Game 17 - Cougars Face UTEP in Final Nonconference Game

Cougars Close Nonconference Schedule at UTEP

No. 25/23 BYU men’s basketball (15-1) will play its final nonconference game of the season when the Cougars take on UTEP in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, Jan. 9, at 7 p.m. 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. It will be televised live on CBS C.

Up Next

The Cougars return to MWC action on Wednesday, Jan. 13, at Air Force at 6 p.m. MST. Listen to the game live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 5 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 35th all-time in scoring at BYU with 1,090 career points. He leads the conference in scoring at 20.7 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 69-3 (.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 UNLV, the Cougars have a 15-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 112-35 (.762) 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 226 after hitting four vs. UNLV. He is also climbing the lists for points (17th with 1,314) and steals (T5th with 131).

BYU GAME #17 FAST FACTS

No. 25/23 BYU (15-1, 0-0) at UTEP (10-3, 1-0)

Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010

Don Haskins Center (12,000)

El Paso, Texas

7 p.m. MST

Coaches

BYU, Dave Rose (112-35 in fifth season; same overall)

UTEP, Tony Barbee (66-48 in fourth season; same overall)

Series

BYU leads 39-25, including an 85-64 win in Provo in the last meeting on Feb. 27, 1999

TV

Live on CBS C (Tom Hart, play-by-play; Steve Lappas, game analysis)

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/; watch the game online through CBS College Sports All-Access

Looking at UTEP

UTEP is 10-3 overall and 1-0 in Conference USA after defeating SMU 49-45 at home. The Miners opened the season with five wins before losing at home to New Mexico State and vs. Ole Miss in overtime. They won four in a row before losing at Texas Tech. UTEP was picked to finish third in Conference USA behind Tulsa and Memphis. Guard Randy Culpepper leads the team in scoring at 18.2 points per game and made threes with 35. He is second on the team with 21 steals and 36 assists. Derrick Caracter has played in the teams last eight games and is averaging 14.0 points and a team-best 9.1 rebounds. Other double figure scorers include Arnett Moultrie (12.2 ppg) and Christian Polk (10.7 ppg). Moultrie leads the team in steals (24) and adds 6.9 rebounds per game. Julyan Stones averages 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds while leading in assists at 5.1 per game. As a team UTEP averages 79.2 points per game while shooting .478 from the field, .349 from three and .672 from the free throw line. Miner opponents average 63.8 points and shoot .384 from the field. Head coach Tony Barbee is in his fourth season at UTEP where his teams have improved from 14 wins in 2006-07, to 19 in 2007-08 and to 23 in 2008-09. He is 66-48 with the Miners.

UTEP’s Last Outing — UTEP Edges SMU in C-USA Opener, 49-45

Derrick Caracter broke a 41-41 tie on two free throws with 2:09 remaining, then added a steal and a dunk 30 seconds later as UTEP held on for a 49-45 win over SMU in the Conference USA opener for both schools on Wednesday at the Don Haskins Center. The Miners (10-3, 1-0 C-USA) survived a major upset bid by the Mustangs (5-8, 0-1), who had dropped four of their last five games and were playing without their second-leading scorer Mouhammad Faye. SMU slowed the tempo and had success, holding UTEP to five field goals in the second half. Caracter made 7-of-11 shots and all four of his free throw attempts as UTEP won its conference opener for the sixth straight year. The Miners have won 13 of the last 14 against SMU, including seven in a row in El Paso. This one, however, was anything but easy, as SMU erased a 13-point second half deficit and tied the game at 39 on a free throw by Frank Otis with 5:32 to play. Otis, however, missed the second foul shot that would’ve given the Mustangs their first lead of the night. Neither team scored again until Arnett Moultrie nailed a jumper with 3:03 left to put UTEP ahead 41-39. SMU knotted the contest on a jumper by Derek Williams with 2:26 remaining before Caracter took over. Williams’ free throw with 1:18 left pulled SMU within 45-42 before Caracter threw a baseball pass to Randy Culpepper over the Mustang defense. Culpepper was fouled and made both free throws for a 47-42 lead with 49 seconds left. Culpepper joined Caracter in double figures with 14 points for UTEP, which was outscored 25-20 in the second half. The Miners were ahead 29-20 at the break. Williams led SMU with 14 points.

Series Notes

BYU and UTEP renew an old WAC rivalry when the teams face off for the first time since Dec. 27, 1999, on Saturday, Jan. 9, in El Paso, Texas. The Cougars lead the all-time series 39-25 and are 15-14 in El Paso. The Miners won the last meeting between the schools in El Paso, 87-72 on Jan. 28, 1999.

Rare Company

With averages of 21.6 points and 5.6 assists per game (when the national leaders were released on Jan. 4), Jimmer Fredette is the only player in the nation ranked in the top 20 in scoring and assists. He is 12th in the nation in points and 19th in assists.

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 .927 from the line and his career percentage is .876 — second in Cougar history. Tyler Haws is shooting .867 from the line and had a streak of 20-straight made free throws end against Eastern New Mexico. Jackson Emery has made 14-straight free throws and is shooting .833 for the season.

1,000-Point Scorers

With 17 points vs. UNLV, Jonathan Tavernari has 1,314 career points and is ranked 18th all-time in scoring at BYU. He is four points from passing Joe Nelson for 17th 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 seven points vs. UNLV he has 1,090 career points — 35th all-time. He is 11 points from passing Mark Handy for 34th 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 226 makes and 607 attempts. Jimmer Fredette is ninth with 124 makes and seventh with 329 attempts.

Top-10 Pick Pockets

Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari had one steal vs. UNLV to give him 131 for his career. He is tied for fifth all-time in BYU history and eight from passing Nate Call for fourth all-time. Jimmer Fredette is 12th all-time with 103 steals and Jackson Emery is tied for 16th with 94.

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.

Perfection From the Field

Freshman Tyler Haws posted a perfect shooting game against Nevada, scoring a career-best 20 points while hitting 7-of-7 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Noah Hartsock added a perfect shooting effort against Eastern New Mexico, hitting 6-of-6 for 12 points.