POSTGAME NOTES
BYU at Long Beach State
Nov. 10, 2007
- In BYU's first game of the year, head coach Dave Rose elected to start two seniors in Ben Murdock and Sam Burgess, returning All-Mountain West Conference selections Trent Plaisted and Lee Cummard and 2007 MWC Freshman of the Year Jonathan Tavernari. Cummard started all 34 games last season, and Plaisted made 33 starts. Burgess made one start as a sophomore in 2004-05 while Murdock and Tavernari each earned their first career starts against the 49ers. Rose used the same starting rotation in both of the Cougars' two exhibition games.
- Scouts from six NBA teams attended the game as the Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons and Dallas Mavericks were represented.
- BYU is now 73-33 all-time in season openers and 15-15 when opening on the road. The Cougars are also now 8-3 in openers since Dave Rose has been at BYU. The victory against Long Beach State was Rose's first season-opening win as the Cougars' head coach.
- The Cougars are now 1-0 this season when leading at the half after a 36-12 lead at the break in Long Beach. BYU was 22-4 last year when holding the halftime advantage.
- BYU's 40-point margin of victory (74-34) was its largest winning margin against a Div. I opponent since a 41-point victory (110-69) against Morgan State on Dec. 28, 1995.
- Ten of the 12 players who saw action in the game scored, led by Cummard with 15 points.
- The 12 points given up by the Cougars in the first 20 minutes of the game marked the fewest points allowed in a half by BYU since allowing a record-low 10 points against Air Force in 2003. Long Beach State shot just 11 percent in the first half on 3-of-27 shooting.
- BYU scored the first 10 points of the game before Long Beach State got on the scoreboard at the 16-minute mark after missing its first five shots.
- After missing their first five three-point attempts of the game, the Cougars made their next five shots from long range, including two from Jimmer Fredette, two from Tavernari and one from Murdock, during a 17-2 run.
- Cummard scored four of the Cougars' first five points and six of the first 12 with a 3-for-3 start.
- True freshmen Jimmer Fredette and Chris Collinsworth made their respective Cougar debuts as they both checked in at the 15:31 mark of the first half. Collinsworth immediately made his presence felt with two rebounds, including an offensive board leading to a bucket for Plaisted. Fredette also made noise in the first half with two three-point makes during a 14-0 Cougar run.
- Michael Loyd, Jr., another true freshman, made his first regular-season appearance in a BYU uniform at the 13:25 mark while fellow freshman Nick Martineau entered the game at the 6:15 mark in the first half. Archie Rose became the final eligible Cougar to make his BYU debut with four minutes to play in the second half.
- Returned missionary Chris Miles also saw first-half action for the Cougars for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
- Lamont Morgan, Jr. made the trip but did not play as the coaching staff has elected to redshirt the junior college transfer.
POSTGAME QUOTES
BYU Head Coach Dave Rose
"I'm really pleased with our players, especially with their intensity and how hard they played. There are a lot of things we can work on to play better, but I was excited to watch them in this situation, our first game of the year and our first road game. A lot of times you have first-game jitters, but our guys did a good job of playing hard."
"Those five games in August really helped us. The five guys who started tonight are the same guys who played together on our France trip. That opportunity really helped us tonight."
"I spent a lot of time last night running a lot of scenarios in my head about how this game would go and the things we could do, especially with this many inexperienced players. I didn't put this scenario together. To come out and get a big lead like that and basically be able to substitute as freely as we did was great."
"The thing I'm pleased about with the first half and our new guys going in there was the opportunity they got to go in and play and get those first-game jitters out. You could tell there was a lot of emotion at play for those guys, but once they settled down a little bit, they played the way we know they can in the second half."
"I was really pleased with Ben Murdock. He did a great job of getting us into our offense and pushing the ball. He also did a good job defensively, keeping his man in front and stopping penetration. He played with a lot of confidence and took good shots. I'm really pleased with his play."
"I thought that Mike (Loyd, Jr.) and Nick (Martineau) did a nice job coming and doing a lot of really good things. I'm pleased that the first game is out of the way and they settle down a bit and focus on executing a little better. Overall, for our first game, I thought our point guard play was pretty good."
"Individually, the players all have certain expectations of how they're going to play. Trent (Plaisted) did a lot of really good things. He shot well from free-throw line. Long Beach State did a good job on him in the post, doubling him at different times and coming from different spots. It takes some time to work on and get used to. It was a good learning experience."
"It felt like at times there were guys trying to find themselves. I was excited to be in a position on the road to let those guys get out there and get that time. It's a big difference for the young guys playing on the road so you want to try to get them out there."
"For a guy who we like as a basket-maker, for Jonathan Tavernari to come away with nine rebounds is a credit to him and his hard work. He just keeps getting better everyday."
"I think that Vuk has really improved his game. He's spent a lot of time working on it, playing on the National Team in Serbia during the summer. There are days in practice when he looks to be one of the best guys we have in the post offensively. He's trying to get that same feeling in a game. He did a good job tonight."
Junior Guard Lee Cummard
"We did a good job of executing the game plan the coaches had for us. I was impressed with how we started and how we kept playing hard no matter who was in the game or what the score was."
"One of the most nerve-wracking things for all of us coming into this game was how we were going to play to start the game. I thought we did a great job, even in the end of not letting up."
"Coming in to the game today, I had never won a season-opener and had never won in California. It also took a while for us to get our first road win last year so those were three big accomplishments. This win puts us on the right track and is a good starting point for us."
"Our bench played well for us. There were a little first-game jitters, but overall they played well. Chris (Collinsworth) has long arms and is always going to be a presence down low. Mike Loyd, Jr. played well and pushed the ball for us. Everyone did a great job. Archie (Rose) was impressive the way he came in and shared the ball. He did everything Coach Rose wanted him to."
"The biggest thing the coaches focused on was to stop penetration. I felt we did a terrific job at that. We helped when we needed it."