Fredette's 52 Propel BYU to Championship Game

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LAS -- Jimmer Fredette scored 52 points to break the BYU career and single-game scoring records and lead the Cougars to an 87-76 Conoco MWC Tournament semifinal victory over New Mexico on Friday.

Fredette hit a jumper at the 4:25 mark in the second half to record his 49th point of the game and break Danny Ainge’s 30-year-old BYU scoring record. Ainge scored 2,467 career points and Fredette now has 2,471 points. With a BYU-record 33 points in the first half and a game-high 52, he also passed his own BYU single-game record and set a new MWC Tournament single game record.

Senior Jackson Emery and freshman Kyle Collinsworth joined Fredette in double figures, scoring 14 and 11, respectively. Collinsworth was also one rebound shy of a double-double, grabbing nine.

The Cougars turned the ball over just six times and shot 34-of-68 (.500) from the field to avenge two regular-season losses to the Lobos.

Fredette started hot for the Cougars, scoring their first 10 points of the game on 4-of-6 (.667) shooting, including two three-pointers and besting the Lobos by five in the first three minutes of play.

After the Lobos took a 24-20 lead at the 9:31 mark, Fredette sparked an 8-2 run with two-consecutive three-pointers to help BYU retake the lead at 28-26 with 8:02 remaining in the half.

In a back-and-forth first half that saw 13 lead changes, both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field with the Cougars shooting at a 20-of-37 (.513) clip, including 5-of-15 (.333) from long range.

Fredette spearheaded an 11-5 Cougar run to end the half and give BYU a 47-42 advantage heading into the break. Junior Noah Hartsock and freshman Kyle Collinsworth each added five points and three rebounds in the first half.

Fredette finished the first half with 33 points on 14-of-20 shooting, including 5-for-8 from three-point range to go along with two rebounds and one assist. The 33-points in the first half are a BYU and Thomas and Mack Center record for points in a half. Fredette has now scored 30-plus points in a half three times in his career.

The pace slowed to begin the second half, with the Lobos going on a 7-2 run to tie the score at 49 after Lobo guard Dairese Gary left the game with an injury.

With 6:10 remaining in the game, Jackson Emery made a free throw to give BYU a 68-61 lead, the biggest by either team up to that point. Fredette would go on to score eight points in the final six minutes before leaving the game to a standing ovation with 20 seconds left.

The Cougars play the winner of the San Diego State, UNLV matchup in the MWC Tournament championship game Saturday at 4 p.m. PT.

Official Basketball Box Score
New Mexico vs #8/#8 BYU
03/11/11 6:00 pm at Las Vegas, Nev. (Thomas & Mack Center)
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VISITORS: New Mexico 21-12
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
00 HARDEMAN, A.J....... f  4-6    0-0    3-5    3  2  5   4  11  0  0  0  0  31
32 GORDON, Drew........ f  8-14   0-0    1-2    5 10 15   4  17  1  2  1  0  33
05 GARY, Dairese....... g  4-8    1-3    0-0    0  2  2   1   9  7  1  0  0  21
10 WILLIAMS, Kendall... g  5-14   3-9    0-0    0  4  4   2  13  4  3  0  0  34
23 McDONALD, Phillip... g  3-6    2-5    0-0    0  0  0   5   8  0  3  0  0  32
04 ADAMS, Chad.........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   4
13 FENTON, Jamal.......    4-9    3-6    3-4    1  2  3   1  14  2  5  0  2  24
21 SNELL, Tony.........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  0  0  0   4
41 BAIRSTOW, Cameron...    2-3    0-0    0-0    2  2  4   2   4  0  0  0  0  17
   TEAM................                         1  2  3             1
   Totals..............   30-62   9-25   7-11  12 24 36  20  76 15 15  1  2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-32 53.1%   2nd Half: 13-30 43.3%   Game: 48.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-13 38.5%   2nd Half:  4-12 33.3%   Game: 36.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half:  4-7  57.1%   Game: 63.6%   3,1
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HOME TEAM: #8/#8 BYU 30-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
01 ABOUO, Charles...... f  1-5    0-3    0-0    3  4  7   5   2  0  1  0  2  33
31 COLLINSWORTH, Kyle.. f  5-6    0-0    1-3    5  4  9   1  11  0  1  0  1  34
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... f  3-8    0-0    1-2    2  4  6   2   7  2  1  3  0  34
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  3-11   1-7    7-8    0  5  5   2  14  5  0  0  5  39
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g 22-37   7-14   1-1    0  2  2   2  52  4  2  0  1  40-
12 MAGNUSSON, Logan....    0-1    0-1    1-2    1  1  2   2   1  0  1  0  0  16
14 MARTINEAU, Nick.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
21 ROGERS, Stephen.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   34-68   8-25  11-16  12 21 33  14  87 11  6  3  9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 20-39 51.3%   2nd Half: 14-29 48.3%   Game: 50.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-15 33.3%   2nd Half:  3-10 30.0%   Game: 32.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-3  66.7%   2nd Half:  9-13 69.2%   Game: 68.8%    2
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Officials: Randy McCall, Larry Spaulding, Eric Curry
Technical fouls: New Mexico-GORDON, Drew. #8/#8 BYU-HARTSOCK, Noah.
Attendance: 18500
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
New Mexico....................   42   34  -   76
#8/#8 BYU.....................   47   40  -   87
2011 Mountain West Conference Men's Championships Semifinal #1
No. 1 seed BYU Advances to Saturday's Men's Final
Points in the paint-NM 36,BY 28. Points off turnovers-NM 5,BY 24.
2nd chance points-NM 14,BY 15. Fast break points-NM 3,BY 14.
Bench points-NM 18,BY 1. Score tied-8 times. Lead changed-14 times.
Last FG-NM 2nd-00:39, BY 2nd-00:54.
Largest lead-NM by 4 1st-11:02, BY by 11 2nd-04:07.