PROVO -- BYU sophomore Jonathan Tavernari led the No. 21 Cougars Friday night with 19 points in a 70-55 victory over Southern Utah University in the Marriott Center. With this win the Cougars improved to 10-2 on the season while the Thunderbirds fell to 2-10.
Lee Cummard also contributed heavily in the Cougars' 38th consecutive home win as he filled out his stat line with 12 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, five steals and two blocks.
"We made enough plays to win the game even though we weren't shooting as well as we're capable of," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "A lot of that had to do with Southern Utah; they played well."
Center Trent Plaisted and guard Sam Burgess also reached double-digits in scoring for the Cougars as they finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Plaisted had a game-high nine rebounds.
The beginning of the game saw both teams get out to slow starts as only seven total points were scored in the first five minutes of the game. The Thunderbirds found themselves on top early, 4-3.
By the 13:37 mark of the first half, BYU was only 1-for-8 from the field while SUU was 2-for-9. Yet the Cougars were a perfect 4-for-4 from the line to help keep them right in the game.
The Cougars were able to find their shooting touch in the next few minutes as they went on an 8-0 run that gave them their first lead of the game. This run helped the Cougars get an 11-4 lead with 12:12 left in the first half. BYU led the rest of the way in the first half.
On the defensive end, BYU had an impressive eight first-half blocks from four different players while holding the Thunderbirds to 33 percent shooting from the field. The Cougars had 12 points in the paint on the other end of the court to help them go into the halftime break up 31-21.
In the second half the Cougars led from start to finish including an advantage of 17 points. Fifteen of Tavernari's game-high 19 points came in the second half. BYU starting point guard Ben Murdock scored all six of his points during the second period.
All 12 members of the Cougars' roster checked into the game and helped contribute in the win over the Thunderbirds, improving BYU's record against in-state teams this year to 2-0.
SUU had three players reach double-digit scoring as the Thunderbirds were led by Geoff Payne and Davis Baker, who each finished with 15 points. BYU is now a perfect 11-0 all-time against the SUU.
"This coming week is a good time for us," Rose said. "We take a little break here for Christmas and then we can come back and practice a couple of days before Boise State. It's important for our team to concentrate on getting better."
The BYU Cougars will next be in action after Christmas as they travel to Boise State on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. That game will be televised live on KBYU and BYUTV.
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Official Basketball Box Score
Southern Utah vs BYU Cougars
12/21/07 6:35 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Southern Utah 2-10
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 ADEPOJU, Nurudeen... f 0-5 0-4 2-3 0 3 3 4 2 3 2 0 2 21
34 PAYNE, Geoff........ f 6-16 0-1 3-4 5 2 7 1 15 1 8 0 3 39
23 SORENSON, Tate...... c 1-6 0-0 0-2 2 3 5 4 2 2 2 0 0 30
10 MAREK, Dave......... g 5-5 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 11 1 1 0 1 29
25 BAKER, Davis........ g 6-13 3-7 0-1 0 3 3 3 15 1 2 0 2 38
03 GRIEGO, Orlando..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 4
12 JOSSERAND, Mike..... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 1 3 0 2 10
31 ROBERTS, Rick....... 1-5 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 0 1 12
32 HOOPES, Cris........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
44 CLIFFORD, John...... 1-2 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 6
50 QUINNEY, Tyler...... 1-2 0-0 2-4 3 0 3 1 4 2 1 0 0 10
TEAM................ 2 4 6
Totals.............. 21-56 4-15 9-16 13 20 33 18 55 14 24 0 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-26 34.6% 2nd Half: 12-30 40.0% Game: 37.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 2-10 20.0% Game: 26.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 8-14 57.1% Game: 56.3% 2
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 10-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ f 3-7 1-4 5-6 1 6 7 0 12 8 1 2 5 37
41 COLLINSWORTH, Chris. f 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 2 0 13
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... c 4-9 0-0 3-7 2 7 9 5 11 1 4 2 0 24
20 BURGESS, Sam........ g 4-7 1-3 1-3 0 5 5 4 10 1 6 1 1 31
24 MURDOCK, Ben........ g 1-2 1-2 3-4 0 2 2 2 6 3 2 0 0 26
01 LOYD, JR., Michael.. 1-2 0-1 1-1 0 1 1 1 3 1 1 0 1 9
05 ROSE, Archie........ 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 2
10 IVANOVIC, Vuk....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 1 8
14 MARTINEAU, Nick..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 7
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 8
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. 9-15 1-3 0-0 3 3 6 2 19 2 4 2 2 27
54 MILES, Chris........ 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 8
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 26-47 5-15 13-22 7 27 34 19 70 18 22 9 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-22 54.5% 2nd Half: 14-25 56.0% Game: 55.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-6 50.0% 2nd Half: 2-9 22.2% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 9-16 56.3% Game: 59.1% 3
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Officials: David Hall, Steve Welmer, Bill Kennedy
Technical fouls: Southern Utah-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 9742
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Southern Utah................. 21 34 - 55
BYU Cougars................... 31 39 - 70
Points in the paint-SUU 18,BY 31. Points off turnovers-SUU 18,BY 20.
2nd chance points-SUU 9,BY 6. Fast break points-SUU 2,BY 17.
Bench points-SUU 10,BY 31. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-SUU 2nd-00:15, BY 2nd-00:27.
Largest lead-SUU by 2 1st-18:30, BY by 17 2nd-00:27.