Game 27 - Cougars to Play Rams on Wednesday

Cougars at Colorado State on Wednesday

No. 16/14 BYU men’s basketball (23-3, 8-2 MWC) hits the road for a Mountain West Conference matchup with Colorado State on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 6 p.m. MST. The game can be heard live on KSL Newsradio beginning with the pregame show at 5 p.m. MST on 102.7 FM and 1160 AM or via the Internet at KSL.com. The game will be televised live on The Mtn.

Up Next

The Cougars play the second of back-to-back road games on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 4 p.m. MST, at Wyoming. Listen to the game live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 3 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.

— BYU’s 15-game winning streak, it’s second-longest winning streak in school history ended on Jan. 27 at New Mexico, 76-72.

— Fredette is 21st all-time in scoring at BYU with 1,282 career points. He leads the conference in scoring at 20.9 points per game. He is also 13th at BYU in career assists with 309 and 12th in steals with 111.

— 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 five-straight 20-win seasons and four-straight postseason appearances. At 120-37 (.764) overall, he is BYU’s all-time leader in winning percentage.

— 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 245 after hitting five threes vs. Air Force. He is also climbing the lists for points (12th with 1,421) and steals (3rd with 145).

— Since Jonathan Tavernari’s freshman year, BYU has won 100 games — the best four-year stretch in BYU basketball history — and he has played in 96. The only Cougar to have played in more wins in BYU history is Lee Cummard, who played in 97 victories.

BYU Game #27 Fast Facts

No. 16/14 BYU (23-3, 8-2) vs. Colorado State (15-9, 6-4)

Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010

Moby Arena (8,745)

Fort Collins, Colo.

6 p.m. MST

Coaches

BYU, Dave Rose (120-37 in fifth season; same overall)

Colorado State, Tim Miles (31-56 in third season; 234-166 in 14th season overall)

Series

BYU leads 87-46, including a 91-47 BYU win on Jan. 16 Provo

TV

Live on The Mtn. (James Bates, play-by-play; Dave Bollwinkel, game analysis)

Radio

KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM and online at KSL.com) and the Cougar Sports Network (5 p.m. MST pregame show — Greg Wrubell, play-by-play)

Web

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

Looking at Colorado State

Colorado State is 15-9 overall and 6-4 in the Mountain West Conference. The Rams are 10-2 in Moby Arena including 3-2 in conference games. In MWC play the Rams have defeated Wyoming, TCU and Air Force at home while losing to San Diego State and UNLV. Colorado State has won three straight with a 65-50 win at Utah, a 80-64 home win against Wyoming and a 51-47 win at Air Force. Freshman Dorian Green leads the Rams in scoring (12.8 ppg), assists (2.3) and threes (45). Junior Andy Ogide adds 11.5 ppg and a team-best 5.9 rpg while shooting a team-best .545 from the field. Travis Franklin is third on the team in scoring (10.9 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.3 rpg). Adam Nigon adds 8.2 ppg and 42 threes while Greg Smith averages 7.7 ppg and 4.4 rpg and Andre McFarland adds 6.6 ppg. As a team the Rams average 67.3 ppg, shoot .430 from the field, .356 from three and .684 from the free throw line. Their opponents average 64.4 ppg, shoot .418 from the field and .332 from three. Colorado State out-rebounds its opponents 35.9 to 31.9. Tim Miles is in his third season coaching the Rams. He is 31-56 at Colorado State.

Colorado State’s Last Outing — Rams escape Air Force for 51-47 win

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Andy Ogide tallied 12 points, and freshmen Dorian Green and Greg Smith each scored 10, helping CSU escape with a 51-47 victory at Air Force on Tuesday night. The Rams overcame a 29-21 hafltime deficit, closing the contest on a 12-4 run over the final 6:30. “In our prep, we talked about winning the paint and not turning the ball over, and at halftime we’re getting beat in both categories,” said Head Coach Tim Miles. “I credit the kids. They really came back and won with defense. We got stops, we got stops, we got stops, and even though we weren’t doing a lot on offense, we did enough.” Air Force built a halftime lead by outscoring the Rams 14-6 in the paint in the opening 20 minutes, and turning nine Rams’ turnovers into nine points. Colorado State responded, outscoring the Falcons 10-4 in the paint and allowing the Falcons only two more points off turnovers in the final 20 minutes. Those improvements helped the Rams stay within striking distance for much of the second half, as the Air Force lead never reached more than two possessions over the final 18 minutes of action. “We worked harder in the second half to loosen things up and attack the rim,” added Miles. But it was a Green three-pointer with 6:30 left to play that cut the CSU deficit to 43-42 and sparked a 12-4 Rams’ run to end the game, completing the second-half comeback and the regular-season sweep of the Falcons.The Rams, who missed both of their foul shots in the first half, hit 10-of-15 in the second half, led by a 5-for-6 performance from junior F Travis Franklin at the charity stripe. Green hit 4-of-5 attempts in the closing stanza, and Smith iced the game, hitting 1-of-2 with three seconds left on the clock to put the game out of reach. Smith turned in another stellar performance for the Rams, tallying nine rebounds to go along with his 10 points. Ogide and Green each finished with four rebounds, while junior G Adam Nigon pulled down seven rebounds to go along with his five points. The win marked the fourth consecutive regular-season victory over the Falcons for CSU, and gave the Rams a regular-season sweep over a second conference opponent (Wyoming) for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.

Series Notes

BYU leads the all-time series against Colorado State 87-46 and has won the last seven meetings, including a 91-47 victory in Provo this season. BYU has won the last two games at Colorado State. Dave Rose is 9-1 all-time against the Rams.

Tied for the Record...

With one steal against Air Force, Jackson Emery has 66 steals this season, tied for the most in a single season in school history. Marty Haws had 66 steals in the 1989-90 season.

Four Game Stretch

Jimmer Fredette’s four-game stretch from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2 was his best this season as he averaged 30.5 points per game. He posted 33 at San Diego State, 27 at New Mexico, 36 at home against Utah and 26 at home against TCU. He shot .475 (38-80) from the field, .680 (17-25) from three and .935 (29-31) from the free throw line during the four-game stretch. Fredette was especially efficient in the second halves of those games, averaging 17.8 points while shooting .733 (11-15) from three and .947 (18-19) from the free throw line.

1,600 Wins

BYU’s 76-56 win over TCU was the 1,600th victory in program history. BYU is the 19th program in NCAA history to win 1,600 games. Oregon State, Washington, Louisville and Texas also reached the plateau this season.

Best Start

At 23-3 overall, BYU men’s basketball is tied with the 1987-88 team for the best record in program history through 26 games. See below for the other best records through 26 games.

In the Rankings

BYU men’s basketball entered the top-25 rankings for the first time this season on Jan. 4 at No. 25 in the AP Poll and No. 23 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The Cougars are currently ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll and No. 14 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. BYU has been ranked as high as No. 12 in the AP Poll and No. 10 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Rose has led his teams to the rankings in each of the last four seasons to become the first Cougar coach to lead BYU into the rankings in four-straight seasons. The Cougar basketball program has now been ranked in the AP Poll during 18 seasons since its first national ranking in 1950-51.

BYU as a Ranked Team

BYU owns a 146-60 record as a ranked team, including 9-2 this season. The Cougars are 85-12 at home, 39-30 on the road and 22-18 at neutral sites when nationally ranked. BYU is 18-8 as a ranked team under Dave Rose.

1,000-Point Scorers

With 19 points vs. Air Force, Jonathan Tavernari has 1,421 career points and is 12th all-time in scoring at BYU. He is 92 points from passing Kresimir Cosic for 11th all-time. After scoring nine points vs. Air Force, Jimmer Fredette has 1,282 career points — 21st all-time. He is three points from passing Alan Taylor for 20th 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 245 makes and 648 attempts. Jimmer Fredette is fifth with 148 makes and is fourth with 375 attempts.

Top-10 Pick Pockets

Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari had three steals vs. Air Force to give him 145 for his career. He is third all-time in BYU history. Jackson Emery is ninth with 123 while Jimmer Fredette is 12th with 111.

When Jimmer Scores 20...

Jimmer Fredette had 21 points at UNLV, his 15th 20-point game this season and 23rd of his career. He has reached 30-plus points four times this season. BYU is 19-4 when Fredette scores 20 or more points.