Tavernari Sets Career Three-Point Mark in Win Over San Fran

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SALT LAKE -- The BYU Cougars triumphed over the San Francisco Dons at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, defeating USF 69-43 on Saturday.

The Cougars were led by Jackson Emery who finished with 14 points, four steals, four rebounds and two assists. Emery was followed closely by Jimmer Fredette who scored 13 points and had six assists.

“It was a good win,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose. “We were pretty fortunate. I was really happy with the way our guys were sharing the ball offensively, and it’s just nice to get a win and get things working in a positive direction again.”

Sophomore Noah Hartsock started for the first time in his career, setting a new career high with 28 minutes, while leading BYU with five rebounds and tying his career-highs in steals and assists with two in each category.

Jonathan Tavernari became BYU’s all-time leader in 3-point baskets, hitting a three off a pass from Fredette at the 8:56 mark in the second half. The trey was the senior's 214th, breaking the record previously held by Mark Bigelow with 213 threes made.

“I’m really proud of him,” Rose said of Tavernari. “It’s quite an accomplishment, and he really worked hard to achieve it. It’s a good record to have, but it’s nice to get it behind us so we can move on and keep winning games.”

Both the Cougars and the Dons seemed to favor their post match-ups early with the first five shots of the game being taken in the paint. However, after missed layups on each end, both teams began to utilize their outside play with Fredette and Haws hitting jumpers in the next five minutes of the game. USF also banked in a three-point basket.

The crowd favorite plays of the first half both featured BYU freshman post Brandon Davies. Five minutes into the half, Davies pinned a USF shot against the backboard and four minutes later his one-handed throwdown brought Cougar fans to their feet. The dunk put BYU in front, 15-8.

Senior Chris Miles scored the first points of both the first and second half, completing a three-point play for the Cougars. Guard play continued to be the driving force behind BYU’s dominance as Emery hit his third three-pointer of the game, while Fredette hit two free throws and added an and-one play giving the Cougars their largest lead of the game, 46-26.

BYU was able to maintain a lead of more than fifteen points for the remainder of the second half and eventually stretched the lead to thirty points with four minutes left to play. Strong play by the BYU bench allowed USF to only score three points for eight minute of the last ten minutes of the second half. The BYU defense was consistent throughout the game, holding the Dons to only 43 total points, the lowest for a BYU opponent this year and the fewest total allowed by the Cougars since 2007 at Long Beach State.

The Cougars continued to be perfect from the free throw line throughout the entire game by shooting 12-of-12 from the charity stripe. The last time BYU was perfect from the line was in 2005 against Saint Mary’s.

The Cougars will be back in action on the hardwood at the Marriott Center on December 8th facing the Sun Devils of Arizona State at 8:00 p.m. Listen to the game live on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM or online at KSL.com. The game will be broadcast live on The Mtn.

CLICK HERE for game notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
San Francisco vs BYU COUGARS
12/05/09 4:05 pm at Energy Solutions Arena, Salt Lake City
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VISITORS: San Francisco 2-6
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
22 BLACKWELL, Perris... f  3-11   0-0    2-8    5  3  8   1   8  1  2  0  0  29
32 CALOIARO, Angelo.... f  2-4    2-3    0-0    0  4  4   3   6  1  2  0  0  25
12 BRUHA, Tomas........ c  1-4    0-0    0-0    3  4  7   2   2  0  2  0  1  18
01 VAUGHN, Kwame....... g  4-8    0-2    2-3    0  2  2   1  10  1  1  0  0  30
13 GREEN, Rashad....... g  0-2    0-1    2-4    0  1  1   3   2  2  2  0  1  19
05 WILLIAMS, Michael...    1-4    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   2   2  2  1  0  0  20
11 BRYANT, Dontae......    0-3    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  2  3  0  2  24
21 DIARRA, Moustapha...    5-7    0-0    3-4    1  5  6   3  13  0  5  0  0  23
31 STOJILJKOVIC, Nikola    0-3    0-2    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0  12
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   16-46   2-11   9-19  10 21 31  16  43  9 19  0  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-23 43.5%   2nd Half:  6-23 26.1%   Game: 34.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-5  40.0%   2nd Half:  0-6   0.0%   Game: 18.2%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-5  40.0%   2nd Half:  7-14 50.0%   Game: 47.4%    6
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HOME TEAM: BYU COUGARS 6-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... f  1-2    0-0    0-0    0  5  5   2   2  2  0  2  2  28
54 MILES, Chris........ c  2-4    0-0    1-1    1  2  3   4   5  0  0  1  0  15
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  5-7    3-5    1-1    0  4  4   3  14  2  3  0  4  29
23 HAWS, Tyler......... g  5-8    0-3    2-2    0  0  0   2  12  0  1  0  0  26
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  4-8    1-2    4-4    0  3  3   1  13  6  5  0  2  28
00 DAVIES, Brandon.....    1-2    0-0    2-2    0  3  3   3   4  0  4  1  0  15
01 ABOUO, Charles......    1-4    0-1    2-2    1  1  2   0   4  1  1  0  1   8
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont.    2-2    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   5  3  0  0  1  12
10 LOYD, JR., Michael..    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   5
12 MAGNUSSON, Logan....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  1  0  0  0   3
13 ZYLSTRA, Brock......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
15 ANDERSON, James.....    0-2    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  0   4
24 TAVERNARI, Jonathan.    4-9    2-5    0-0    0  2  2   2  10  0  0  0  0  25
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   25-49   7-17  12-12   3 24 27  19  69 15 14  4 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-26 53.8%   2nd Half: 11-23 47.8%   Game: 51.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-11 36.4%   2nd Half:  3-6  50.0%   Game: 41.2%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-3  100 %   2nd Half:  9-9  100 %   Game: 100 %    0
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Officials: Bob Staffen, Mike Reed, Bill Kennedy
Technical fouls: San Francisco-None. BYU COUGARS-None.
Attendance: 10106
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
San Francisco.................   24   19  -   43
BYU COUGARS...................   35   34  -   69
Tavernari (#24) sets BYU record for most 3-pointers in career (214).
Points in the paint-USF 22,BY 33. Points off turnovers-USF 7,BY 20.
2nd chance points-USF 5,BY 9. Fast break points-USF 2,BY 21.
Bench points-USF 15,BY 23. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-USF 2nd-00:07, BY 2nd-02:25.
Largest lead-USF by 1 1st-17:04, BY by 32 2nd-02:25.