BYU vs. San Diego State : Game Notes and Quotes

Player Notes

-Brandon Davies and Jimmer Fredette started hot for the Cougars, scoring 8 and 9 points respectively in the first 13 minutes of play and accounting for all but 2 of the Cougars 19 points. Fredette added 2 steals and Davies added 2 blocks during that stretch.

-Davies and Fredette would go on to account for 28 of BYU’s 30 first-half points. The two shot 12-for-17 from the field, including 3-of-8 from 3-point range.

-Including a layup to begin the second half, Fredette scored 17-straight BYU points as the Cougars retook the lead at 32-31. Since beginning his run at the 9:06 mark Fredette scored 24 of 27 points for the Cougars to make the score 42-38 with 16:05 remaining in the game.

-Despite scoring only 2 points, Jackson Emery held Aztec guard D.J. Gay (12.8 ppg) to 2 points on the night.

-James Anderson tied a career high with 5 blocks.

Team Notes

-BYU’s starting five (Fredette, Emery, K. Collinsworth, Hartsock, Davies) is now 11-1 this season.

-The game marked the first time two top-10 teams have met at the Marriott Center. It also marked BYU's first win in matchups of top 10 teams. The Cougars were previously 0-4 in games when they and their opponent were ranked in the top 10.

-The Cougars, who average 7.9 steals per game, recorded 6 in the first half, led by Emery’s 201st and 202nd career takeaways.

-At the 11:16 mark in the second half, the Cougars were shooting .800 (8-10) from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point range.

-BYU now leads the all-time series with the Aztecs 47-22 and are 9-4 under Coach Rose.

-The win marked BYU's first victory against a top 5 team since 1965.

-BYU now has two 10-game winning streaks in the same season for the first time in program history.

Record Watch

-With 17:23 remaining in the second half, Fredette made his 494th-career free throw and passed Danny Ainge for 5th place all time at BYU.

-With 43 points on 14-of-24 shooting, Fredette recorded his 15th-career 30-point game and his 5th-career 40-point output. His 43 points marked his Marriott Center high and his 214th point of January. He is averaging 35.7 ppg this month.

-Fredette’s 43 is a BYU player Marriot Center record. The record was previously held by Marty Haws, who scored 40 against Seinna on Nov. 24, 1989 and Danny Ainge, who scored 40 against Oral Roberts on Dec. 23, 1978.

Game Trends

-Scoring started early with the Aztecs jumping out to an early 10-8 lead with 13:20 left in the first half. Davies scored 6 of BYU’s first 8 points and added 1 block.

-The Cougars took their third lead of the game (13-12) at the 11:30 mark after a layup by Davies, his 7th and 8th points of the game.

-The Cougars went into halftime down 31-30, only the third time BYU has trailed at the break this season.

-The first half saw 12 lead changes, with the biggest lead from either team being 4.

-BYU recorded 10 points in the paint in the first half, compared to San Diego State’s 8.

-With the shot clocking winding down, Fredette hit a three, followed by an Emery steal and dunk to bring the Marriott Center faithful to their feet.

Postgame Quotes

BYU head coach Dave Rose

“That was quite a game. I thought both teams played hard. It was a physical game; both teams went on scoring runs and the other team answered. I’m really impressed with Steve Fisher’s team. They played really hard and played together, but I’m also really proud of our guys because we played consistently for 40 minutes, got to their shooters and battled them for rebounds. They had 18 offensive rebounds but they could’ve had 30.”

“They’re just very good at tracking down balls. They’re physical, they’re athletic, they’re explosive and for a coach that doesn’t like to give up offensive rebounds, I actually feel like our guys really battled. We’re fortunate that we made a few more plays than they did at the end offensively and we were able to get a big win.”

“This was one more league game and now we’ve got another big one on Saturday. I’m glad we were able to play well in this game. Offensively, it was a struggle but that’s because these were two very good defensive teams. There weren’t many free looks at the basket so I’m happy we got this one over with and we’re looking forward to the next one.”

On Jimmer Fredette:

“Jimmer has a relentless mindset toward scoring the ball which you might think everyone has, but his is unique. But he’s also playing with guys that want to get the best shot possible on every possession and I think you can see that when Jimmer’s got a hot hand and is rolling pretty good that his teammates really look for him.”

On the crowd:

“If there’s a better crowd I’d like to see it. I don’t know how it could get any better. The students were unbelievable and even the general public who came were into it from the very beginning.”

San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher

“That is a really good team we just played. They are led by as good a player as I have ever coached against; he is just sensational and extremely hard to guard. But the team is very good and the crowd got really into it. We allowed too much separation there at the end and missed too many easy ones. Once the lead got to 10 we were not going to get back in it.”

“We really wanted to come out and compete. We wanted to work the ball inside. But in the end we just need to make shots and take advantage of our good looks.”

“Fredette scored every time he got the ball there for a stretch. Then we got too worried about getting bumped and didn’t seem to finish near the basket. It was a physical game and we stayed with them for about 35 minutes, but we just couldn’t hold on for 40.”

“This team is really good and our team is really good. I think we are both capable of beating any team anywhere at anytime.”