Cougars' Team Play Beats UNLV

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PROVO -- Senior guard Jimmer Fredette scored 29 points to go along with seven assists to lead the No. 8/9 BYU men’s basketball team to a 78-64 win over the UNLV Rebels at the Marriott Center on Saturday.

Fredette was perfect from the free throw line, going 16-of-16 for the game. Now with 2,194 career points, the Glens Falls, N.Y., native became the Mountain West Conference all-time leading scorer. Fellow backcourt mate, senior Jackson Emery scored 15 points and had four steals.

"I really like the senior leadership of our two guards," head coach Dave Rose said. "The two guys have been through it all and they seem to come out on the positive side quite a bit."

Sophomore Stephen Rogers added 12 points and eight rebounds while junior Charles Abouo was the fourth Cougar in double figures, chipping in 10 points.

"This team is made up of competitive guys," Rose said. "They rely on each other and trust each other so when it's time to make a play they feel responsible to figure out a way to make that play."

BYU shot 40.4 percent for the game on 23-of-57 shooting while going a near perfect, 24-of-25 from the charity stripe. The Cougars' defense limited UNLV to 30 percent shooting and just 6-of-23 from the behind the three-point line.

Freshman Kyle Collinsworth got BYU on the board with a three-pointer after one minute of play. Fredette scored on a layup on BYU’s next possession to make it 5-3.

The Rebels picked up a technical foul at the 13:50 mark, resulting in two made free throws by Fredette and a 10-8 Cougar lead. UNLV picked up another technical just over one minute later and Fredette sank both free throws again for a 14-8 lead.

Fredette would make another layup to cap an 11-0 run by BYU to take an 18-8 lead with 11:22 left until halftime.

Trading baskets for the remainder of the half, the Cougars would take a 38-27 lead into the locker room. BYU made 11-of-28 shots for 39.3 percent shooting and limited the Rebels to just 25.8 percent.

After four minutes of play in the second half Fredette stole a pass and tossed it to Jackson Emery who was able to complete the fast break dunk to put BYU up 44-31 with 16:20 on the clock.

Rogers hit a three-pointer as the shot clock expired with under 12 minutes to play to keep BYU out in front 54-42. Rogers would knock down two free throws with 8:30 remaining to extend the Cougars’ lead to 63-49.

Fredette would hit his first three of the game with 6:51 left in the game to give BYU a 69-53 lead, the largest of the game to that point. The senior guard would knock down two more free throws and slice his way to another layup in the final minutes to secure BYU’s 78-64 victory.

No. 8/9 BYU will play at Air Force on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 8 p.m. MT in Clune Arena. Live stats and audio links will be available on www.byucougars.com and fans can listen live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 7 p.m. MT on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City. The game will be televised live on The Mtn.

Official Basketball Box Score
UNLV vs BYU Cougars
02/05/11 2:06 pm at Provo, Utah, Marriott Center
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VISITORS: UNLV 17-6, 5-4 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
01 THOMAS, Quintrell... f  1-7    0-0    4-6    3  2  5   3   6  0  0  0  0  16
22 STANBACK, Chace..... f  5-14   2-7    2-2    6  4 10   2  14  1  1  1  0  38
00 BELLFIELD, Oscar.... g  1-11   1-5    2-2    1  2  3   3   5  2  2  0  1  39
03 MARSHALL, Anthony... g  6-10   1-2    3-4    5  7 12   3  16  4  3  0  4  24
33 WILLIS, Tre'Von..... g  3-11   2-7    7-8    0  1  1   2  15  3  3  0  1  25
05 JASPER, Derrick.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  0  18
11 LOPEZ, Carlos.......    2-3    0-0    0-0    1  3  4   2   4  0  0  1  0  10
12 MASSAMBA, Brice.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   3   0  1  2  0  0  14
31 HAWKINS, Justin.....    0-4    0-2    4-4    0  2  2   0   4  0  2  0  0  16
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   18-60   6-23  22-26  17 26 43  19  64 11 13  2  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-31 25.8%   2nd Half: 10-29 34.5%   Game: 30.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-12 25.0%   2nd Half:  3-11 27.3%   Game: 26.1%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  8-10 80.0%   2nd Half: 14-16 87.5%   Game: 84.6%    3
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 22-2, 8-1 MWC
                          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..... f  1-3    0-0    2-2    1  2  3   4   4  1  0  3  0  19
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... f  1-6    0-1    0-0    1  6  7   2   2  0  1  3  1  37
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  6-12   3-9    0-0    0  5  5   4  15  4  1  0  4  37
31 COLLINSWORTH, Kyle.. g  1-4    1-1    3-4    1  1  2   3   6  1  3  0  1  14
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  6-14   1-5   16-16   0  3  3   1  29  7  5  0  1  39
01 ABOUO, Charles......    4-8    1-2    1-1    0  1  1   1  10  0  2  0  0  24
12 MAGNUSSON, Logan....    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   0   0  1  0  0  0   4
13 ZYLSTRA, Brock......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
14 MARTINEAU, Nick.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
15 ANDERSON, James.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
21 ROGERS, Stephen.....    4-10   2-5    2-2    2  6  8   2  12  2  0  0  0  21
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   23-57   8-23  24-25   8 26 34  17  78 16 12  6  7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-28 39.3%   2nd Half: 12-29 41.4%   Game: 40.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-9  33.3%   2nd Half:  5-14 35.7%   Game: 34.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 13-14 92.9%   2nd Half: 11-11 100 %   Game: 96.0%    1
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Officials: Scott Thornley, Dick Cartmell, Doran Gotschall
Technical fouls: UNLV-THOMAS, Quintrell; LOPEZ, Carlos. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 22700
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
UNLV..........................   27   37  -   64
BYU Cougars...................   38   40  -   78
Marriott Center sold out.
Points in the paint-LV 18,BY 28. Points off turnovers-LV 11,BY 20.
2nd chance points-LV 19,BY 6. Fast break points-LV 6,BY 14.
Bench points-LV 8,BY 22. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-LV 2nd-02:45, BY 2nd-00:46.
Largest lead-LV by 1 1st-19:44, BY by 16 2nd-07:18.