Game 6 - Cougars at Utah State on Wednesday

BYU to Play at Utah State

The Cougars take their perfect 5-0 record on the road when they play Utah State in the Spectrum on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. BYU has won the last two meetings in the long-standing rivalry but has not won in Logan since 2000. The Cougars lead the all-time series 135-90. Wednesday’s game can be heard live on KSL Newsradio beginning with the pregame show at 6 p.m. MT on 102.7 FM and 1160 AM or via the Internet at KSL.com. The game will be televised live on The CW30.

Up Next

BYU will play San Francisco at Energy Solutions Arena on Sat., Dec. 5, at 4 p.m. Listen to the game live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 3 p.m. MT on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM or via the Internet at KSL.com. The game will be televised live locally on KJZZ and nationally on BYUTV.

Cougar Quick Hits

— With 23 points against Weber State, Jimmer Fredette has scored in double figures in 19-straight games, the longest such streak since Travis Hansen scored in double figures in 21-straight games during the 2002-03 season. He also added seven assists, giving him 25 in the last three games.

— Since Rose took over as head coach of BYU basketball, the Cougars are 65-3 (.956) in the Marriott Center, including a 53-game winning streak from 2005 to 2008 — the longest in school history. With the win over Weber State, the Cougars have a 10-game home winning streak.

— Two-time MWC Coach of the Year Dave Rose has guided BYU to three-straight MWC regular season titles and three-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament. Under Rose, BYU also has four-straight 20-win seasons and four-straight postseason appearances. At 102-34 (.750) overall, he reached 100 wins faster than any other coach in BYU history. Roger Reid held the previous record, reaching 100 wins in 143 games.

— BYU has been picked to finish first (23 of 24 first-place votes) in the MWC preseason poll by the league’s media.

— Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari is on the verge of becoming BYU’s all-time leader in three-pointers (211 — three from passing Mark Bigelow) and is climbing the lists for points (20th with 1,219) and steals (8th with 123).

BYU GAME #6 FAST FACTS

BYU (5-0)

at

Utah State (3-2)

Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009

Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (10,270)

Logan, Utah

7 p.m. MT

Coaches

BYU, Dave Rose (102-34 in fifth season; same overall)

Utah State, Stew Morrill (270-93 in 12 season; 488-231 in 24th season)

Series

BYU leads 135-90, including a 68-63 BYU victory at Energy Solutions Arena on Dec. 6, 2008

TV

Live on The CW30

Radio

KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM and online at KSL.com) and the Cougar Sports Network (6 p.m. MT pregame show — Greg Wrubell, play-by-play; Mark Durrant, game analysis)

Web

Live stats links are available on the basketball schedule page at www.byucougars.com/basketball_m/

Looking at Utah State

Utah State improved to 3-2 on the year with an 89-49 win over Southern Utah on Saturday, Nov. 28. The Aggies opened the season with a 66-60 win at Weber State before suffering back-to-back road losses at Utah (68-67) and at Northeastern (64-61). Utah State returned home for a 77-44 win over Idaho State before the Southern Utah win. Forward Tai Wesley leads the team in scoring at 13.0 per game and adds 5.8 rebounds per game and shoots .553 from the field. Guard Jared Quayle is second on the team in scoring (11.8) and first in rebounding (8.0) and assists (4.4). He is also tied for first in free throw shooting (.929) and made threes (8). Forward Nate Bendall, a junior transfer from Salt Lake Community College, averages double figures at 10.6 points per game and adds 7.4 rebounds. As a team the Aggies average 72.0 points per game while shooting .465 from the field. They hold opponents to 57.0 points per game and .356 shooting from the field.

Utah State’s Last Outing — Medlin And Williams Lead Aggie Men Past Southern Utah, 89-49

LOGAN, Utah - Junior guard Pooh Williams tied his career-high with 17 points and freshman guard Preston Medlin added 17 points off the bench to lead Utah State to an easy 89-49 win against Southern Utah here inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Saturday night. Utah State, who improved to 3-2 on the young season, extended the nation’s second-longest home winning streak to 36 straight wins. USU also improved to 20-1 at home against in-state opponents under head coach Stew Morrill and has now won 20 of its last 26 games against teams from the state of Utah. SUU dropped to 3-4 on the year with the loss. Williams, who missed the first two games of the year recovering from foot surgery, made a career-high four three-pointers on the night and shot 6-of-7 from the field overall. Medlin, who was 5-of-6 from behind the arc, entered the game without scoring a single point in his first four outings in an Aggie uniform. Junior forward Tai Wesley also scored in double-figures for Utah State as he had 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Utah State turned a relatively close game into a blowout as it scored the first 18 points of the second half and held Southern Utah scoreless for the first 6:44 to lead 58-32 following a layup from junior forward Matt Formisano. The Aggies lead grew to 30 at 70-40 following Medlin’s fifth three-pointer of the game and later 40 points at 89-49 with just over a minute to play following a layup from junior guard Brian Green. In all, USU out-scored the Thunderbirds, 49-17 in the final 20 minutes. Utah State shot over 50 percent from the field for the first time this year as it finished the game at 53.3 percent overall (32-60), including 45.8 percent from three-point range (11-24) and 77.8 percent from the free throw line (14-18). Southern Utah shot just 26.4 percent (14-53), including 27.8 percent from behind the arc (5-18). Utah State scored the first seven points of the game and led 11-2 following a layup from Formisano. The Aggies extended its lead to 13 at 19-6 with 10:57 to play in the half on a jumper by senior guard Jared Quayle before Southern Utah backed into a zone defense and slowly chipped away at the Aggie advantage, getting within two at 22-20 with 6:59 remaining. The Thunderbirds later cut the lead to just one on a three-pointer from Brimley to make the score 27-26, before USU went on an 8-2 run to go up six.

Series Notes

Tuesday’s game will be the 226th meeting between BYU and Utah State. The Cougars lead 135-90 overall but trail 58-51 in Logan. BYU has won the last two games, including a 75-62 win in Provo in 2006 and last season’s 68-63 win at Energy Solutions Arena, the first neutral site game in series history. The Cougars have not won at Utah State since a 69-67 win on Dec. 16, 2000. Utah State has since won the last four games in Logan. In last season’s victory Jonathan Tavernari led BYU with 24 points, nine rebounds and four steals while Jimmer Fredette added 16 points, five rebounds and two assists.

The Oquirrh Bucket

The Old Oquirrh Bucket (named after the Oquirrh Mountains to the west of Salt Lake City) is the symbol of in-state basketball supremacy in Utah. Each year the trophy is awarded to the in-state college team (Utah, BYU, Southern Utah, Utah State, Utah Valley and Weber State) which has the best won-loss record against in-state competition. BYU has claimed the Bucket nine times since its inception, including in 2006-07 and 2007-08. BYU plays Weber State, at Utah State and twice against Utah.

Instate Scoreboad

11/13Utah State 66, at Weber State 60

11/18at Utah 68, Utah State 67

11/27at BYU 87, Weber State 80

11/28at Utah State 89, Southern Utah 49

1,000-Point Scorers

With 14 points at home against Weber State, Jonathan Tavernari has 1,219 career points and is ranked 20th all-time in scoring at BYU. He is 66 points from passing Alan Taylor for 19th all-time.

Downtown Record Watch

Jonathan Tavernari hit one three against Weber State to give him 211 for his career. He is three from passing Mark Bigelow (213) for first all-time at BYU. He owns the record for threes in a season with 88 in 2007-08. He also has 565 attempts from downtown, first all-time in school history.

Top-10 Pick Pockets

Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari had two steals vs. Weber State to give him 123 for his career. He is eighth all-time in BYU history and two from passing Matt Montague seventh.

When Jimmer Scores 20...

Jimmer Fredette had 23 points in BYU’ 87-70 win over Weber State, his fourth 20-point game this season and 12th of his career. BYU is 10-2 when Fredette scores 20 or more and has won the last nine games in which he has reached the 20-point mark. With three-straight 20-point games to start 2009-10, he matched his longest streak for consecutive games with 20 or more points. The first streak came last season when he had 21 at Utah (Jan. 27, 2009), 28 at home against Wyoming (Jan. 31) and 20 at Air Force (Feb. 3).

First Career Start

Freshman Tyler Haws started for the first time in his young career at Hawai’i, helping the Cougars to an 83-65 win over the Rainbow Warriors. He chipped in a career-best 12 points, one assist and one steal in the victory while playing a career-high 25 minutes. He has now started three straight games for the Cougars.

Road Success

In 2008-09, BYU set an MWC record for road wins in a season with nine. The Cougars were 9-3 overall in road games, their best record in road games since 1987-88 when they were 9-3. Nine road wins is tied for second most in a season at BYU behind the 1949-50 and 1979-80 teams that won 10 road games. In the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons combined, BYU is 17-8 on the road, including 11-5 in MWC games. The 17 road victories are the most in a two-year span since the Cougars won 18 in the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons. BYU’s 83-65 win at Hawai’i got the Cougars off to a 1-0 start in road games this season.

2009-10 Honors Candidates

Jimmer Fredette Jr. G 6-2 195 All-Conference, All-District, All-America Candidate

Leads the MWC in scoring (20.4), assist/turnover ratio (3.44), is second in assists (6.2) and tied for third in steals (2.0)

Has scored 20-plus points in four of five games this season

Had a double-double against Southern (12 points and 10 assists) in just 17 minutes

Is this in the MWC in free throw percentage (.909) and has made 30 of his last 31 attempts, including 17-consecutive

Named Nov. 16 MWC Player of the Week for his 25-point effort in a 70-60 win over Bradley

Named MWC Preseason Player of the Year

Named first-team All-MWC and MWC All-Tournament in 2008-09

Is the only returning player in the MWC that earned first-team all-conference honors in 2008-09

Also named a CollegeHoops.net High-Major All-America Honorable Mention and to USBWA All-District team

Jonathan Tavernari Sr. 6-6 215 All-Conference, All-District Candidate

Third on the team in scoring (12.4) and first in rebounding (5.2)

Is shooting .500 (18-36) and averaging 15.0 points in last three games

Is second all-time at BYU in threes (211) and needs three to take over first

Is eighth all-time at BYU in steals (123) and 20th in points (1,219)

Named to preseason All-MWC Team

Named third-team All-MWC in 2008-09

Jackson Emery Jr. 6-3 185 All-Conference Candidate, All-District Candidate

Leads the MWC in steals (2.8), three-point field goal percentage (.556), tied for first in threes per game (3.0) and is 13th in scoring (13.2)

Has multiple steals in four games, including three in two games and five in one game

Has hit 4-of-6 threes in the last two games and hit 5-of-8 vs. Idaho State

Tied his career high with 19 points and had a career best seven boards vs. Idaho State

Named to MWC All-Defensive Team in 2008-09