BYU vs. TCU: MWC Tournament Game Notes & Quotes

BYU vs. TCU

Mountain West Conference Tournament Quarterfinals

March 11, 2010

Thomas & Mack Center (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Player Notes

— Jimmer Fredette scored 45 points, shooting 23-of-24 from the free throw line and 10-of-23 from the field, adding 6 assists and 4 rebounds. Fredette scored 30 points in the second half.

— Fredette’s 23 free throws is the most makes in a game in BYU history, breaking Mekeli Wesley’s record of 16 in 1998 against UTEP. His 24 free throw attempts is also a record, breaking a three-way tie at 20.

— Fredette’s 45 points is third-most on the Cougar all-time list and is the most in MWC Tournament history.

— Fredette was 21-of-21 in the second half from the free throw line.

— Tyler Haws has converted 38 free throws in a row, passing Michael Smith for the second-longest streak in BYU history. The freshman forward has been perfect from the line after hitting his last five against Colorado State, going 10-of-10 at Wyoming, 8-of-8 against SDSU, 5-of-5 against New Mexico, 4-of-4 at Utah and 6-of-6 versus TCU.

— Jackson Emery made 4 treys, his 11th game with 4 or more.

— Emery has scored in double figures in 10-consecutive games.

— Emery had 2 steals, his 22st multi-steal game.

New Records

— BYU’s record of 29-4 is the most wins in a season in BYU history.

— BYU’s 33 free-throws made ties for first place in MWC tournament history, tying the game between UNLV’s mark in 2002.

— Jimmer Fredette’s 45 points is a new MWC tournament record, the third highest total in conference history for points in a single game, and the third-most in BYU history. The previous MWC tournament record was held by Lou Kelly of UNLV in 2002.

— Jimmer Fredette’s 23 free throws made is a BYU record, MWC tournament record, and second-highest total in conference history for total makes in a single game. The previous tournament record was held by Ricky Morgan of UNLV in 2005 with 18.

— Jimmer Fredette’s 24 free throw attempts is a new MWC tournament record for attempts in a single game. The previous record was held by Ricky Morgan of UNLV in 2005 with 19.

— Jimmer Fredette’s 45 points is a new MWC tournament record, the third highest total in conference history for points in a single game, and the third-most in BYU history.

— Jimmer Fredette now holds the top two spots in conference history for most points scored in a game by a junior.

Team Notes

— The Cougars have won 12-straight against TCU, having not lost since Feb. 13, 1997.

— BYU has a 6-2 record as the second seed in the MWC Tournament.

— As a team, BYU shot 33-of-37 (.892) from the charity stripe, both season highs.

— The Cougars’ 33 free throws ties an MWC Tournament record.

— BYU owns a 152-61 (.712) record as a ranked team. The Cougars are 24-9 (.719) under Coach Rose when ranked, including 15-3 (.824) this season.

Record Watch

— Jimmer Fredette has scored the fourth-most career points through his first three seasons of any player in BYU history with 1,443 points. Danny Ainge (1,685), Michael Smith (1,554) and Kresimir Cosic (1,512) are the only players with more points through their first three seasons.

— Through 33 games, BYU is 258-of-614 (.420) from the three-point line, just trailing the 2007-08 team which converted a record 285-of-764 (.373) on the season and was 266-of-709 (.375) through 32 games.

— With 9 points vs. TCU, Jonathan Tavernari has 1,502 career points, currently 12th all-time. Tavernari needs 11 points to pass Kresimir Cosic for 11th all-time.

— With 45 points vs. TCU, Jimmer Fredette has 1,443 career points, passing Jay Cheesman for 13th all-time. Fredette is currently 60 points from passing Jonathan Tavernari for 12th all-time and is 69 points from passing Kresimir Cosic for 11th all-time.

— With 2 three-pointers, Fredette passed Mike Rose for third-most makes in BYU history with 164 conversions to Rose’s 163.

— With 2 steals vs. TCU, Jackson Emery is 15 steals behind Tavernari for 3rd on the BYU all-time steals list.

BYU Head Coach Dave Rose

"I thought it was a very intense first round tournament game. TCU was really well prepared. They played hard. I was really proud of our players. I thought that we, you know, battled and made enough plays to be able to win the game.

"I thought defensively it was really hard for us to kind of get them under control. They were playing on attack. It was a good thing we were able to score the ball like we did and get the win, but proud of our guys."

"We got a game tomorrow against somebody. We'll try to figure out who that is the next couple hours. If it's UNLV, then we play UNLV. If it's Utah, we'll go get Utah.

On UNLV: "Matchups are important in this game. If you look at the top four or five teams in this league, it's really amazing how each team has a team that is, you know, kind of a lot more difficult than the rest of the league as far as matching up against 'em. So, you know, we got a win in Provo, so our guys should be pretty confident we can beat 'em again."

"We were a little slow to them and got ourselves in a little bit of foul trouble. But, hey, give TCU all the credit in the world. They were playing. They played tonight. We needed all 95 points. Sometimes you can beat a team 'cause you can lock 'em down. That wasn't the case tonight. We couldn't get them stopped, so we needed the score, so we found a way to win. This team has done that a lot, found a way to win."

"Well, I think that, you know, with Jimmer, you give Jimmer a little more freedom because of his ability to create so much attention from the opposing team. And like Jackson talked about earlier, if they're going to guard him one on one, we're spread out, it's hard. If they run another guy at him, then Jimmer needs to make the play and find the open guy."

"We do a good job of spacing the floor, making an extra pass. We didn't hit that extra pass shot with consistency like we are capable of. And, you know, hopefully we'll be able to do that in the future."

"But Jimmer's ability to get to the free throw line tonight was the difference in the game, you know, obviously."

TCU Head Coach Jim Christian

"I thought it was one of those games I thought our kids competed. Obviously in the second half Jimmer took over the game. He's a great player. It's difficult 'cause we tried everything we could do. You trap him. The other guys, they hit so many timely shots as a team, it's hard to take out one guy, especially when he can pass the ball and the other guys can play."

"I was proud of how our kids competed. We came ready to play, which I knew they would, especially coming off the game they embarrassed us at our place. Just didn't have enough depth to sustain it for 40 minutes."

"So obviously BYU is a fantastic team and a very, very, very good offensive team in all aspects of the game."