Emery and Fredette lead Cougars to Victory

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PROVO -- Playing in its first game at the Marriott Center in a month, the No. 23/23 BYU men’s basketball team (12-1) overcame a slow start to beat the UTEP Miners (9-3) 89-68 on Thursday night.

The senior backcourt duo of Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery led the way for the Cougars, who made 29-of-64 shots as a team for 45 percent shooting on the night. Fredette just missed a triple-double, with 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Emery had 23 points, hitting a career-high six three-pointers to go along with six steals, tying another career-high.

"We got some really, really good plays from our two senior guards tonight," head coach Dave Rose said. "I'm really proud of how Jimmer and Jackson handled all the different situations."

BYU didn’t get their first points of the game until Emery made a free throw with 16:58 remaining in the first half. More than four minutes after tipoff, Emery hit the Cougars' first field goal of the game on a three-pointer to cut the UTEP lead to 11-4.

"It's a challenge to to be really aggressive but be patient," Rose said. "We had a tough time getting started but Jackson and Jimmer really led us through."

Facing a 17-6 deficit with 10:47 left in the half, BYU got back-to-back threes from Fredette and junior Noah Hartsock. Fredette scored the next eight points, including a one handed slam between two more three-pointers, electrifying the BYU crowd. Sophomore Chris Collinsworth hit another shot, resulting in a 16-2 Cougar run to put them ahead 22-19 with just under seven minutes remaining until halftime.

BYU continued to add to its lead going into the break, capped by sophomore Brandon Davies’ slam dunk to send the Cougars into halftime with a 39-26 lead. Fredette led all scorers with 13 points at half and Emery adding 10 points of his own. Both players were hot from three-point range, knocking down three apiece.

UTEP was limited to just 31 percent shooting for the half after a quick start, with BYU shooting 41 percent, including hitting 7-of-13 shots from behind the arc.

Fredette picked up his sixth assist of the game on a no-look pass to Hartsock with 14:02 remaining to give the Cougars 59-38 lead.

The Cougars continued to add to their lead with Emery, Fredette and Davies leading the way. Davies added nine points in the second half to finish with 15, and Emery hit three more three-pointers to go along with his four steals after the break. Hartsock was the fourth Cougar to score in double figures with 10 points.

Up next, BYU will play in New York for the second time this month, taking on Buffalo on Thursday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. ET. Live stats, video and audio links will be available on www.byucougars.com and fans can listen live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 6 p.m. ET on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City.

Official Basketball Box Score
UTEP vs BYU Cougars
12/23/10 7:05 pm at Provo, Utah, Marriott Center
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VISITORS: UTEP 9-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 CULPEPPER, Randy.... *  1-8    1-4    1-1    1  2  3   5   4  3  3  0  1  28
05 STONE, Julyan....... *  3-5    0-0    2-4    1  6  7   4   8  5  2  1  3  31
32 BRITTEN, Claude..... *  6-12   0-0    3-4    1  1  2   1  15  0  3  0  1  22
34 WILLIAMS, Jeremy.... *  5-8    0-1    1-4    3  3  6   4  11  0  4  0  1  30
41 POLK, Christian..... *  7-16   1-4    0-0    1  2  3   0  15  0  0  0  1  38
20 GORDON, Isaac.......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  2  0  0   6
21 BOHANNON, John......    4-7    0-0    1-2    1  0  1   5   9  0  1  2  1  18
23 McCULLEY, Gabriel...    2-5    0-0    2-3    2  3  5   1   6  1  0  0  0  11
24 PEREZ, Michael......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  1  0  16
   TEAM................                            4  4
   Totals..............   28-63   2-10  10-18  10 23 33  20  68  9 15  4  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-29 31.0%   2nd Half: 19-34 55.9%   Game: 44.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-6  16.7%   2nd Half:  1-4  25.0%   Game: 20.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-8  87.5%   2nd Half:  3-10 30.0%   Game: 55.6%    4
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 12-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
00 DAVIES, Brandon..... *  6-9    0-0    3-4    3  4  7   2  15  2  2  0  1  29
01 ABOUO, Charles...... *  1-3    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   2   2  0  2  0  0   3
31 COLLINSWORTH, Kyle.. *  1-4    1-3    0-0    0  0  0   3   3  3  1  0  0  22
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... *  8-18   4-7    5-5    2  6  8   1  25  9  5  0  0  37
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... *  4-7    1-2    1-2    2  3  5   4  10  1  1  0  0  31
04 EMERY, Jackson......    6-11   6-9    5-6    0  6  6   3  23  4  0  1  6  36
12 MAGNUSSON, Logan....    1-2    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   0   2  0  1  0  0   4
13 ZYLSTRA, Brock......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  0  0  0   2
14 MARTINEAU, Nick.....    0-2    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
15 ANDERSON, James.....    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   2  1  0  0  0   2
21 ROGERS, Stephen.....    0-1    0-1    5-5    0  2  2   1   5  0  2  0  0  14
41 COLLINSWORTH, Chris.    1-6    0-1    0-0    3  4  7   2   2  1  0  0  0  18
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   29-64  12-25  19-22  13 29 42  18  89 22 14  1  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-29 41.4%   2nd Half: 17-35 48.6%   Game: 45.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  7-13 53.8%   2nd Half:  5-12 41.7%   Game: 48.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  8-9  88.9%   2nd Half: 11-13 84.6%   Game: 86.4%    2
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Officials: Rick Hartzell, Kelly Self, Brent Dugas
Technical fouls: UTEP-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 13403
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
UTEP..........................   26   42  -   68
BYU Cougars...................   39   50  -   89
Points in the paint-UTEP 48,BY 20. Points off turnovers-UTEP 25,BY 20.
2nd chance points-UTEP 17,BY 9. Fast break points-UTEP 10,BY 4.
Bench points-UTEP 15,BY 34. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-UTEP 2nd-00:59, BY 2nd-00:42.
Largest lead-UTEP by 11 1st-14:18, BY by 28 2nd-10:45.