SALT LAKE -- Lee Cummard scored 23 points and Jimmer Fredette added 21 but BYU was unable to pull off its third-straight win on rival Utah’s home floor, falling 94-88 in overtime Tuesday night in the Huntsman Center.
“We played a hard and competitive game," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "We have to give a lot of credit to our guys who played well in a hard-fought battle.”
A game in keeping with one of the nation’s best rivalries, the two teams competed through 10 ties and 10 lead changes until the closing moments of overtime before Utah emerged with the win. BYU maintained control of the game through much of the contest before Utah claimed the momentum in the extra period to improve to 13-7 on the year and 4-2 in Mountain West Conference play. BYU is now 15-5 overall and 3-3 in the MWC.
The Cougars never trailed over the first 17 minutes of the game before a back-and-forth battle featuring six lead changes dominated the closing moments of the first half.
“We had some good plays and good leads, but neither team could keep the lead—we just battled back and forth,” said Rose.
Cummard and Utah center Luke Nevill showed why they are among the top players in the country with each scoring 16 points in the opening 20 minutes. An All-America candidate, Cummard gave the Cougars the upper hand entering the break with a long jumper just before the horn for a 40-39 BYU advantage.
Cummard was a sizzling 7-for-8 from the floor and a perfect 2-for-2 behind the arc to propel BYU to 59.3 percent first-half shooting, including a 4-of-9 effort from behind the arc. While Cummard connected on a variety of shots from all over the court, Nevill did his damage inside, going 6-for-8 from the floor and 4-of-5 at the line. BYU’s big men stayed out of foul trouble in the first half as Chris Miles, Gavin MacGregor and James Anderson all took turns battling the 7-foot-2 Australian in the paint.
The Cougars built the largest lead of the half at 26-20 on a Fredette triple at the 9:35 mark. The Utes managed one-point advantages on three occasions in the final minutes of the half.
BYU equaled its game-high lead of six points at 56-50 with 12:49 to go when Miles converted inside while drawing a foul from Nevill. The Utes, however, responded with a 10-2 spurt to regain the lead at 60-58. Utah would never gain a larger advantage in regulation as the BYU turned up the defense and went on a 7-1 run to claim a 65-61 lead. The teams entered the final minute knotted at 71-71 but neither squad was able to convert on their final possessions of regulation.
The extra session proved to be the best five minutes the Utes played all night. Utah outpaced the Cougars 23-17 in overtime to halt BYU’s two-game winning streak on the Utes home floor.
BYU finished the game shooting 50.8 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from three-point range while Utah shot 50 percent overall including 31.8 percent from long range. Nevill scored a game-high 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Utah while Tyler Kepkay added 19, including six points at the free-throw line late in overtime.
“They guarded Lee really well," said Rose. "Offensively Lee gives us a good push and I’m proud of the way he played tonight.”
Cummard totaled his 23 points on a 10-of-14 shooting performance, including a perfect 3-for-3 night from three-point range. In addition to Cummard and Fredette, Jonathan Tavernari and Miles scored 14 points apiece. Cummard pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and Fredette had a game-best and career-high 10 assists.
The Cougars will return to the Marriott Center to host Wyoming on Saturday at 4 p.m. The game will be televised on The Mtn.
CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.
Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young vs Utah
01/27/09 8:05 p.m. at Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, UT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Brigham Young 15-5, (3-3 MWC)
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 10-14 3-3 0-0 0 7 7 5 23 3 1 1 3 41
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f 5-13 2-6 2-2 2 4 6 3 14 0 2 0 1 39
54 MILES, Chris........ c 6-10 0-0 2-9 2 4 6 4 14 2 2 0 3 37
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g 2-8 1-5 2-2 1 5 6 5 7 3 1 1 2 37
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g 6-13 2-5 7-8 0 4 4 4 21 10 3 1 2 37
01 ABOUO, Charles...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont. 2-3 1-1 0-1 0 1 1 1 5 2 0 0 0 15
05 ROSE, Archie........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
15 ANDERSON, James..... 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 4 0 0 0 0 7
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
53 MACGREGOR, Gavin.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 33-65 9-21 13-22 6 26 32 28 88 20 9 3 11 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-27 59.3% 2nd Half: 11-29 37.9% OT: 6-9 66.7% Game: 50.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% OT: 3-4 75.0% Game: 42.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 7-13 53.8% OT: 2-2 100 % Game: 59.1% 4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Utah 13-7 (4-2 MWC)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
14 TILLIE, Kim......... f 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 5 6 2 2 1 3 0 1 13
15 BROWN, Carlon....... f 1-6 0-1 2-2 1 4 5 3 4 2 1 1 0 24
50 NEVILL, Luke........ c 10-12 0-0 12-14 0 10 10 3 32 0 2 0 0 39
05 DRCA, Luka.......... g 4-9 2-5 8-10 0 7 7 3 18 9 3 0 2 39
11 BORHA, Lawrence..... g 4-9 2-5 2-5 1 0 1 3 12 0 6 0 0 35
01 CYPHERS, Jordan..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
02 TAVITA, Jace........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
21 GREEN, Shaun........ 3-6 1-4 0-1 5 1 6 1 7 3 0 1 0 38
32 KEPKAY, Tyler....... 5-12 2-7 7-8 0 4 4 2 19 0 0 0 0 34
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 28-56 7-22 31-40 9 31 40 18 94 15 15 2 3 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-25 48.0% 2nd Half: 11-25 44.0% OT: 5-6 83.3% Game: 50.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-11 45.5% 2nd Half: 1-9 11.1% OT: 1-2 50.0% Game: 31.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-11 90.9% 2nd Half: 9-12 75.0% OT: 12-17 70.6% Game: 77.5% 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Vern Harris, Dick Cartmell, John Higgins
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Utah-None.
Attendance: 12250
Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total
Brigham Young................. 40 31 17 - 88
Utah.......................... 39 32 23 - 94
Points in the paint-BY 26,UT 40. Points off turnovers-BY 25,UT 8.
2nd chance points-BY 6,UT 8. Fast break points-BY 7,UT 0.
Bench points-BY 7,UT 26. Score tied-12 times. Lead changed-11 times.
Last FG-BY OT-00:05, UT OT-00:50.
Largest lead-BY by 6 1st-14:50, UT by 7 OT-01:00.