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PROVO -- In a hard-fought battle, the BYU men’s basketball team opened the 2009-10 season with a 70-60 victory over the Bradley Braves Friday night at the Marriott Center in the first game of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge. The Cougars have now won their last three season openers.

“There was a lot of energy in the building,” said BYU men’s basketball head coach Dave Rose. “These were two good teams really competing and it came down to the wire. I am proud of our players – they played a good game.”

Jimmer Fredette led all scorers with 25 points on 6-of-14 shooting and 12-of-14 from the free throw line while teammates Jonathan Tavernari and Michael Loyd, Jr. poured in 13 and 10 points, respectively. Loyd continuously scored big baskets in crucial moments to help the team by going 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 behind the three-point arc while Fredette led with four assists in the game.

“The experience that Jimmer had really helped tonight,” Rose said. “Mike Loyd came out and played really well for us. It takes a lot of guys to win a game and tonight we had a lot of help.”

Overall, the Cougars shot 40 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free throw line while the Braves had a 36 percent outing. BYU guard Jackson Emery led the team with six defensive rebounds while sophomore Charles Abouo and freshman Brandon Davies had three offensive rebounds apiece.

The Braves’ Chris Roberts led Bradley with 16 points by going 5-of-7 from the field while Sam Maniscalco had a huge first half and finished the game with 15 points. Brave forward Andrew Warren contributed 13 points.

“We had some issues with guarding,” Rose said. “They were quick, athletic guys. Once we started switching we were effective. We played through the fouls and made it to the end.”

Both were equally matched in the paint with 16 points apiece while BYU led in second-chance points (15-11) and Bradley countered with 24 points from the bench to the Cougars’ 21.

Maniscalco and Warren constantly made big shots to keep the Braves in striking distance and never allowed a consistent Cougar lead. Bradley stormed back into the game down by 10 points after halftime to tie it up at 39-all with 13 minutes left.

The Cougars forced a Bradley timeout after building a 54-45 lead when multiple players contributed buckets. Sophomore Noah Hartsock scored his first bucket of the season followed by jump shots from Fredette and Tavernari.

Bradley’s Warren consistently made shots down the stretch, including a three-point play and a three-pointer to pull the Braves within seven points, 63-56.

Both teams got off to a shaky start as the Cougars opened the game 2-for-7 shooting while Bradley began 1-for-6 as BYU gained a 5-2 lead five minutes into the game.

Fredette pushed the lead to 12-4 with a three-pointer and a jump shot off the glass before Davies scored on an acrobatic offensive rebound and tip-in.

The Braves’ Maniscalco kept Bradley in the game with four converted free throws and a trey to keep the game close, 17-13, in favor of the Cougars.

Michael Loyd, Jr. made a big three-pointer to extend the lead to 20-13 for BYU with seven minutes remaining in the half.

After a rough start, senior Tavernari converted a crucial trey to extend the lead to 27-18 with four minutes remaining in the half.

At the half, the Cougars built a 32-25 lead as Fredette led the team with nine points on 4-of-9 shooting while Tavernari contributed six and Loyd poured in five. The team shot 38 percent on 12-of-32 shooting in the opening half to the Braves’ 27 percent. BYU also earned seven second-chance points to Bradley’s two.

The Cougars will next face Idaho State on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. MT in the Marriott Center.

CLICK HERE for game notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
BRADLEY BRAVES vs BYU COUGARS
11/13/09 7:32 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: BRADLEY BRAVES 0-1 ; MVC 0-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 Dunson, Dodie....... f  0-4    0-2    0-2    0  1  1   2   0  1  0  0  0  25
24 Warren, Andrew...... f  4-13   3-6    2-2    2  4  6   2  13  3  3  0  0  35
54 Singh, Sam.......... c  1-2    0-0    0-0    2  0  2   3   2  1  2  0  0  17
01 McCain, Eddren...... g  2-6    0-3    2-4    3  1  4   3   6  1  1  0  1  24
05 Maniscalco, Sam..... g  3-10   3-5    6-6    0  2  2   4  15  2  2  0  1  34
21 Egolf, Will.........    3-5    0-0    0-0    0  3  3   3   6  0  3  0  0  12
23 Roberts, Chris......    5-7    1-2    5-8    1  4  5   3  16  2  2  1  2  26
32 Simms-Edwards, D....    0-2    0-0    0-2    0  2  2   2   0  2  2  0  1  14
41 Thompson, Anthony...    0-1    0-0    2-2    0  3  3   0   2  0  0  1  0  13
   TEAM................                         2  2  4
   Totals..............   18-50   7-18  17-26  10 22 32  22  60 12 15  2  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  6-22 27.3%   2nd Half: 12-28 42.9%   Game: 36.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-8  37.5%   2nd Half:  4-10 40.0%   Game: 38.9%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-12 83.3%   2nd Half:  7-14 50.0%   Game: 65.4%    2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: BYU COUGARS 1-0 ; MWC 0-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
04 EMERY, Jackson...... f  1-4    1-3    2-2    0  6  6   4   5  2  1  0  1  22
24 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f  5-18   3-8    0-0    0  4  4   3  13  0  4  0  1  33
54 MILES, Chris........ c  1-2    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   1   2  2  0  0  0  17
01 ABOUO, Charles...... g  2-7    0-1    0-0    3  2  5   2   4  0  2  1  2  18
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g  6-14   1-5   12-14   1  4  5   1  25  4  2  0  0  37
00 DAVIES, Brandon.....    1-1    0-0    1-4    3  0  3   4   3  0  2  1  0  10
02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont.    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
10 LOYD, JR., Michael..    4-4    2-2    0-1    0  4  4   1  10  0  0  0  1  22
12 MAGNUSSON, Logan....    0-1    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   0   0  1  0  0  0   2
15 ANDERSON, James.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   0  0  0  0  0   2
23 HAWS, Tyler.........    0-2    0-0    4-6    2  5  7   3   4  2  0  0  0  19
34 HARTSOCK, Noah......    2-2    0-0    0-0    2  0  2   3   4  0  0  1  0  15
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   22-55   7-19  19-27  14 30 44  24  70 11 11  3  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-32 37.5%   2nd Half: 10-23 43.5%   Game: 40.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-14 35.7%   2nd Half:  2-5  40.0%   Game: 36.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-5  60.0%   2nd Half: 16-22 72.7%   Game: 70.4%    4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Tom O'Neill, David Hall, Kelly Self
Technical fouls: BRADLEY BRAVES-None. BYU COUGARS-None.
Attendance: 16276
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
BRADLEY BRAVES................   25   35  -   60
BYU COUGARS...................   32   38  -   70
Points in the paint-BRAD-M 16,BY 16. Points off turnovers-BRAD-M 12,BY 19.
2nd chance points-BRAD-M 11,BY 15. Fast break points-BRAD-M 2,BY 0.
Bench points-BRAD-M 24,BY 21. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-BRAD-M 2nd-01:44, BY 2nd-05:09.
Largest lead-BRAD-M by 2 1st-19:30, BY by 13 2nd-05:09.

2009-10 Season Opens Friday against Bradley

BYU (0-0) men’s basketball will open the 2009-10 season at home against Bradley (0-0) of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Cougars are coming off a season in which they finished 25-8 overall and 12-4 in the Mountain West Conference to claim their third-straight regular season league title and earn a third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Bradley was 21-15 last season and advanced to the championship game of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. The game is part of the 2009 MWC/MVC Challenge that will feature nine match-ups between the two conferences this season. Friday’s game will be televised live on The Mtn. and can be heard live on KSL Newsradio beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m. MT on 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City or via the Internet at KSL.com.

Up Next

BYU will host Idaho State on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. in the Marriott Center. Follow the game on www.byucougars.com and listen live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m. MT on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City or via the Internet at KSL.com.

Cougar Quick Hits

— BYU is 2-2 in season openers under head coach Dave Rose including wins in its last two openers.

— Since Rose took over as head coach of BYU basketball, the Cougars are 61-3 in the Marriott Center, including a 53-game winning streak from 2005 to 2008 — the longest in school history. The Cougars were 14-2 at home last season.

— Two-time MWC Coach of the Year Dave Rose has guided BYU to three-straight MWC regular season titles and three-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament. Under Rose, BYU also has four-straight 20-win seasons and four-straight postseason appearances. He is on pace to reach 100 wins faster than any other coach in BYU history and has the best record through four seasons of any Cougar coach.

— BYU has been picked to finish first (23 of 24 first-place votes) in the MWC preseason poll by the league’s media.

— The Cougars return four starters and five other letterwinners from a squad that went 25-8 overall, shared the MWC regular season title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

BYU GAME #1 FAST FACTS

BYU (0-0) vs. Bradley (0-0)

Friday, Nov. 13, 2009

Marriott Center

Provo, Utah

7:30 p.m. MT

Coaches

BYU, Dave Rose (97-34 in fifth season; same overall)

Bradley, Jim Les (126-105 in eighth season; same overall)

Series

BYU leads, 2-1, including an 86-79 win in 1977, the last meeting between the two schools.

TV

Live on The Mtn. (Bill Riley, play-by-play; Joe Cravens, game analysis)

Radio

KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM) and the Cougar Sports Network (6:30 p.m. MT pregame show — Greg Wrubell, play-by-play; Mark Durrant, game analysis)

Web

Live audio and live stats links are available on the basketball schedule page at www.byucougars.com/basketball_m/

Looking at Bradley

Bradley opens its season with the Cougars, the first visit to Provo for the Braves since 1974. Bradley was 21-15 last season including 5-9 on the road. The Braves took second in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament and were 10-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Sam Maniscalco returns to lead Bradley after averaging 12.6 points and 3.1 dimes per game. Also returning are guards Dodie Dunson (10.1 ppg and 2.8 rpg) and Chris Roberts (8.7 ppg and 4.2 rpg) — both starters a year ago. Head coach Jim Les welcomes the return of Andrew Warren, a guard who started in 2007-08 and averaged 13.2 points and 3.6 rebounds before missing all of last season due to injury. Last season Bradley averaged 67.1 points compared to 66.3 points for its opponents. Les enters his eighth season at the helm and is 126-105 overall. He has led the Braves to four-straight postseason appearances, including the NCAA Tournament in 2006, the NIT in 2007, the College Basketball Invitational in 2008 and the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in 2009.

Bradley’s Last OUting — Warren’s Return Sparks Bradley in Exhibition Win

PEORIA, Ill. - Bradley junior guard Andrew Warren (Indianapolis, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit Prep), who redshirted the 2008-09 season with a broken foot, hit his first six field goal attempts and all six free throw attempts en route to a team-high 21 points, leading the Braves to a 68-63 exhibition victory versus NCAA Division II Lewis (0-2 exhibitions) Sunday afternoon at Carver Arena. With 10 Bradley players logging between 10 and 24 minutes, sophomore forward Taylor Brown (Atlanta, Ga./Dunwoody H.S.) was Bradley’s only other double-digit scorer with 12 points and the 6-foot-6 forward added a team-best eight rebounds. Lewis guard Dennis Thomas, Jr. shared game-high scoring honors with 21 points, while fellow guard Chris McClellan added 16 points. Flyers center Mary Strus pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds. Coming off its first exhibition game at Notre Dame, where Lewis led with less than 15 minutes remaining, the Flyers put up another stiff challenge in the second of their three exhibitions against NCAA Division I opponents. Sunday’s game featured seven ties and 15 lead changes before the Bradley senior guard Dodie Dunson (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington H.S.) gave the Braves the lead for good, 43-41, with an interior bucket with 11:46 remaining. Dunson’s basket launched a 13-2 Bradley surge that included a pair of Warren hoops and ended with a Will Egolf putback basket for a 54-43 advantage with 7:16 remaining.

Series Notes

Friday’s game will be the fourth meeting between BYU and Bradley with the Cougars owning a 2-1 advantage, The teams last met in 1977 with the Cougars winning 86-79 at Bradley. BYU won the only meeting in Provo 100-87 on Dec. 30, 1974.

MWC/MVC Challenge

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The Mountain West Conference and Missouri Valley Conference have announced next season’s pairings for the inaugural Challenge Series between the two leagues. The agreement between the Mountain West and Missouri Valley conferences is a four-year term. Nine Challenge Series games will be played each year, and each conference will host a total of 18 games in the four-year period. The Challenge will feature head-to-head competition between nine Mountain West and nine Missouri Valley teams annually. Evansville, by virtue of finishing the 2007-08 MVC regular season in 10th place, will be the Valley school that does not participate in the 2009 Challenge Series. In keeping with the overall objective of the Challenge, match-ups for the first year are based in part on 2008-09 pre-season rankings and on RPI rankings from the previous year, or RPI rankings from the preceding three-year period.

1,000-Point Scorers

Jonathan Tavernari enters the 2009-10 season with 1,157 career points, good for 25th all-time at BYU and 10 points from passing Randy Reid for 24th.

22. Eldon Brinley (1927-31) - 1,195

23. Joe Richey (1950-52) - 1,177

24. Randy Reid (1992-96) - 1,166

25. Jonathan Tavernari (2006-present) - 1,157

Downtown Record Watch

Jonathan Tavernari hit 85 threes in 2008-09 to give him 202 for his career. He is 12 from passing Mark Bigelow (213) for first all-time at BYU. He owns the record for threes in a season with 88 in 2007-08.