PROVO -- The depth of the No. 18/17 BYU bench showed in their 91-47 victory over Colorado State in the Marriott Center on Saturday.
With ten players seeing double-digit minutes, the Cougars received positive contributions from their entire lineup.
“I was really pleased with how our team responded in the first half against a great team and how they handled themselves throughout the whole game," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "During the second half we played terrific."
BYU (18-1, 3-0 MWC) was led by Jimmer Fredette, who returned to the Cougar starting lineup with 21 points. Jonathan Tavernari continued to provide strong performances coming off the bench as the senior posted 14 points, four steals, three rebounds and two assists in just 19 minutes.
Freshman Tyler Haws sparked the Cougars in the first half as the guard shot .750 from the field and scored nine points. It rained threes early initially for the Cougars while the Rams found early success with their post play. The first two made baskets for BYU came from downtown with treys by Jackson Emery and Haws to give the Cougars a 6-2 before CSU (11-6, 2-1) showed their strength down low and tied the score at 8-8.
Rose looked to his bench for a significant contribution throughout the game. Freshman center Brandon Davies came into the game and provided an instant spark for the Cougars, scoring on his first possession of the game and finishing with eight rebounds and four points. Tavernari hit a three soon after entering the game, but the Rams continued to battle and took a 16-15 lead with twelve minutes to play in the first half.
“I have been really pleased with how this team has stuck together," Rose said. "These guys have great chemistry and it shows on the floor. This is a team that is playing together well and can overcome anything.”
The Cougars were finally able to pull away after a 12-0 run thanks in large part to the continued strong play of the BYU bench gave the Cougars a 38-22 lead going into the break. Strong defensive play by BYU prevented CSU from scoring a field goal in the last eight minutes of the half.
Cougar fans stayed on their feet much of the second half as Fredette added eight points in the first five minutes of the second half and BYU slammed down its most dunks of the season, including ones from Emery, Tavernari, Michael Loyd, Jr., and Charles Abouo.
The Rams were never able to come within twenty points in the last eighteen minutes of the game as the Cougars continued to extend their lead. A slam by Abouo capped the game Abouo collected a pass after a diving steal by Brock Zylstra with thirty seconds remaining.
“I believe that we are a team filled with competitors," Rose said. "Having said that, I don’t believe that they are fully satisfied yet. It’s a healthy feeling that we have and I really enjoy coaching players with this kind of attitude.”
The Cougars will be back in action at home on Wednesday against Wyoming at 6 p.m. in the Marriott Center. The game will be shown live on The Mtn. and will also be broadcast on KSL Newsradio.
CLICK HERE for game notes and quotes.
Official Basketball Box Score
Colorado State vs BYU COUGARS
01/16/10 4:02 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Colorado State 11-6, 2-1 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 FRANKLIN, Travis.... f 2-6 0-0 0-1 3 1 4 3 4 0 6 0 0 24
04 HORNUNG, Pierce..... f 2-2 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 4 4 0 1 0 1 29
32 OGIDE, Andy......... f 3-5 0-0 1-1 1 5 6 1 7 1 5 0 0 19
12 NIGON, Adam......... g 1-6 1-4 3-4 0 2 2 1 6 0 2 0 2 23
22 GREEN, Dorian....... g 2-8 0-2 3-6 0 3 3 2 7 2 1 0 1 29
00 BOCAR BA, Mame...... 0-1 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 3 0 0 0 1 0 11
10 BUSCH, Travis....... 2-3 0-0 2-2 2 3 5 0 6 0 2 0 0 8
13 MCFARLAND, Andre.... 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 14
15 ANNESE, Mike........ 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 4
20 PERRY, Harvey....... 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 0 0 10
40 DUNN, Arin.......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 8
44 SMITH, Greg......... 4-9 0-2 5-6 0 1 1 1 13 0 2 0 0 21
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 16-51 1-13 14-22 10 24 34 20 47 5 23 1 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-24 37.5% 2nd Half: 7-27 25.9% Game: 31.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-3 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-10 10.0% Game: 7.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 10-17 58.8% Game: 63.6% 5
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HOME TEAM: BYU COUGARS 18-1, 3-0 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
23 HAWS, Tyler......... f 3-5 1-2 4-4 0 2 2 0 11 2 0 0 0 25
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... f 3-4 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 6 3 1 4 0 23
54 MILES, Chris........ c 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 0 22
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g 3-6 1-4 0-0 1 2 3 3 7 1 2 0 3 20
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g 8-18 2-5 3-3 1 1 2 1 21 4 3 0 0 24
00 DAVIES, Brandon..... 3-4 0-0 2-6 1 3 4 4 8 0 2 1 0 15
01 ABOUO, Charles...... 4-5 0-0 2-3 3 5 8 3 10 3 0 0 1 17
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont. 2-2 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 5 1 1 0 1 16
10 LOYD, JR., Michael.. 2-4 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 2 4 0 1 0 0 10
12 MAGNUSSON, Logan.... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 3
13 ZYLSTRA, Brock...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3
15 ANDERSON, James..... 0-0 0-0 1-3 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 3
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. 5-9 2-3 2-2 0 3 3 2 14 2 1 0 4 19
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 34-58 7-17 16-25 8 28 36 20 91 20 13 7 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-26 53.8% 2nd Half: 20-32 62.5% Game: 58.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 41.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-11 54.5% 2nd Half: 10-14 71.4% Game: 64.0% 1
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Officials: Verne Harris, Ronnie Hernandez, Newton Chelette
Technical fouls: Colorado State-None. BYU COUGARS-None.
Attendance: 20155
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Colorado State................ 22 25 - 47
BYU COUGARS................... 38 53 - 91
Points in the paint-CS 18,BY 32. Points off turnovers-CS 10,BY 30.
2nd chance points-CS 6,BY 11. Fast break points-CS 0,BY 14.
Bench points-CS 19,BY 43. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-CS 2nd-00:00, BY 2nd-00:25.
Largest lead-CS by 1 1st-12:05, BY by 46 2nd-00:25.