COLORADO SPRINGS -- To end the first half of Mountain West Conference play, the BYU men’s basketball team (17-5, 5-3) defeated the Air Force Falcons (9-12, 0-8) 71-50 with four Cougars in double figures on Tuesday.
“It was a battle,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose. “I thought our guys responded well in a critical time. Air force had a lot of momentum and got their crowd into it, but when we got in our rhythm we pulled away.”
Junior Jonathan Tavernari became the 39th Cougar to score 1,000 career points against Air Force, bringing his all-time scoring to 1,006 points. The 1,000th point came on a free throw with 15:02 remaining in the game. Tavernari finished the game with 17 points, six rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Jimmer Fredette hit 6-10 from the field, 4-4 from the stripe and 4-5 from the three-point line, leading the Cougars in points with 20 against the Falcons. Fredette has made 32 of his last 35 free throws this season.
“I’m feeling as comfortable as I ever have and the coaches are showing a lot of confidence in me,” said Fredette. “I am trying my hardest to get my shots and get the ball to my teammates as well. My teammates help me to get open with their screens, allowing me to drive to the basket when I’m open and hit a teammate when I’m not.”
Lee Cummard posted his third double-double of the season and the 10th of his career, putting up 12 points and 10 rebounds on the night. Chris Miles posted his third double-figure game in a row with 10 points on the night, posting some crucial points for the Cougars late in the second half.
To start out the scoring for the Cougars, Tavernari and Cummard posted the first seven points of the game. The Cougars went on two 7-1 runs broken up by a jumper from Air Force at the 13:24 mark to put them up 14-5.
BYU posted its largest lead at the 7:53 mark with a pair of free throws from Jackson Emery, tallying a 6-0 BYU run and a 13-point lead at 23-10.
To tie the lowest field goal percentage of the season, BYU hit only 37.5 percent of their shots in the first half. The Cougars didn’t post any fast break points in the first half, while they normally averaging 6.3 more than their opponent.
Leading the entire first half, the Cougars had some scares by the Falcons late in the first half. After their largest lead of the game at 13, the Cougars fell to two solid runs by the Falcons (8-2 and 13-4), shrinking the lead to four going into the locker rooms at 27-23.
To continue their adrenaline in the second half, the Falcons obtained their first lead of the game at the 11:50 mark at 39-41. The Cougars would battle for the lead for two and a half minutes until a 10-0 run would put them up 53-45.
With a team effort to get back on top of the Falcons, Tavernari, Cummard, Emery and Fredette all posted points to give the Cougars their eight-point lead late in the second.
The Cougars then proved unstoppable, posting a 26-3 run — that included a 16-0 spurt — to give them a 21-point victory over the Falcons at 71-50. BYU improved their shooting in the second half by 12.5 percent, shooting 50 percent from the field for the game. After finding themselves down 41-39 the Cougars hit 11-of-13 from the field to fuel the big run.
“I think the eight-day break is going to help us get ready for the second half of the MWC grind,” said Fredette. “It’s going to get us completely healthy and we’re going to practice and have a good eight days to be ready to take on Colorado State on Wednesday.”
BYU will have a one-week break before beginning the second half of the conference schedule on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at home against Colorado State at 6 p.m. Follow the game on www.byucougars.com and listen live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 5 p.m. MT on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City or via the Internet at KSL.com. The game will be televised live on The Mtn.
CLICK HERE for postgame notes and quotes.
Official Basketball Box Score
BYU vs Air Force
2/3/09 6:05 p.m. at USAFA, Colo. (Clune Arena)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: BYU 17-5, 5-3 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 4-6 0-1 4-4 1 9 10 4 12 3 3 1 0 35
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f 7-14 1-3 2-2 0 6 6 2 17 2 1 0 3 36
54 MILES, Chris........ c 3-6 0-0 4-4 0 4 4 3 10 1 0 1 1 21
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g 2-4 2-3 2-2 0 3 3 4 8 2 0 2 2 24
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g 6-10 4-5 4-4 0 2 2 0 20 3 2 0 1 37
01 ABOUO, Charles...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont. 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 2 3 0 0 18
05 ROSE, Archie........ 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
15 ANDERSON, James..... 0-3 0-0 0-2 2 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 8
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 1 0 13
TEAM................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 24-48 7-13 16-19 5 31 36 17 71 15 10 5 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-24 37.5% 2nd Half: 15-24 62.5% Game: 50.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 4-5 80.0% Game: 53.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-8 75.0% 2nd Half: 10-11 90.9% Game: 84.2% 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Air Force 9-12, 0-8 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 STEWART, Taylor..... f 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 12
31 HOLLAND, Matt....... f 4-10 3-8 2-2 0 5 5 1 13 1 1 0 3 35
34 SCHAFER, Sammy...... c 4-6 0-1 4-6 1 3 4 3 12 0 1 1 0 22
03 PROVOST, Brandon.... g 0-4 0-3 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 0 1 1 0 27
42 JOHNSON, Anwar...... g 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 3 1 1 0 24
04 EL-AMIN, Saj........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
10 HENKE, Andrew....... 4-12 2-6 2-3 0 3 3 4 12 1 3 0 0 30
13 NOONAN, Trevor...... 2-2 0-0 1-3 0 2 2 1 5 0 1 0 1 13
32 HEMPSEY, Shawn...... 2-6 0-3 0-0 0 3 3 1 4 2 2 0 1 23
35 WASHINGTON, Evan.... 1-1 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 5
50 PARKER, Grant....... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 8
TEAM................ 1 1 2 1
Totals.............. 17-45 5-22 11-18 3 21 24 17 50 8 14 3 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-18 44.4% 2nd Half: 9-27 33.3% Game: 37.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 3-14 21.4% Game: 22.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-10 50.0% 2nd Half: 6-8 75.0% Game: 61.1% 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Randy McCall, Bruce Hicks, Eddie Jackson
Technical fouls: BYU-None. Air Force-None.
Attendance: 2743
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
BYU........................... 27 44 - 71
Air Force..................... 23 27 - 50
Points in the paint-BY 16,AF 22. Points off turnovers-BY 11,AF 8.
2nd chance points-BY 7,AF 6. Fast break points-BY 2,AF 2.
Bench points-BY 4,AF 25. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-BY 2nd-00:45, AF 2nd-06:45.
Largest lead-BY by 21 2nd-01:43, AF by 2 2nd-11:48.