Cougars Race Past Greyhounds

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PROVO -- The BYU men’s basketball team started off the new year by extending its winning streak to nine games Saturday, defeating Eastern New Mexico 95-49 in the Marriott Center.

“I was pleased with the way that these guys stepped up and played without Jackson and Jimmer," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "I thought Mike, Noah and Jonathan played well and got some good shots. We managed the game really well."

Michael Loyd, Jr., led the Cougars with a career-high 17 points on the night, adding two steals. Jonathan Tavernari hit 6-of-7 from the field, tallying 15 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Charles Abouo and Noah Hartsock led the team on the boards with eight rebounds apiece; Hartsock also added 12 points, shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from the field.

Hartsock (12), Tavernari (15), Chris Miles (13) and Loyd (17) all scored in double figures as the Cougars improved to 7-0 this season when four players score at least ten points.

BYU (14-1) started the scoring with Noah Hartsock posting up to drain the first bucket. After being fouled at 18:53, Chris Miles made 2-of-2 from the charity stripe to put the Cougars up 4-0 to start the first half. The Greyhounds followed suit by following the next two missed shots to lay them in for two points each to knot the score at four.

The teams traded baskets again to tie the score at six, the Cougars then posting a 14-2 run to put them up 20-8 at the 13:12 mark. In that run, Jonathan Tavernari posted two threes while Hartsock, Miles and Davies added points as well.

With 9:22 left in the first half, Loyd was on the run to complete a fast break play, receiving a down-the-court pass from Lamont Morgan, Jr., and laying the ball in to bring the score to 32-14. Tavernari followed with a fadeaway at the 8:15 mark to bring the score to 34-18.

The Cougars went on another run, this one a 16-2 stretch to end the half as the teams went into the locker rooms with the Cougars leading by 30 at 57-27.

Posting the best field goal percentage in a half this season, the Cougars boasted a 73.3 shooting percentage. That is the best percentage for a half since BYU shot .739 in the second half against Colorado State in the 2008 Mountain West Conference Tournament.

With his fast-paced game, Michael Loyd, Jr. was on the run leading the team with 15 points in the first half, hitting 6-of-6 from the field and 3-of-3 from treyville. In 15 minutes of play, Morgan showed his unselfish style of play posting six assists in the first half. Tavernari posted 12 points in the first half, making 5-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from the three-point line.

Brock Zlystra had the crowd on its feet cheering with 6:12 left in the game on a huge one-handed dunk to bring the score to 86-42. Logan Magnusson and James Anderson scored with four and three minutes left in the game, respectively, to give all 11 active players at least two points against Eastern New Mexico (6-7).

"This is a great time of the year, you see all the preseason games and see what all your league opponents have," said Rose. "What comes next is even better, so we’re excited."

The Cougars will open MWC play against the UNLV Rebels Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the Marriott Center.

CLICK HERE for game notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
Eastern New Mexico vs BYU COUGARS
01/02/10 7:05 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Eastern New Mexico 5-6, 0-0 LSC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
21 BROWN, Michael...... f  3-6    0-0    0-0    2  0  2   3   6  0  1  0  0  22
30 JEFFERSON, Tyler.... f  5-13   0-1    0-0    4  2  6   2  10  1  2  0  3  24
05 NELSON, Reggie...... g  1-3    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   2  1  1  0  0  13
12 MARSHALL, Jimmie.... g  2-6    1-3    2-4    0  1  1   1   7  1  1  0  2  20
34 REID, Victor........ g  1-6    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   3   2  0  0  0  0  20
04 BRANCH, Alan........    2-5    1-3    1-4    0  0  0   1   6  1  4  0  1  19
10 HARDEN, Tralyn......    1-5    0-2    2-3    0  1  1   0   4  1  0  0  2  20
15 DARBY, Equs.........    4-11   2-5    0-0    0  3  3   1  10  1  0  1  0  21
22 ROMERO, Jordan......    0-5    0-3    0-0    0  4  4   0   0  1  2  0  3  18
24 MEGYERI, Josh.......    0-2    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   2   0  0  2  0  0  10
44 YORK, Tommy.........    1-3    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   4   2  0  1  2  0  13
   TEAM................                         4  1  5
   Totals..............   20-65   4-21   5-11  10 13 23  18  49  7 14  3 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-31 35.5%   2nd Half:  9-34 26.5%   Game: 30.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-9   0.0%   2nd Half:  4-12 33.3%   Game: 19.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-9  55.6%   2nd Half:  0-2   0.0%   Game: 45.5%    3
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HOME TEAM: BYU COUGARS 14-1, 0-0 MWC
                          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  6-6    0-0    0-0    4  4  8   0  12  6  1  1  0  21
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f  6-7    3-3    0-0    1  6  7   1  15  2  1  1  0  25
54 MILES, Chris........ c  3-5    0-0    7-8    1  5  6   1  13  1  0  2  0  17
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont. g  2-3    2-3    0-0    1  3  4   0   6  7  2  0  1  22
23 HAWS, Tyler......... g  3-6    0-1    2-3    0  6  6   2   8  2  4  1  1  20
00 DAVIES, Brandon.....    3-6    0-0    2-2    0  1  1   2   8  0  2  1  1  14
01 ABOUO, Charles......    1-6    0-2    1-1    2  6  8   0   3  1  4  0  0  20
10 LOYD, JR., Michael..    7-11   3-6    0-1    0  0  0   1  17  1  4  1  2  25
12 MAGNUSSON, Logan....    2-3    1-1    1-1    1  1  2   0   6  1  0  0  0  14
13 ZYLSTRA, Brock......    1-3    0-0    3-4    0  5  5   0   5  1  1  0  1  15
15 ANDERSON, James.....    1-2    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   2  1  0  0  0   7
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   35-58   9-16  16-20  12 38 50   7  95 23 19  7  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 22-30 73.3%   2nd Half: 13-28 46.4%   Game: 60.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  6-8  75.0%   2nd Half:  3-8  37.5%   Game: 56.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-9  77.8%   2nd Half:  9-11 81.8%   Game: 80.0%    2
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Officials: Milt Stowe, Jimmy Casas, Casey McClellan
Technical fouls: Eastern New Mexico-None. BYU COUGARS-None.
Attendance: 11293
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Eastern New Mexico............   27   22  -   49
BYU COUGARS...................   57   38  -   95
Points in the paint-ENMU 20,BY 44. Points off turnovers-ENMU 14,BY 14.
2nd chance points-ENMU 11,BY 16. Fast break points-ENMU 2,BY 10.
Bench points-ENMU 22,BY 41. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-ENMU 2nd-01:20, BY 2nd-01:47.
Largest lead-ENMU None, BY by 49 2nd-01:47.