POSTGAME NOTES
BYU vs. San Diego State
Jan. 23, 2008
- Jonathan Tavernari made his 13th start of the year, joining Ben Murdock, Sam Burgess, Lee Cummard and Trent Plaisted in the starting five. The latter four have started every game this season.
- Individual Career Highs: Ben Murdock -- 5 rebounds (tied).
- With the win, BYU improved its Marriott Center win streak to 41 games, the second-longest active home court victory streak in the nation behind No. 1 Memphis at 42 wins.
- After beginning the year 0-4 when scoring less than 70 points, BYU has now won its last two games when coming short of the 70-point threshold, including a 59-56 win over SDSU and a 55-52 victory at Utah.
- The three-point margin of victory for BYU (59-56) is the closest game the Cougars have had in the Marriott Center since a 75-72 victory over UNLV on Feb. 11, 2006.
- The Cougars defeated the league-leading Aztecs despite recording their lowest shooting percentage (34.4) in the Marriott Center since shooting 30 percent in a 59-58 loss to Wyoming on Feb. 12, 2005.
- With a 28-27 advantage after the first 20 minutes of play, San Diego State became just the fourth team this season to post a halftime lead against the Cougars. Prior to the SDSU game, the Cougars had not trailed at the break at home since an eight-point (43-35) deficit against Seton Hall on Dec. 30, 2006, a game the Cougars won, 77-68. BYU is now 1-3 this season when trailing at halftime.
- After making just three three-pointers in each of the last two games, BYU hit three treys in the first 11 minutes of the first half against San Diego State, getting makes from Cummard, Murdock and Jimmer Fredette. Three of BYU's first five buckets in the game came from long range.
- Cummard has recorded a three-pointer in 17 of 19 games this year while Tavernari has done so in 16 games, Burgess has hit from behind the arc in 14 games and Jimmer Fredette has made a trey in 13 games this season.
- BYU is now 7-1 this season when at least four players score in double figures (Plaisted -- 17, Cummard -- 12, Fredette -- 11, Tavernari -- 10)
- Plaisted got back into the double-figure scoring column against the league-leading Aztecs with 17 points. After beginning the year scoring in double figures in the first 14 games, he had reached double-digits just once in the last four games prior to breaking out against SDSU. Plaisted scored the first six points of the second half to turn a 27-28 halftime deficit into a 33-28 Cougar lead. Now at 1,121 career points, Plaisted moved from 31st to 28th on BYU's all-time scoring list with his 17-point outing.
- Plaisted also added 11 rebounds in the game for his fifth double-double of the season and the 14th of his career.
- Cummard's free-throw miss at the 13:53 mark in the second half ended a streak of 21 straight free-throw makes for the junior. Cummard is still shooting 88.7 percent (47-of-53) from the line on the year after a 3-for-5 performance against the Aztecs.
- True freshman Jimmer Fredette provided a huge spark off the bench for BYU as he scored 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the field (3-for-6 from three-point range), the sixth time this season he has scored in double figures, including three of the last seven games.
- San Diego State's nine-point lead at 22-13 with 8:32 left in the first half is the largest lead a Cougar opponent has had in the Marriott Center since Wyoming held a 10-point advantage on Jan. 16, 2007 before falling 89-81.
POSTGAME QUOTES
BYU Coach Dave Rose:
"Every game has its own personality. I think we knew we had to be strong tonight."
"San Diego State is a good team. We knew that coming in. They are a talented, athletic, young team."
"It was a competitive game. Both teams were battling the whole time. I'm proud of our players for figuring out how to win this game."
"Trent (Plaisted) was a huge factor in tonight's win. He played long and hard against a very athletic team. Jimmer (Fredette) stepped up really well for us."
"Where we go from here is a big step. In conference play, everything's more important. I know we're capable of playing better offense."
"We got ourselves in tough situations without shooting well tonight, but I think the last couple of games have been good signs of our competitive spirit and mental toughness. Now we look forward to improving our offense."
"I have great confidence in our players. I know we will achieve great things this season."
San Diego State Coach Steve Fisher:
"It was two teams that fought and fought for 40 minutes."
"We had a lot of opportunities and just couldn't quite make it. A lot of credit goes to the home crowd and to this BYU team."
"We felt we would come in here and have a chance, and that was what we got."