Big Second Half Propels Cougars to 26th Win

PROVO -- A strong second half sealed the win for No. 13/11 BYU as it defeated San Diego State 82-68 on Wednesday night in the Marriott Center. With the win the Cougars set the program’s best record through 29 games by improving to 26-3 on the season and 11-2 in Mountain West Conference play.

“This is a great win for our players,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose. “San Diego State is a good team. They caused a lot of problems for us, especially in the first half. It wasn’t until we were able to get some missed shots and rebounds that we got it back to our pace.”

Junior Jimmer Fredette led all scorers with 26 points and added five boards and five assists. Also scoring in double-figures for BYU was Jackson Emery with 17 points, Jonathan Tavernari with 11 and Tyler Haws adding 10. Emery also recorded a game-high five steals and seven rebounds.

As a team, the Cougars made 21-of-28 free throw attempts, while the Aztecs were 7-of-12 from the line.

“I felt we were on attack the majority of the game and got [SDSU] on their heels,” said Rose.

Fredette drove to the basket late in the shot clock on BYU’s first play of the game, scoring the first two points for BYU. He connected on a three-pointer on the following possession, but SDSU took a 7-5 lead after making a trey of its own with 16:32 to play in the first half. A 2-for-2 trip to the free throw line for Haws sparked a 6-0 Cougar run.

The Aztecs regained the lead at 12-11 but it didn’t last long as the teams traded baskets for the next few minutes. Another perfect trip to the free throw line for Haws tied the score 18-18, while Fredette’s layup put the Cougars back in front.

Though SDSU held BYU scoreless for over three minutes, it was Fredette who ended the drought with a three-point make with 5:22 remaining in the first half. It was another Fredette trey that sparked an 11-0 Cougar run. He and Emery were responsible for every point scored during that run, making several trips to the charity stripe.

SDSU’s Chase Tapley hit a three-pointer with two seconds remaining in the half, bringing BYU’s halftime lead to 36-28.

The whistles blew often and early as both teams picked up two fouls while running just over one minute off the clock to start the second half. The Aztecs clawed at BYU’s lead and managed to tie the score 44-44.

Charles Abouo’s running layup pushed the Cougars’ advantage back up to 10 points with 11:52 remaining in the game. SDSU continued to produce points, but BYU always had an answer for them. Tavernari hit his second three-pointer of the night to extend the Cougar lead to 12. Emery soon followed that by making a layup with 5:50 on the clock.

BYU continued to push the tempo as it stretched the lead to a game-high 18 points, with back-to-back fast-break layups by Fredette and Haws. Both Fredette and Emery went 1-for-2 at the free throw line as time ran off the clock.

“We had a good defensive plan, with three or four different things we wanted to do," said Rose. “The most important thing we were able to do was rebound and limit those second shots. We do better in games when we can get rebounds and shoot the ball in transition.”

The Cougars return to action on Saturday as they host No. 10 New Mexico in the final home game of the 2010 season. The Lobos have won 12-straight MWC matchups. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. MT and will be broadcast live on VERSUS.

CLICK HERE for game notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
San Diego State vs BYU COUGARS
02/24/10 7:05 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: San Diego State 20-8, 9-5 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
04 THOMAS, Malcolm..... f  5-7    0-0    3-5    1  4  5   5  13  3  3  2  0  24
15 LEONARD, Kawhi...... f  1-5    0-1    1-1    0  5  5   2   3  1  2  1  0  24
32 WHITE, Billy........ f  5-10   0-1    1-2    3  3  6   0  11  4  3  2  0  32
22 TAPLEY, Chase....... g  4-11   3-8    2-2    1  5  6   3  13  0  2  0  1  31
23 GAY, D.J............ g  6-15   3-8    0-0    0  4  4   3  15  5  3  1  0  40
03 SHELLEY, Tyrone.....    1-4    0-1    0-2    1  5  6   2   2  0  0  0  1  15
05 CARLWELL, Brian.....    3-5    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   3   6  4  3  1  0  12
40 DAVIS, Kelvin.......    2-6    1-3    0-0    0  2  2   3   5  0  0  1  3  22
   TEAM................                         1     1
   Totals..............   27-63   7-22   7-12   8 29 37  21  68 17 16  8  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-31 35.5%   2nd Half: 16-32 50.0%   Game: 42.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-12 25.0%   2nd Half:  4-10 40.0%   Game: 31.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-6  50.0%   2nd Half:  4-6  66.7%   Game: 58.3%    3
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HOME TEAM: BYU COUGARS 26-3, 11-2 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
23 HAWS, Tyler......... f  1-7    0-0    8-8    2  3  5   2  10  4  1  0  2  26
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... f  0-5    0-0    0-0    0  4  4   2   0  0  1  0  0  26
54 MILES, Chris........ c  2-4    0-0    2-2    1  0  1   1   6  0  1  1  0  14
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  6-7    1-2    4-5    1  6  7   3  17  3  0  0  5  38
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  8-17   4-8    6-11   1  5  6   1  26  5  1  0  0  36
00 DAVIES, Brandon.....    3-5    0-0    0-1    0  3  3   2   6  0  1  0  0  12
01 ABOUO, Charles......    2-4    0-1    0-0    0  4  4   1   4  0  1  1  1  15
10 LOYD, JR., Michael..    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   4
12 MAGNUSSON, Logan....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
13 ZYLSTRA, Brock......    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   2  0  0  0  0   1
15 ANDERSON, James.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan.    4-11   2-4    1-1    0  3  3   1  11  0  1  0  2  27
   TEAM................                         3  2  5
   Totals..............   27-61   7-15  21-28   8 30 38  13  82 12  8  2 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-29 41.4%   2nd Half: 15-32 46.9%   Game: 44.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-9  33.3%   2nd Half:  4-6  66.7%   Game: 46.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  9-11 81.8%   2nd Half: 12-17 70.6%   Game: 75.0%    4
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Officials: Bill Gracey, Mike Reed, Chris Rastatter
Technical fouls: San Diego State-None. BYU COUGARS-None.
Attendance: 20124
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
San Diego State...............   28   40  -   68
BYU COUGARS...................   36   46  -   82
Points in the paint-SDSU 38,BY 34. Points off turnovers-SDSU 9,BY 23.
2nd chance points-SDSU 10,BY 7. Fast break points-SDSU 4,BY 20.
Bench points-SDSU 13,BY 23. Score tied-8 times. Lead changed-11 times.
Last FG-SDSU 2nd-00:11, BY 2nd-00:28.
Largest lead-SDSU by 2 1st-19:31, BY by 18 2nd-03:51.