being fouled on a shot after an offensive rebound. Haws had a team-high 7 rebounds in his debut

Team Notes

—Bradley’s 6 field goals and .273 FG% were the lowest totals for a BYU opponent in a half since North Florida’s 5 field goals and .200 FG% in the first half on November 20, 2008, the Cougars’ third game of the 08-09 season

— BYU lead Bradley 32-25 at halftime. The Cougars were 18-5 when leading at halftime in 2008-09

— BYU also held leads at the 5-minute and 1-minute marks of the game. Last season the Cougars were 24-2 when in the lead with five minutes remaining and 25-0 when leading with one minute remaining

— The Cougars now have won 7-straight games at home dating back to last season

Record Watch

— Jonathan Tavernari passed Randy Reid for 24th on the Cougars’ all-time scoring list, hitting a short jumper at the 19:10 mark of the second half to pass Reid’s 1,166 points with 1,168. Tavenari finished the night with 13 points, putting him 7 points behind Joe Richey. Richey is currently in the 23rd spot with 1,177 career points

— Tavernari finished the night shooting 3-of-8 from the 3-point line. The senior now sits 16 attempts behind Mark Bigelow’s 559 with 543 total attempts and 8 behind Bigelow’s 213 career makes from behind the arc

Game Trends

— After a basket by Eddren McCain at the 19:30 mark of the first half, the Braves did not score again for almost five minutes (14:40)

— Bradley then went on another drought, not hitting another field goal until the 8:47 mark, a total of 5:53 in between field goals

— Bradley’s only lead came when the Braves hit the first basket of the game at 19:30 in the first

half. Emery answered two minutes later with a trey to give BYU the lead the Cougars would hold the remainder of the contest, excepting one tie at 39-39 in the second half

BYU Head Coach Dave Rose

“There was a lot of energy in the building. They were two good teams really competing and it came down to the wire. Anything you try to simulate in practice or in exhibition games, you don’t get to really see until game time. I am proud of our players. They played a good game.”

“We had some issues with guarding; they were quick athletic guys. I wanted to get late in the game before switching but once we started switching we were effective. We played through the fouls and got through to the end.”

“Bradley was advanced in playing together from their five games in August in Brazil. It’s a long season—its good to get into the game and get them battling and competing and coming out on top.”

“The experience that Jimmer had really helped tonight—hopefully other guys can come out and do the same. Mike Loyd came out and played really well for us. It takes a lot of guys to win a game and tonight we had a lot of help.”

BYU junior guard Jimmer Fredette

“It was a great game. Bradley is a very, very good team with a good program. They had five games before this in Brazil and we knew it would be a hard game. We kept our head up against a good team.”

“There were a lot of combos; we had a lot of good players. It is no surprise to me we have a lot of talented players and a deep, good team.”

“They are a tough-minded team. The coach is a tough-minded guy. We knew we had to come out to get momentum, but luckily we were able to sustain that momentum.”

Bradley Head Coach Jim Les

“I have a lot of respect for Dave Rose and his program. They are a very good team. I’m never happy with a loss but I thought we battled and played hard. We talked a lot about control and tempo coming into this game and I think we did a good job of that in this game. Ultimately it came down to the end of the game and they made more plays than we did.”

“Jimmer Fredette is a very special player. He is special in his demeanor on the floor and is special in his skill on the floor so it’s not surprising that BYU has been so successful during his tenure here.”