Abouo, Fredette Key Victory Over San Diego State

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SAN DIEGO -- Junior Charles Abouo made four three-pointers and senior Jimmer Fredette had 25 points as the No. 7/7 BYU men's basketball team defeated No. 6/4 San Diego State 80-67 on the road in Viejas Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Along with Fredette's game-high 25 points, the senior tied a season-high with nine assists. Abouo scored 18 points, made four-of-five three-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds while junior Noah Hartsock added 15 points. Senior Jackson Emery chipped in 13 points and three steals.

“I’m really proud of our team,” head coach Dave Rose said. “I’m proud of these two seniors. They led us through some tough times with some injuries and illness over the week, but we came here with a lot of confidence and we were able to get a big win for our team.”

BYU (27-2, 13-1) shot 46.6 percent for the game on 27-of-58 shooting. The Cougars were out rebounded by the Aztecs (27-2, 12-2) but made up the difference with hot shooting from behind the arc. Five different players had makes from three and the team made 14-of-24 three-point shots for 58.3 percent.

“This was one of the few opportunities this year where we got to play from the other side and where we were the underdog,” Rose said. “I really thought our guys responded.”

The Aztecs made the first basket but BYU answered with a 15-6 run to pick up a 15-8 lead with 12:46 on the clock until halftime.

The Cougars shot well from behind the arc, making their first three-point attempts with Abouo, Hartsock and Fredette sinking the last of the three during the run.

Fredette would make back-to-back threes minutes later, including a 32-footer with 9:23 left in the first half and BYU up 27-18.

Sophomore Brandon Davies found Fredette for an easy layup with under five minutes in the half to give the Cougars a 12-point lead at 34-22.

San Diego State would go on a 15-6 run to the end the first half, cutting BYU’s lead to 38-35. The Cougars shot 46.4 percent while the Aztecs made it close with 45.2 percent shooting for the half. Fredette and Hartsock both had 13 points at the break.

Both teams came out of the half cold, not scoring until Abouo was able to make a layup after nearly three minutes off the clock. Hartsock would add another layup on the next possesion to put BYU up 42-37 and 16:16 remaining in the game.

Fredette drove the lane to get a layup to go and he also picked up the and-one foul call. The senior would make the free throw, his first free throw attempt of the game with 11:53 left in the second half and BYU holding a 55-46 lead.

Emery made a three-point jumper with 8:20 remaining to give the Cougars their largest lead of the game to that point at 13 and the score 67-54.

The Aztecs would chisel the lead to seven points at 74-67 with three-minutes remaining but couldn’t get any closer as BYU was able hold them scoreless from that point on. The Cougars finished off the game with the 80-67 win.

Up next, BYU will host New Mexico on Wednesday, March 2, at 8 p.m. MT. 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
BRIGHAM YOUNG vs SAN DIEGO STATE
02/26/11 11:05 am PT at Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl (San Diego)
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VISITORS: BRIGHAM YOUNG 27-2 (13-1 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  2-6    0-0    0-1    0  6  6   4   4  3  3  1  1  27
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... f  6-7    3-4    0-0    1  4  5   2  15  3  1  4  0  39
01 ABOUO, Charles...... g  6-11   4-5    2-2    3  6  9   3  18  1  1  1  2  34
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  4-10   2-6    3-3    0  3  3   1  13  2  3  1  3  40
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  8-23   4-8    5-6    1  2  3   4  25  9  4  0  2  40
15 ANDERSON, James.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   1   0  0  0  0  0   5
21 ROGERS, Stephen.....    1-1    1-1    2-2    1  1  2   0   5  0  0  0  0  10
31 COLLINSWORTH, Kyle..    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   0   0  0  0  0  0   5
   TEAM................                         1     1
   Totals..............   27-58  14-24  12-14   8 25 33  15  80 18 12  7  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-28 46.4%   2nd Half: 14-30 46.7%   Game: 46.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  7-10 70.0%   2nd Half:  7-14 50.0%   Game: 58.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-6  83.3%   2nd Half:  7-8  87.5%   Game: 85.7%    1
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HOME TEAM: SAN DIEGO STATE 27-2 (12-2 MWC)
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
04 THOMAS, Malcolm..... f  3-10   0-1    3-5    7  4 11   1   9  1  3  1  0  31
15 LEONARD, Kawhi...... f  6-14   1-3    4-5    4  9 13   3  17  4  3  0  3  34
32 WHITE, Billy........ f  5-9    0-0    0-2    2  1  3   5  10  2  1  2  1  26
22 TAPLEY, Chase....... g  4-11   1-5    2-2    1  1  2   2  11  1  2  0  3  27
23 GAY, D.J............ g  2-7    2-5    0-0    0  3  3   1   6  3  1  0  0  35
05 CARLWELL, Brian.....    2-2    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   0   4  0  0  0  0  10
10 SHELTON, Tim........    0-2    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   0   0  0  0  0  0  10
11 RAHON, James........    3-8    2-3    2-2    0  1  1   1  10  3  1  0  1  27
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   25-63   6-17  11-16  15 24 39  13  67 14 11  3  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-31 45.2%   2nd Half: 11-32 34.4%   Game: 39.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-8  25.0%   2nd Half:  4-9  44.4%   Game: 35.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-6  83.3%   2nd Half:  6-10 60.0%   Game: 68.8%    3
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Officials: Scott Thornley, Mike Reed, Tony Padilla
Technical fouls: BRIGHAM YOUNG-None. SAN DIEGO STATE-None.
Attendance: 12414
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
BRIGHAM YOUNG.................   38   42  -   80
SAN DIEGO STATE...............   35   32  -   67
Points in the paint-BY 22,SDSU 32. Points off turnovers-BY 12,SDSU 10.
2nd chance points-BY 9,SDSU 7. Fast break points-BY 6,SDSU 10.
Bench points-BY 5,SDSU 14. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-BY 2nd-00:34, SDSU 2nd-03:00.
Largest lead-BY by 13 2nd-08:20, SDSU by 2 1st-19:39.