TUCSON -- Jimmer Fredette played one of the greatest games in BYU basketball history, setting a new Cougar record for most points in a game with 49, as BYU defeated Arizona 99-69 in the Fiesta Bowl Classic on Monday. The Cougars are now 13-1 and have won eight straight.
"He's (Fredette) playing with a lot of confidence," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "He has a little better understanding of things that he struggled with earlier. He just has a lot of confidence and thinks everything he is putting up is going in."
Fredette shot 16-23 from the field, 9-of-13 from three and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line while adding nine assists, seven rebounds and two steals before BYU head coach Dave Rose sat his point guard down to a standing ovation from the Arizona crowd.
"He was really good but I was really impressed how we kept our composure at times tonight," Rose said. "But Jimmer had a great night."
The 49-point total is a record for the most points ever by a player in one of the most storied arenas in college basketball, the Wildcats’ McKale Center. It also ties a Mountain West Conference record, set previously by UNLV's Trevor Diggs in 2001 against Wyoming. Fredette scored 24 points in the first half and 25 in the second.
"Jimmer Fredette played a great game," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "Did we have something to do with that? Yes. We struggled to defend the other team's best perimeter player. Their victory tonight was largely thanks to his play. He reminds me a lot of Mark Price, who played at Georgia Tech and had a long career in the NBA. I'm not an NBA manager, but I would put Fredette against a lot of guards in the country. When he does miss a shot, he goes and gets it, and we made that very easy for him tonight."
The 30-point margin of victory is also the worst Arizona loss at the McKale Center in the arena's history.
The junior’s nine successful baskets from downtown also broke Mike Rose’s BYU record of eight three-pointers in a game.
One point behind Bob Skousen’s 47 points set against UCLA in 1961, Fredette made history on a long three-pointer with three minutes left in the game.
“I didn’t know anything about it until I hit that last three,” Fredette said. “It was an amazing night. I have never experienced a night like that at the college level. We played really great tonight and got a huge win against a tough opponent.”
BYU used a big run out of the gate to jump to a 20-5 lead against Arizona. Jackson Emery and Tyler Haws each hit an early three-pointer, then Fredette added back-to-back treys.
Emery, Haws and Fredette would string together three more treys a few minutes later, pushing the lead to 33-11. Fredette hit six threes in the first half alone.
Jackson Emery was second on the team with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting and three three-pointers while adding eight assists and seven boards. Tyler Haws added another 12 points, shooting 5-of-8.
Arizona started hot in the second half, scoring the first eight points to cut the BYU lead to seven at 51-44. Fredette responded by scoring the next seven points to give BYU a 14-point cushion at 58-44.
After a bucket by Arizona's Kyle Fogg, the Cougars pulled away with a 13-2 run that included threes by Fredette and Emery to make the score 71-48. The Wildcats would get no closer to BYU than 21 points the rest of the way.
BYU returns home on Saturday, Jan. 2, to play Eastern New Mexico at 7 p.m.
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Highlights from KSL.com
Video Courtesy of KSL.com
Official Basketball Box Score
Brigham Young vs Arizona
12/28/09 7 p.m. MST at Olson Court, McKale Center, Tucson, AZ
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VISITORS: Brigham Young 13-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... f 2-7 0-0 1-2 4 1 5 3 5 0 0 1 0 21
54 MILES, Chris........ f 4-7 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 4 8 2 2 0 2 22
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g 5-10 3-7 0-0 1 6 7 1 13 8 0 1 2 31
23 HAWS, Tyler......... g 5-8 2-4 0-0 2 1 3 3 12 0 1 0 1 32
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g 16-23 9-13 8-9 1 6 7 2 49 9 5 0 2 36
00 DAVIES, Brandon..... 2-5 0-0 2-3 1 1 2 4 6 0 0 0 1 13
01 ABOUO, Charles...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 5
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont. 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 5
10 LOYD, JR., Michael.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6
12 MAGNUSSON, Logan.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
13 ZYLSTRA, Brock...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
15 ANDERSON, James..... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 4
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 5 5 2 2 2 2 0 0 22
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 37-65 14-25 11-14 11 23 34 21 99 22 11 2 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-32 59.4% 2nd Half: 18-33 54.5% Game: 56.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 10-17 58.8% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 56.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 8-10 80.0% Game: 78.6% 2
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HOME TEAM: Arizona 6-6
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
23 Williams, Derrick... f 5-9 0-0 7-10 2 5 7 1 17 1 5 0 0 24
42 Horne, Jamelle...... f 2-8 1-3 0-0 2 4 6 0 5 3 2 0 2 22
44 Hill, Solomon....... f 6-10 1-2 0-0 2 0 2 3 13 1 3 1 1 29
13 Wise, Nic........... g 3-8 0-4 2-2 0 2 2 2 8 0 1 0 1 29
21 Fogg, Kyle.......... g 5-12 1-4 5-6 1 0 1 1 16 2 2 0 0 24
01 Natyazhko, Kyryl.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 7
03 Parrom, Kevin....... 2-3 0-1 0-5 2 1 3 1 4 1 1 0 0 14
12 Jones, Lamont....... 2-4 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 2 4 2 0 0 1 22
24 Lavender, Brendon... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 15
33 Shumpert, D.J....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4
50 Jacobson, Alex...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 2 0 1 0 0 10
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 26-56 3-17 14-23 11 17 28 13 69 11 19 2 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-30 43.3% 2nd Half: 13-26 50.0% Game: 46.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 1-10 10.0% Game: 17.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-10 80.0% 2nd Half: 6-13 46.2% Game: 60.9% 5,1
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Officials: Mike Reed, Mike Scyphers, J.T. Orr
Technical fouls: Brigham Young-None. Arizona-None.
Attendance: 13992
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Brigham Young................. 51 48 - 99
Arizona....................... 36 33 - 69
2009 Desert Diamond Fiesta Bowl Classic
TV: KGUN/FCS
Points in the paint-BY 28,ARIZ 34. Points off turnovers-BY 27,ARIZ 17.
2nd chance points-BY 6,ARIZ 11. Fast break points-BY 8,ARIZ 2.
Bench points-BY 12,ARIZ 10. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-BY 2nd-00:50, ARIZ 2nd-01:08.
Largest lead-BY by 33 2nd-03:00, ARIZ by 2 1st-19:30.