PROVO -- After leading at the half by 13 points, the Cougars were unable to stop a UNLV comeback at the Marriott Center Wednesday night, falling 76-70. The Cougars are now 14-4 on the season and 2-2 in the Mountain West Conference.
"I thought we came out and got off to a good start," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "They put more pressure on us in the second half and we started to rush in the second half."
The game marks the first time the Cougars lost back-to-back regular season games since 2005, and the first time the team has suffered back-to-back conference losses under BYU head coach Dave Rose.
Jonathan Tavarnari posted his fifth-career double-double, leading the Cougars with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Jimmer Fredette added to the effort with 19 points.
The Cougars trailed UNLV early in the game before a nine-point run put BYU up 15-11. The Cougar defense dominated the Rebels as they made defensive plays to both steal the ball and rebound, to push down court for fast breaks.
Heading into half-time Fredette hit a last second three-pointer to put BYU up 43-30. Fredette led the Cougars with 15 points at the half, while Tavernari and Lee Cummard were both in double figures heading into the second period.
UNLV came out of the second half strong, scoring eight unanswered points, on a 12-3 run. BYU’s shots struggled to fall as the momentum continued to grow for the Rebels. UNLV fought back for the lead.
BYU scored only five points during the first nine minutes of the second half, surrendering the lead to the Rebels.
With as much as an eight-point deficit the Cougars managed to pull within three points of the Rebels, but the second-half deficit proved too much to overcome.
The Cougars shot only 25 percent during the second half, after shooting 51 percent in the first half. The Cougars fell short in rebounding also claiming only 12 rebounds in the second half to UNLV’s 25.
BYU looks to bounce back in conference play when they face San Diego State on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Marriott Center.
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Official Basketball Box Score
UNLV vs BYU Cougars
1/21/09 8:05 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: UNLV 15-4, 3-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
33 WILLIS, Tre'Von..... f 5-9 2-3 1-2 0 5 5 2 13 3 1 0 0 34
45 DARGER, Joe......... f 1-3 1-3 6-7 0 7 7 1 9 3 1 1 1 30
44 SANTEE, Darris...... c 5-8 0-0 1-3 1 1 2 2 11 0 4 1 1 23
01 ADAMS, Wink......... g 7-16 0-2 8-10 4 4 8 1 22 1 2 0 2 32
24 ROUGEAU, Rene....... g 2-6 0-0 1-2 1 3 4 2 5 1 3 1 1 30
00 BELLFIELD, Oscar.... 0-3 0-2 4-4 1 1 2 3 4 3 4 0 3 20
02 WALLACE, Kendall.... 2-4 2-4 0-0 0 2 2 2 6 0 0 0 1 9
03 RUTLEDGE, Mareceo... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 10
12 MASSAMBA, Brice..... 2-2 0-0 0-1 1 2 3 2 4 0 0 0 0 12
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 25-52 5-14 21-29 10 27 37 15 76 11 15 3 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-26 46.2% 2nd Half: 13-26 50.0% Game: 48.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 22.2% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 35.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 17-23 73.9% Game: 72.4% 5
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 14-4, 2-2
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 5-12 0-1 0-1 2 0 2 4 10 4 2 2 0 37
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f 7-22 3-10 4-4 3 10 13 2 21 1 3 0 5 38
54 MILES, Chris........ c 0-2 0-0 0-0 3 3 6 2 0 0 3 0 0 20
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g 3-7 1-4 4-4 1 3 4 3 11 4 1 0 1 33
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g 6-15 2-5 5-7 2 2 4 0 19 1 4 0 0 37
01 ABOUO, Charles...... 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 3 1 0 0 0 8
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont. 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 4 4 1 0 0 0 12
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
53 MACGREGOR, Gavin.... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 12
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 25-63 7-21 13-16 13 20 33 18 70 12 13 2 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-35 51.4% 2nd Half: 7-28 25.0% Game: 39.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 3-12 25.0% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 10-11 90.9% Game: 81.3% 1
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Officials: Larry Spaulding, Kelly Self, Chris Rastatter
Technical fouls: UNLV-None. BYU Cougars-TEAM.
Attendance: 12853
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
UNLV.......................... 30 46 - 76
BYU Cougars................... 43 27 - 70
Points in the paint-LV 20,BY 32. Points off turnovers-LV 9,BY 13.
2nd chance points-LV 9,BY 9. Fast break points-LV 0,BY 8.
Bench points-LV 16,BY 9. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-LV 2nd-02:06, BY 2nd-00:09.
Largest lead-LV by 9 2nd-05:19, BY by 15 1st-08:45.