POCATELLO -- Four players scored in double figures to help BYU men’s basketball remain perfect on the season with an 85-65 victory over Idaho State in Holt Arena on Saturday. The Cougars are now 6-0 for the first time since the 1991-92 season while the Bengals fall to 1-4.
“I was really proud of how our players responded to playing a good team in a difficult environment," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "We came in very prepared but didn’t get off to a good start. After that first media timeout we came out and improved our effort. We finished with a strong defensive effort in the first half and that’s what allowed us to have a lead at the break.”
Jonathan Tavernari scored a game-high 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting to go with six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Fredette tied two career highs with 19 points and six assists while Jackson Emery set a career-high with 15 points. Lee Cummard added 17 points, three assists, one block and three steals.
The Cougars hit 56.6 percent (30-of-53) from the field and 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from downtown. BYU held Idaho State to 41.1 percent (23-of-56) shooting from the field. Matt Stucki led the Bengals with 19 points and five assists.
BYU runs defined the first half as the Cougars used spurts of 16-2 and 14-0 to take a 40-28 lead into the locker room. Trailing 12-6 BYU outscored Idaho State 16-2 to take a 22-14 lead. Cummard scored four points during the run and Tavernari scored five-straight — on a three and a fast break dunk — to make it 17-12 in favor of the Cougars. Fredette tipped in his own miss and Emery scored on a fast break layup to make it 22-14 BYU.
The second big run came after the Bengals chipped away at the lead and got within four at 26-22 on an Amorrow Morgan layup. Fredette hit two free throws, assisted a dunk by Chris Miles and hit a three in transition. Tavernari hit two layups during the run and Cummard’s three in transition gave BYU its largest lead of the half at 40-22 with 2:51 remaining before the half.
Tavernari, who went scoreless when the Cougars defeated Cal Poly in their last outing, finished the half with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Cummard had nine first half points and Fredette and Emery had seven apiece. BYU hit 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from the field in the first half, had nine steals — three each by Cummard and Emery — and scored 16 points off turnovers.
During the second half BYU responded to every Idaho State challenge and never allowed the Bengals to get the lead down to single digits. A Morgan layup cut the lead to 45-34 but Tavernari and Emery hit back-to-back threes to make it 51-34.
The Bengals went on an 8-2 run to get back within 11 but Charles Abouo hit two free throws and Tavernari threw down a dunk to finish a play off a steal by Fredette. With 6:54 remaining Fredette hit a three to give BYU a 19-point lead at 67-48. Cummard’s two free throws with 1:48 left on the clock gave the Cougars their biggest lead at 81-61. His two free throws with 55 seconds remaining equaled the 20-point lead and made the score final at 85-55.
BYU will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at Weber State at 7 p.m.
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Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young vs Idaho State
11-29-08 7:05 pm at Pocatello, ID (Holt Arena)
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 6-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f 10-17 2-7 1-2 1 5 6 2 23 4 1 0 2 39
54 MILES, Chris........ c 1-1 0-0 2-2 2 3 5 4 4 2 1 1 2 25
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g 6-9 2-4 1-1 0 4 4 5 15 2 2 0 3 31
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g 6-11 1-3 4-6 2 2 4 4 17 3 1 1 3 35
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g 6-12 3-6 4-4 2 2 4 1 19 6 4 0 1 32
01 ABOUO, Charles...... 0-0 0-0 3-4 0 3 3 0 3 0 1 0 0 9
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont. 0-0 0-0 2-4 1 2 3 3 2 1 1 0 0 14
15 ANDERSON, James..... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 7
20 PINEGAR, Matthew.... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
53 MACGREGOR, Gavin.... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 7
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 30-53 8-21 17-23 8 25 33 21 85 18 11 2 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-27 55.6% 2nd Half: 15-26 57.7% Game: 56.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-11 36.4% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% Game: 38.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-8 75.0% 2nd Half: 11-15 73.3% Game: 73.9% 2,1
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HOME TEAM: Idaho State 1-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 MONROE, Demetrius... f 3-5 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 0 8 1 1 0 0 31
33 BUSMA, Deividas..... c 2-6 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 0 6 1 2 0 0 16
01 MORGAN, Amorrow..... g 3-10 0-1 1-3 0 1 1 3 7 4 2 0 0 35
20 CARSON, Donnie...... g 3-8 1-2 0-2 2 3 5 2 7 3 0 0 3 27
31 STUCKI, Matt........ g 6-12 3-5 4-6 2 2 4 4 19 5 4 0 0 30
02 BAY, Kal............ 2-4 1-2 2-2 0 2 2 3 7 0 2 0 0 12
03 TAYLOR, Phyllip..... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
04 STEIJN, Lucas....... 3-5 0-0 2-4 2 2 4 2 8 0 0 0 0 19
12 BALDWIN, Sherrod.... 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
23 KILPATRICK, Austin.. 0-3 0-3 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 11
32 CASPARI, Felix...... 1-2 0-0 1-4 5 0 5 3 3 0 0 0 0 14
TEAM................ 1 1 2 1
Totals.............. 23-56 5-14 14-26 14 17 31 18 65 15 13 0 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-25 44.0% 2nd Half: 12-31 38.7% Game: 41.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 35.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd Half: 10-16 62.5% Game: 53.8% 5,2
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Officials: Byrne Haskins, Michael Irving, Wilson Holland
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Idaho State-None.
Attendance: 4374
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Brigham Young................. 40 45 - 85
Idaho State................... 28 37 - 65
Points in the paint-BYU 41,ISU 22. Points off turnovers-BYU 20,ISU 12.
2nd chance points-BYU 8,ISU 10. Fast break points-BYU 20,ISU 2.
Bench points-BYU 7,ISU 18. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-5 times.
Last FG-BYU 2nd-02:15, ISU 2nd-01:10.
Largest lead-BYU by 20 2nd-01:48, ISU by 6 1st-15:54.