PROVO -- With the Deseret First Duel trophy on the line, the BYU men’s basketball team overcame a two-point first-half deficit to defeat in-state rival Utah 63-50 Saturday in front of a Marriott Center crowd of 20,120. With the win the Cougars improve to 22-6 overall and 10-4 in Mountain West Conference play while ending the Utes' eight-game winning streak.
“It was the type of game you’d expect between these two teams,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose. “I’m happy for our players—this was a great win for them. They played really hard and fought through a difficult week.”
Sophomore Jimmer Fredette led all scorers with 25 points, marking the seventh 20-point game of his career. After scoring only three points in the first half, senior team captain Lee Cummard scored a total of 16 points. Chris Miles also scored in double-figures with 13 points.
After scoring a career-high 32 points in the last meeting between these two teams in January, the Cougars held Utah’s senior center Luke Nevill to 3-of-12 shooting for nine points.
Strong defensive play kept the score low as both teams struggled to put points on the board in the opening 10 minutes. Trailing, the Cougars were held scoreless for nearly five minutes before Fredette converted on a three-point play with 9:34 remaining in the half. Another pair of free throws by the sophomore pulled BYU to within three points at 14-11. Miles also knocked down two free throws with 6:22 to play in the half. Together, Fredette and Miles accounted for 20 of the Cougars’ 26 total points in the first half.
Utah made its fifth three-pointer of the game to put the Utes up by eight points. On the other end, Utah’s Kim Tillie attempted to block a shot by Noah Hartsock, but his effort backfired, as he tipped the ball in for a BYU score. With only 3:49 to play until the break, Cummard made his first basket of the game, a three-pointer to narrow Utah’s lead to three points once again.
With the clock running down, and facing continual struggles from the field, multiple trips to the charity stripe helped the Cougars stay in the game. A jumper by Fredette sent the teams into the locker rooms with Utah leading 28-26. While shooting only .267 from the field in the first half, the Cougars made 9-of-11 free throws, for a .818 percentage.
“Whenever we had an open shot, someone was closing in pretty quick,” said Rose. “Utah got us into an uncomfortable pace. The past few games have been real defensive battles. We’ve been able to take that and come out in the second half with stronger play offensively.”
After making only one field goal in the entire first half, Cummard turned it around early in the second, connecting on three of the Cougars’ first four baskets, giving BYU a 34-32 lead. The Utes came back to tie the score at 34-34 and 36-36 before BYU went on a 9-0 run. Fredette‘s running layin with 13:02 to play in the game gave the Cougars a 43-36 advantage heading into a media timeout.
Cummard and Fredette continued to dominate offensively, extending BYU’s lead to double figures. With 7:57 remaining, Fredette put up a shot against Utah’s Luke Nevill, which bounced out, but the sophomore was there for his own rebound and put-back shot. The Cougars ended the game making 7-of-8 free throws.
“[Jimmer’s] been terrific the last month,” said Rose. “Opportunities are created for him because of the way teams are guarding us. There are opportunities for him to use his dribble penetration. The decisions that he’s making, he expects to score.”
Up next the Cougars travel to take on the Wyoming Cowboys March 4 at 6 p.m. MT. The game will be televised live on The Mtn.
CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.
Official Basketball Box Score
Utah vs BYU Cougars
02/28/09 3:06 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Utah 20-8, 11-3 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 DRCA, Luka.......... * 2-8 0-6 0-0 1 2 3 3 4 1 6 0 1 26
11 BORHA, Lawrence..... * 6-12 3-7 0-0 2 3 5 3 15 0 2 1 1 38
14 TILLIE, Kim......... * 1-2 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 2 4 0 0 1 0 12
15 BROWN, Carlon....... * 1-6 0-0 2-2 3 2 5 3 4 2 1 1 0 23
50 NEVILL, Luke........ * 3-12 0-0 3-4 1 15 16 3 9 1 3 2 0 39
21 GREEN, Shaun........ 1-8 1-7 0-0 3 3 6 3 3 1 2 1 0 29
32 KEPKAY, Tyler....... 4-13 1-5 2-3 0 2 2 2 11 2 1 0 0 33
TEAM................ 4 1 5
Totals.............. 18-61 5-25 9-11 15 29 44 19 50 7 15 6 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-30 33.3% 2nd Half: 8-31 25.8% Game: 29.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-16 31.3% 2nd Half: 0-9 0.0% Game: 20.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 6-7 85.7% Game: 81.8% 1
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 22-6, 10-4 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 6-17 1-1 3-5 1 6 7 2 16 4 2 2 2 36
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f 0-5 0-1 0-0 0 8 8 4 0 0 0 0 0 25
54 MILES, Chris........ c 4-9 0-0 5-6 3 5 8 4 13 0 0 2 1 33
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g 1-4 1-3 2-2 0 4 4 1 5 1 0 0 2 35
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g 8-16 1-3 8-9 0 0 0 0 25 3 1 0 2 38
01 ABOUO, Charles...... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 9
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
05 ROSE, Archie........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
15 ANDERSON, James..... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 6
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... 1-2 0-0 0-0 3 3 6 0 2 1 2 0 0 16
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 21-56 3-8 18-22 10 28 38 13 63 9 5 4 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-30 26.7% 2nd Half: 13-26 50.0% Game: 37.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-3 33.3% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 37.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-12 75.0% 2nd Half: 9-10 90.0% Game: 81.8% 1
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Officials: David Hall, Mike Reed, Mike Giarratano
Technical fouls: Utah-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 20120
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Utah.......................... 28 22 - 50
BYU Cougars................... 26 37 - 63
Points in the paint-UT 16,BY 26. Points off turnovers-UT 5,BY 16.
2nd chance points-UT 12,BY 11. Fast break points-UT 2,BY 2.
Bench points-UT 14,BY 4. Score tied-6 times. Lead changed-5 times.
Last FG-UT 2nd-00:39, BY 2nd-01:56.
Largest lead-UT by 8 1st-04:39, BY by 13 2nd-00:08.