BYU Falls to SDSU in MWC Championship

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LAS VEGAS -- The No. 8-ranked and top-seeded BYU Cougars fell to the second-seeded and No. 7/6 San Diego State Aztecs in the championship game of the Mountain West Conference tournament on Saturday, 72-54.

The Cougars (30-4) were unable to find their stroke, shooting 32 percent from the field, while the Aztecs (32-2) shot 45 percent to avenge their only two losses this season--both 13-point defeats to BYU.

Jimmer Fredette, the MWC Tournament MVP, led the Cougars with 30 points, six rebounds and two assists. Kyle Collinsworth led BYU on the boards with seven. Jackson Emery added 11 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Both teams came out hot from long range in the early going, hitting all four attempts from behind the arc in the first three minutes of play. The Aztecs jumped out to a 12-6 lead on 50 percent shooting from the field, but the Cougars battled back to tie the game at 12-all on a Noah Hartsock jumper with 14:34 remaining the half. SDSU proceeded to go on a 6-0 run before an and-one layup and free throw from Fredette off a spin-move in the lane ended the BYU drought.

With SDSU leading 20-15, the Aztecs scored six unanswered points to take an 11-point advantage until, once again, Fredette answered hitting a three to silence the SDSU faithful.

The Aztecs continued to give the Cougars all they could handle throughout the remainder of the first half and extended their lead to 14. However, with 28.5 seconds remaining in the half SDSU was called for a technical foul sending Fredette to the line to cut the lead to twelve. Fredette then made a three-pointer to end the half, but after review the shot was ruled to have come after the halftime horn.

The Aztecs opened the second half with a 10-4 run, forcing Dave Rose to call a timeout with 15:20 left to play. Still, BYU struggled to stop the SDSU run and the Aztecs continued to pull away, extending their lead to a game-high 23 points.

BYU responded with scores by Charles Abouo and Hartsock to ignite a 15-2 Cougar run to bring the deficit to 10 points with five minutes to go. With the score 60-42 with 6:58 remaining, Fredette made a layup as part of a quick eight points scored by the Cougars in less than two minutes. The 15-2 run was capped by an Emery trey to cut the Aztec lead to 10 at 62-52. SDSU, however, answered again with a 10-0 run of its own, ending any hopes of a BYU comeback.

Billy White and Kawhi Leonard led SDSU with 21 and 20 points, respectively. Point guard D.J. Gay, who was held to scoreless by the Cougars, joined White and Leonard on the All-Tournament Team headlined by Tournament MVP Fredette. UNLV's Tre'von Willis rounded out the team.

2011 Mountain West Conference All-Tournament Team

Jimmer Fredette (BYU)

Kawhi Leonard (SDSU)

Billy White (SDSU)

D.J. Gay (SDSU)

Tre'von Willis (UNLV)

MVP: Jimmer Fredette

Official Basketball Box Score
#7/#6 San Diego State vs #8/#8 BYU
03/12/11 4:00 pm at Las Vegas, Nev. (Thomas & Mack Center)
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VISITORS: #7/#6 San Diego State 32-2
                          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  4-10   0-0    1-3    2  5  7   2   9  3  0  2  1  33
15 LEONARD, Kawhi...... f  9-16   2-3    0-0    3  5  8   2  20  1  3  0  0  35
32 WHITE, Billy........ f  7-12   0-0    7-7    7  5 12   2  21  2  2  0  5  31
22 TAPLEY, Chase....... g  5-10   2-4    2-2    0  3  3   2  14  1  1  0  2  27
23 GAY, D.J............ g  0-3    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  2  0  0  0  34
05 CARLWELL, Brian.....    1-3    0-0    1-2    1  1  2   0   3  0  0  0  0  11
10 SHELTON, Tim........    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  1  1   0   3  0  0  0  0   5
11 RAHON, James........    1-5    0-3    0-0    1  1  2   2   2  2  0  0  0  16
21 FRANKLIN, Jamaal....    0-2    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  1  0  0  0   8
   TEAM................                         2  2  4
   Totals..............   28-62   5-15  11-14  16 25 41  12  72 12  6  2  8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-31 54.8%   2nd Half: 11-31 35.5%   Game: 45.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-7  57.1%   2nd Half:  1-8  12.5%   Game: 33.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-6  83.3%   2nd Half:  6-8  75.0%   Game: 78.6%    1
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HOME TEAM: #8/#8 BYU 30-4
                          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  2-5    1-3    0-0    2  3  5   1   5  0  1  0  0  32
31 COLLINSWORTH, Kyle.. f  1-4    0-0    0-0    6  1  7   2   2  3  2  0  1  30
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... f  2-10   0-5    0-0    2  4  6   2   4  2  1  2  0  34
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  4-11   3-8    0-0    0  5  5   2  11  0  0  0  1  36
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g 10-25   2-7    8-11   1  5  6   0  30  2  4  0  0  40
12 MAGNUSSON, Logan....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
13 ZYLSTRA, Brock......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   5
15 ANDERSON, James.....    0-3    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   3   0  0  0  2  0  14
21 ROGERS, Stephen.....    0-1    0-1    2-2    1  0  1   0   2  0  1  0  0   7
   TEAM................                         3  1  4
   Totals..............   19-59   6-24  10-13  16 20 36  10  54  7  9  4  2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-30 33.3%   2nd Half:  9-29 31.0%   Game: 32.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-13 30.8%   2nd Half:  2-11 18.2%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-7  100 %   2nd Half:  3-6  50.0%   Game: 76.9%    2
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Officials: Scott Thornley, Randy McCall, Larry Spaulding
Technical fouls: #7/#6 San Diego State-THOMAS, Malcolm. #8/#8 BYU-None.
Attendance: 18500
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
#7/#6 San Diego State.........   43   29  -   72
#8/#8 BYU.....................   31   23  -   54
2011 Conoco Mountain West Conference Men's Championships Final
No. 2 seed San Diego State wins Mountain West Conference Tournament
Points in the paint-SD 40,BY 16. Points off turnovers-SD 15,BY 4.
2nd chance points-SD 21,BY 9. Fast break points-SD 14,BY 5.
Bench points-SD 8,BY 2. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-SD 2nd-00:34, BY 2nd-00:11.
Largest lead-SD by 23 2nd-10:57, BY by 1 1st-17:53.