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PROVO -- Junior guard Jimmer Fredette scored 36 points in No. 10 BYU’s 82-69 victory over Utah in the Deseret First Duel Saturday night in front of a sold out Marriott Center crowd. With the win the Cougars improve to 21-2 on the season and 6-1 in Mountain West Conference play.
“It was the kind of game people expect to see what coming to a game like this,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose. “Utah played hard and our guys played hard. I’ve always said this, but I like the makeup of this team—the leadership and chemistry.”
Fredette led all scorers, scoring more points against Utah than any other player in BYU history, breaking Danny Ainge's mark of 35 points set in 1981. Fredette shot 11-for-23 from the field, including 4-for-5 from three, and 10-for-12 from the free throw line.
Freshman Tyler Haws also scored in double figures with 15 points. Haws and Jackson Emery brought down a team-high seven rebounds apiece. Emery also tied a career high with six steals.
BYU’s two Lone Peak High School products, Haws and Emery, accounted for the Cougars’ first 16 points of the game. Haws made the first six points, while back-to-back three-pointers and three steals from Emery gave BYU an early 16-6 advantage.
With just under 12 minutes to play, it was Fredette’s turn to contribute, as the junior knocked down a pair of free throws, two treys and a jumper, giving him 10 points to further increase the Cougars’ lead to 30-13.
“The shot felt good tonight,” said Fredette. “Once I made a couple shots I just tried to make plays. When things start getting tough I try to be aggressive and make plays for others or for myself.”
The Utes struggled with turnovers, including one resulting in a Jonathan Tavernari dunk with 6:42 to play in the first half. Utah claimed consecutive dunks at 40-26, but one final make from beyond the arc from Tavernari before the halftime break sent the Cougars into the locker room ahead, 44-30.
“We got off to a great start,” said Rose. “We were able to get some stops defensively and get into transition. That was something we weren’t able to do against New Mexico. That spurt we put on proved to be really valuable to us because Utah kept coming at us.”
Utah started strong in the second half, putting together a 15-4 run to cut BYU’s lead to single digits at 55-48. While Fredette drove to the basket for two layins, the Utes connected on a pair of three-pointers to pull within six points with 7:33 to play in the game.
Fredette came up big for BYU as he knocked down two treys in 40-seconds to give the Cougars a double-digit lead at 75-63. Singlehandedly scoring 12 straight points for BYU, Fredette also went to the free throw line to shoot two following a flagrant foul called on Utah’s Marshall Henderson with under a minute to play.
“Fredette made great plays and made great shots,” said Utah head coach Jim Boylen. “He had to work for his points and he got them. I think he’s the best player we’ve had in this league in a long time. He represents BYU with a lot of class and pride.”
The Cougars remain at home next week to host TCU on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. MT. The game will be televised live on The Mtn.
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Official Basketball Box Score
Utah vs BYU COUGARS
01/30/10 7:02 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Utah 10-11, 3-4 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 WATKINS, Jay........ * 7-16 0-0 4-5 4 7 11 4 18 2 3 1 2 34
03 HENDERSON, Marshall. * 5-15 2-9 4-4 1 3 4 2 16 1 1 0 0 37
05 DRCA, Luka.......... * 2-6 0-3 2-2 1 4 5 2 6 3 4 0 1 35
15 BROWN, Carlon....... * 2-5 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 1 5 2 3 0 0 18
51 FOSTER, David....... * 3-4 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 3 6 2 1 4 0 24
02 TAVITA, Jace........ 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 8 8 3 0 3 2 0 0 26
14 TILLIE, Kim......... 4-7 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 1 9 1 2 1 0 17
32 GLOVER, Shawn....... 3-6 1-1 2-2 0 2 2 1 9 2 0 0 0 9
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 26-61 4-18 13-15 9 31 40 17 69 16 16 6 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-29 41.4% 2nd Half: 14-32 43.8% Game: 42.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-8 12.5% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 22.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 8-9 88.9% Game: 86.7% 1
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HOME TEAM: BYU COUGARS 21-2, 6-1 MWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... f 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 1 2 0 0 1 0 24
54 MILES, Chris........ c 1-4 0-0 3-4 1 2 3 3 5 3 1 0 1 28
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g 3-10 2-6 0-2 2 5 7 1 8 4 0 0 6 34
23 HAWS, Tyler......... g 7-11 0-1 1-2 3 4 7 1 15 1 0 0 1 33
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g 11-23 4-5 10-12 1 3 4 3 36 2 3 0 1 35
00 DAVIES, Brandon..... 2-6 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 10
01 ABOUO, Charles...... 3-4 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 0 6 0 1 0 0 10
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont. 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
10 LOYD, JR., Michael.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
12 MAGNUSSON, Logan.... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. 2-5 1-1 0-0 0 3 3 1 5 2 1 0 1 20
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 30-66 7-14 15-22 7 27 34 11 82 12 6 1 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-34 50.0% 2nd Half: 13-32 40.6% Game: 45.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-7 71.4% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% Game: 50.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 10-14 71.4% Game: 68.2% 5
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Officials: David Hall, Shawn Lehigh, Michael Irving
Technical fouls: Utah-None. BYU COUGARS-None.
Attendance: 22644
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Utah.......................... 30 39 - 69
BYU COUGARS................... 44 38 - 82
Marriott Center sellout
Points in the paint-UT 24,BY 38. Points off turnovers-UT 10,BY 16.
2nd chance points-UT 10,BY 8. Fast break points-UT 0,BY 12.
Bench points-UT 18,BY 16. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-UT 2nd-02:14, BY 2nd-03:02.
Largest lead-UT None, BY by 18 1st-06:39.