PROVO -- The BYU men's basketball team scored an 83-72 victory over TCU Wednesday night in the Marriott Center, improving to 7-1 in Mountain West Conference play, their best MWC start ever. BYU also extended its home-winning streak to 43 games as the Cougars collected their 18th overall victory of the season.
The Cougars were led by junior center Trent Plaisted, who tied his career high in points with 27. Plaisted also went 7-for-9 from the free-throw line.
"We came out tonight and shared the ball well," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "Offensively it was a good night. Defensively we had more of a difficult time. It was a highly contested game, but I am really pleased with the outcome."
BYU guard Jonathan Tavernari recorded his fifth straight game with over 10 points as he ended with 20. Tavernari hit on four shots from beyond the arc on the night. The only other Cougar to finish with double-digit scoring was freshman Jimmer Fredette as he ended with 10 points.
BYU started off the game on a 7-0 run with all of the Cougars' points coming from the hand of senior Sam Burgess. Burgess made two lay-ups and a three-pointer from the wing to help the Cougars get on top early within the first 2:10 of the game.
The Cougars continued to extend their lead and saw their largest advantage of the first half at the 11:14 mark up 23-8. This was due in part to a nine-point BYU run.
Plaisted got on a hot streak in the first half as he set a new season high in first-half points with 17 before the break. Plaisted reached double-digit scoring in the first eight minutes of the game.
TCU saw a big boost come from its bench in the first half that helped the offense. Horned Frog senior Ryan Wall came into the game to hit on four three-point attempts as he finished the half with a team-high 12 points. Wall helped TCU cut into the Cougar lead as the score got as close as 37-30.
The Horned Frogs also hit the offensive boards hard early in the game as they came down with eight first-half offensive rebounds. TCU converted those extra offensive touches into four second-chance points.
The Cougars were able to maintain the lead, though, as they went into the locker room up 43-35. Tavernari also helped BYU early as he scored 11 points before the break.
BYU's consistent guard Lee Cummard did not get into the scoring column until the 18:10 mark of the second half, but he made his presence felt in other areas as he ended the game with a team-high six assists and seven rebounds.
Both Plaisted and Tavernari continued their second-half offensive push early in the second period as they combined for 13 of BYU's early second-half points. Tavernari and Plaisted scored seven and six points, respectively, by the 10:40 mark of the second half.
The Cougars had their largest lead of the game with 7:38 left in the second half as they found themselves up by 20, 69-49. One highlight of the second half came from the hands of Tavernari as he hit on a take-it-yourself lay up through the lane and then got a quick steal that lead to a Michael Loyd, Jr. fast-break lay in.
BYU cruised the rest of the way to finish the game on top of the Horned Frogs by nine.
The Cougars will next be in action on Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. as they travel to Fort Collins, Colo., to take on Colorado State.
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Official Basketball Box Score
TCU vs BYU Cougars
02/06/08 7:05 p.m. at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: TCU 11-10,3-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
32 LANGFORD, Kevin..... f 5-9 0-0 3-3 0 4 4 3 13 5 5 0 2 32
42 ORTIZ, John......... f 5-9 0-0 2-4 5 0 5 3 12 0 3 0 2 27
03 EBIE, Jason......... g 1-4 0-1 0-0 1 4 5 1 2 3 0 0 1 21
12 HACKETT, Brent...... g 4-12 2-5 1-2 1 1 2 2 11 1 0 0 0 26
24 SALTER, Henry....... g 4-14 2-8 0-0 1 3 4 0 10 0 0 0 0 24
01 SCOTT, Mike......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 2 8
05 OWENS, Neiman....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 5 6 1 2 1 2 0 0 15
10 MORONES, Martiese... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 5
11 WALL, Ryan.......... 5-7 4-5 0-0 0 1 1 0 14 0 3 0 1 14
22 MITCHEM, Keion...... 1-3 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 1 12
33 PARKER, Alvardo..... 2-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 12
41 TAUSCHER, Luke...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 29-66 8-21 6-9 14 20 34 12 72 14 15 0 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-39 38.5% 2nd Half: 14-27 51.9% Game: 43.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-13 38.5% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% Game: 38.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 66.7% 2
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HOME TEAM: BYU Cougars 18-5, 7-1
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 2-4 0-2 0-0 2 5 7 2 4 6 1 2 1 30
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f 8-13 4-7 0-0 0 2 2 2 20 5 3 1 2 25
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... c 10-14 0-0 7-9 1 3 4 2 27 1 1 1 2 33
20 BURGESS, Sam........ g 3-5 1-3 0-0 0 4 4 2 7 2 3 1 0 31
24 MURDOCK, Ben........ g 0-2 0-2 2-2 0 1 1 0 2 5 1 0 0 31
01 LOYD, JR., Michael.. 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 1 2 0 0 11
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... 4-7 2-4 0-0 0 0 0 0 10 5 3 0 1 20
41 COLLINSWORTH, Chris. 3-4 1-2 0-0 1 6 7 1 7 0 0 0 1 15
54 MILES, Chris........ 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 33-55 8-21 9-11 4 24 28 9 83 27 14 5 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-30 56.7% 2nd Half: 16-25 64.0% Game: 60.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-13 46.2% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 38.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 6-7 85.7% Game: 81.8% 0
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Officials: Rick Batsell, Stanley Reynolds, Kevin Brill
Technical fouls: TCU-None. BYU Cougars-None.
Attendance: 16042
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
TCU........................... 35 37 - 72
BYU Cougars................... 43 40 - 83
Points in the paint-TC 34,BY 42. Points off turnovers-TC 17,BY 21.
2nd chance points-TC 11,BY 5. Fast break points-TC 2,BY 6.
Bench points-TC 24,BY 23. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-TC 2nd-00:10, BY 2nd-00:22.
Largest lead-TC None, BY by 20 2nd-07:38.