Game 15 - Cougars Return to Marriott Center to Play Eastern New Mexico

Cougars Return Home to Face Eastern New Mexico

BYU men’s basketball (13-1) returns to the Marriott Center after three games away from home to take on Eastern New Mexico (5-5) on Saturday, Jan. 2, at 7 p.m. The Cougars will be looking to extend an eight-game winning streak, their best since opening the 2008-09 season at 10-0. The game can be heard live on KSL Newsradio beginning with the pregame show at 6 p.m. MST on 102.7 FM and 1160 AM or via the Internet at KSL.com.

Up Next

The Cougars open MWC action when they welcome UNLV to the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Jan. 6, at 8 p.m. MST in the Marriott Center. Listen to the game live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 7 p.m. MST on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM or via the Internet at KSL.com. The game will be televised live on The Mtn.

Cougar Quick Hits

— Jimmer Fredette set BYU single-game records with 49 points and nine threes against Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl Classic in Tucson, Ariz., at the McKale Center. BYU handed Arizona its worst loss at the McKale Center, 99-69.

— Jimmer Fredette was named MVP of the HoopTV Las Vegas Classic after averaging 28.5 points, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals in wins over Nevada and Nebraska. Jackson Emery (24.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, 3.0 spg) and Tyler Haws (13.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg) earned all-tournament honors.

— Fredette is now 37th all-time in scoring at BYU with 1,083 career points. He leads the conference in scoring at 21.6 points per game. He is also 15th at BYU in career assists with 275 and 12th in steals with 103.

— Since Rose took over as head coach of BYU basketball, the Cougars are 68-3 (.958) in the Marriott Center, including a 53-game home winning streak from 2005 to 2008 — the longest in school history. With the win over Eastern Washington, the Cougars have a 13-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 110-35 (.759) overall, he is the fastest BYU coach to reach 100 wins.

— Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari became BYU’s all-time leader in three-pointers with two treys vs. San Francisco to give him 214. He is now at 219 after hitting one vs. Nebraska. He is also climbing the lists for points (20th with 1,282) and steals (6th with 130).

BYU GAME #15 FAST FACTS

BYU (13-1) vs. Eastern New Mexico (5-5)

Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010

Marriott Center (22,700)

Provo, Utah

7 p.m. MST

Coaches

BYU, Dave Rose (110-35 in fifth season; same overall)

Eastern New Mexico, Andrew Helton (5-5 in first season; same overall)

Series

First meeting

Radio

KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM and online at KSL.com) and the Cougar Sports Network (6 p.m. MST 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 Eastern New Mexico

Eastern New Mexico, an NCAA Division II institution that plays in the Lone Star Conference, is 5-5 on the season. The Greyhounds started the year 4-1 before a three-game losing streak. Eastern New Mexico ended the streak with an 82-71 win at Southwestern Oklahoma before losing at home to Texas A&M-Commerce. The Greyhounds are 3-3 at home and 2-2 on the road in 2009-10. Tyler Jefferson leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 12.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He is also tops in field goal percentage (.600) and blocks (14) while shooting .754 from the free throw line. Reggie Nelson is second in scoring at 9.2 points per game while leading the team in three-point shooting (15-of-36 for a .417 percentage). Victor Reid (7.8) and Equs Darby (7.3) are the team’s third and fourth leading scorers and Jimmie Marshall leads in assists at 4.3 per game. As a team Eastern New Mexico averages 60.7 points and shoots .425 from the field. Opponents average 60.9 points and shoot .418 against the Greyhounds.

Eastern New Mexico’s Last Outing — Lions Rally Past Greyhounds

PORTALES, N.M. - Jimmie Marshall (Sr., G, Milwaukee, Wis./Iowa Lakes CC) and Reggie Nelson (Jr., G, Tyler, Texas/Tyler HC) each scored 11 points, with Marshall also dishing out five assists and grabbing a career-best five steals, but the Eastern New Mexico University men’s basketball team (5-5) dropped a 75-58 decision in Lone Star Conference crossover action to Texas A&M-Commerce (9-1), Saturday night at Greyhound Arena. The Lions took a 27-20 lead on Ronnie Morgan’s free throw with 1:24 left in the opening half, but Marshall connected on a jumper just before the half ended, starting a 17-5 Greyhound run, giving Eastern its largest lead of the game, 37-32, on a Tralyn Harden (So., G, Itasca, Texas/McLennan CC) with 15:39 left in the contest. Commerce followed with a three-pointer from Cardell Hunter and a jumper from Brian Singleton to pull even, but ENMU took the lead right back on a pair of Harden free throws. Ronnie Morgan hit a game-tying jumper with 13:30 left, but Harden gave the Hounds their final lead 58 seconds later on another jumper. The Lions erased the deficit with a 6-0 run, taking a 45-41 lead with 10:03 remaining. The Hounds managed to pull to within two points twice, the final time coming on a Marshall layup with 8:54 left, but the Texas-A&M-Commerce surged to a 14-4 run, seizing a controlling 61-49 lead with 5:13 left. Eastern managed to pull within seven points, but could come no closer as the Lions pulled away for the win. TAMU-Commerce held a 50-35.1 edge in shots from the floor and a 71.4-48.4 advantage from the free throw line. The Lions outrebounded Eastern by a 39-31 margin, but the Hounds held a 14-11 edge on the offensive glass, which they converted into a 12-8 advantage in second chance points. Nelson scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds for Eastern. Morgan paced the Lions with 24 points, eight boards, two blocks and three steals.

Series Notes

Saturday’s game is the first meeting between BYU and Eastern New Mexico.

Free Throw Streaks

Junior guard Jimmer Fredette set a BYU record with 39-consecutive made free throws from Nov. 17 to Dec. 12. Fredette broke the record when he hit his 33rd-consecutive free throw with 16:56 remaining in the second half against Arizona State. He had a streak of 13 straight in the first two games and reached 20-straight before missing after six-straight makes against Nebraska. For the season he is shooting .926 from the line and his career percentage is .875 — second in Cougar history. Tyler Haws is shooting .889 from the line and has hit his last 19 attempts over the last seven games. Jackson Emery has made 12-straight free throws in the last three games.

100 Victories and Counting

With BYU’s 83-65 win over Hawai’i, Dave Rose earned his 100th career victory in his 134th game as BYU’s head coach. He reached the 100-win plateau faster than any coach in BYU history. Roger Reid previously held the record, achieving the mark in 143 games. Below is a list of the BYU head coaches who won at least 100 games, their career record, how many games it took them to reach the milestone and who they defeated for victory number 100.

1,000-Point Scorers

With two points at Arizona, Jonathan Tavernari has 1,280 career points and is ranked 20th all-time in scoring at BYU. He is three points from passing Alan Taylor for 19th all-time.

Jimmer Fredette eclipsed 1,000 career points when he hit a three with 10:04 remaining against Nevada. He reached the milestone in 80 games. After scoring a BYU record 49 points at Arizona he has 1,083 career points — 37th all-time. He is two points from passing Mel Hutchins for 36th all-time.

Downtown Record Watch

Jonathan Tavernari hit two threes vs. San Francisco to become BYU’s all-time leader in career threes, passing Mark Bigelow who had 213 for his career. He is also the leader for career attempts. Tavernari owns the record for threes in a season with 88 in 2007-08. He now has 219 makes and 596 attempts. Jimmer Fredette is ninth with 123 makes and seventh with 327 attempts.

Top-10 Pick Pockets

Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari had two steals vs. Nevada to give him 130 for his career. He is sixth all-time in BYU history and two from passing Russell Larson for fifth all-time. Jimmer Fredette is 12th all-time with 103 steals and Jackson Emery is 17th with 92.

When Jimmer Scores 20...

Jimmer Fredette had a Cougar record 49 points in BYU’s 99-69 win at Arizona, his ninth 20-point game this season — including fourth straight and fifth in six games — and 17th of his career. BYU is 15-2 when Fredette scores 20 or more and has won the last 14 games in which he has reached the 20-point mark.