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LAS -- Jimmer Fredette scored 52 points to break the BYU career and single-game scoring records and lead the Cougars to an 87-76 Conoco MWC Tournament semifinal victory over New Mexico on Friday.

Fredette hit a jumper at the 4:25 mark in the second half to record his 49th point of the game and break Danny Ainge’s 30-year-old BYU scoring record. Ainge scored 2,467 career points and Fredette now has 2,471 points. With a BYU-record 33 points in the first half and a game-high 52, he also passed his own BYU single-game record and set a new MWC Tournament single game record.

Senior Jackson Emery and freshman Kyle Collinsworth joined Fredette in double figures, scoring 14 and 11, respectively. Collinsworth was also one rebound shy of a double-double, grabbing nine.

The Cougars turned the ball over just six times and shot 34-of-68 (.500) from the field to avenge two regular-season losses to the Lobos.

Fredette started hot for the Cougars, scoring their first 10 points of the game on 4-of-6 (.667) shooting, including two three-pointers and besting the Lobos by five in the first three minutes of play.

After the Lobos took a 24-20 lead at the 9:31 mark, Fredette sparked an 8-2 run with two-consecutive three-pointers to help BYU retake the lead at 28-26 with 8:02 remaining in the half.

In a back-and-forth first half that saw 13 lead changes, both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field with the Cougars shooting at a 20-of-37 (.513) clip, including 5-of-15 (.333) from long range.

Fredette spearheaded an 11-5 Cougar run to end the half and give BYU a 47-42 advantage heading into the break. Junior Noah Hartsock and freshman Kyle Collinsworth each added five points and three rebounds in the first half.

Fredette finished the first half with 33 points on 14-of-20 shooting, including 5-for-8 from three-point range to go along with two rebounds and one assist. The 33-points in the first half are a BYU and Thomas and Mack Center record for points in a half. Fredette has now scored 30-plus points in a half three times in his career.

The pace slowed to begin the second half, with the Lobos going on a 7-2 run to tie the score at 49 after Lobo guard Dairese Gary left the game with an injury.

With 6:10 remaining in the game, Jackson Emery made a free throw to give BYU a 68-61 lead, the biggest by either team up to that point. Fredette would go on to score eight points in the final six minutes before leaving the game to a standing ovation with 20 seconds left.

The Cougars play the winner of the San Diego State, UNLV matchup in the MWC Tournament championship game Saturday at 4 p.m. PT.

Official Basketball Box Score
New Mexico vs #8/#8 BYU
03/11/11 6:00 pm at Las Vegas, Nev. (Thomas & Mack Center)
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VISITORS: New Mexico 21-12
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
00 HARDEMAN, A.J....... f  4-6    0-0    3-5    3  2  5   4  11  0  0  0  0  31
32 GORDON, Drew........ f  8-14   0-0    1-2    5 10 15   4  17  1  2  1  0  33
05 GARY, Dairese....... g  4-8    1-3    0-0    0  2  2   1   9  7  1  0  0  21
10 WILLIAMS, Kendall... g  5-14   3-9    0-0    0  4  4   2  13  4  3  0  0  34
23 McDONALD, Phillip... g  3-6    2-5    0-0    0  0  0   5   8  0  3  0  0  32
04 ADAMS, Chad.........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   4
13 FENTON, Jamal.......    4-9    3-6    3-4    1  2  3   1  14  2  5  0  2  24
21 SNELL, Tony.........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  0  0  0   4
41 BAIRSTOW, Cameron...    2-3    0-0    0-0    2  2  4   2   4  0  0  0  0  17
   TEAM................                         1  2  3             1
   Totals..............   30-62   9-25   7-11  12 24 36  20  76 15 15  1  2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-32 53.1%   2nd Half: 13-30 43.3%   Game: 48.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-13 38.5%   2nd Half:  4-12 33.3%   Game: 36.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half:  4-7  57.1%   Game: 63.6%   3,1
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HOME TEAM: #8/#8 BYU 30-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
01 ABOUO, Charles...... f  1-5    0-3    0-0    3  4  7   5   2  0  1  0  2  33
31 COLLINSWORTH, Kyle.. f  5-6    0-0    1-3    5  4  9   1  11  0  1  0  1  34
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... f  3-8    0-0    1-2    2  4  6   2   7  2  1  3  0  34
04 EMERY, Jackson...... g  3-11   1-7    7-8    0  5  5   2  14  5  0  0  5  39
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g 22-37   7-14   1-1    0  2  2   2  52  4  2  0  1  40-
12 MAGNUSSON, Logan....    0-1    0-1    1-2    1  1  2   2   1  0  1  0  0  16
14 MARTINEAU, Nick.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
21 ROGERS, Stephen.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   34-68   8-25  11-16  12 21 33  14  87 11  6  3  9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 20-39 51.3%   2nd Half: 14-29 48.3%   Game: 50.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-15 33.3%   2nd Half:  3-10 30.0%   Game: 32.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-3  66.7%   2nd Half:  9-13 69.2%   Game: 68.8%    2
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Officials: Randy McCall, Larry Spaulding, Eric Curry
Technical fouls: New Mexico-GORDON, Drew. #8/#8 BYU-HARTSOCK, Noah.
Attendance: 18500
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
New Mexico....................   42   34  -   76
#8/#8 BYU.....................   47   40  -   87
2011 Mountain West Conference Men's Championships Semifinal #1
No. 1 seed BYU Advances to Saturday's Men's Final
Points in the paint-NM 36,BY 28. Points off turnovers-NM 5,BY 24.
2nd chance points-NM 14,BY 15. Fast break points-NM 3,BY 14.
Bench points-NM 18,BY 1. Score tied-8 times. Lead changed-14 times.
Last FG-NM 2nd-00:39, BY 2nd-00:54.
Largest lead-NM by 4 1st-11:02, BY by 11 2nd-04:07.

Cougars vs. Lobos in MWC Semifinals

Eighth ranked and No. 1 seed BYU will play No. 4 seed New Mexico in the semifinals of the 2011 Conoco Mountain West Conference Championships on Friday at 6 p.m. PT in the Thomas and Mack Center. The Cougars defeated TCU 64-58 on Thursday in the quarterfinals while New Mexico defeated Colorado State 67-61. Jimmer Fredette scored a game-high 24 points while Charles Abouo added 14 points, eight boards and two steals. Noah Hartsock finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Fredette, the MWC Player of the Year, leads the nation in scoring at 27.8 points per game. MWC Defensive Player of the Year Jackson Emery adds 12.6 points and an MWC-best 2.8 steals per game. Dairese Gary leads New Mexico in scoring and assists at 14.3 points and 5.5 assists per game. Drew Gordon adds a double-double with 12.7 points per game and 10.7 rebounds per game. Kendall Williams and Phillip McDonald add 11.2 points and 10.9 points per game, respectively. During the regular season the Cougars were 0-2 against New Mexico. Friday’s game can be heard live on KSL Newsradio beginning with the pregame show at 5 p.m. PT on 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City or via the Internet at KSL.com. The game will be televised live on CBS College Sports.

Up Next

The winner of No. 8/8 BYU vs. New Mexico will advance to the championship game of the 2011 Conoco MWC Championships to play the winner of San Diego State vs. UNLV on Saturday, March 12, in Las Vegas at 4 p.m. PT. Live stats and audio links will be available on www.byucougars.com and fans can listen live on the radio on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City. The championship game will be televised live on VERSUS.

Cougar Quick Hits

— No. 8/8 BYU head coach and MWC Co-Coach of the Year Dave Rose is 156-43 in his six seasons at BYU and is the program’s all-time leader in winning percentage at .784. He is second all-time in wins behind Stan Watts, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

— MWC Player of the Year Jimmer Fredette leads the nation in scoring at 27.8 points per game and adds 4.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Fredette also earned All-MWC First Team honors.

— MWC Defensive Player of the Year Jackson Emery leads the MWC in steals at 2.8 per game and adds 12.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Emery was also named second-team All-MWC and to the All-Defensive Team.

— Noah Hartsock adds 8.7 points per game on .507 shooting from the field and .444 shooting from three. Charles Abouo adds 7.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

— Brandon Davies received All-MWC Third Team honors and Hartsock was named honorable mention.

— At 29-3, BYU has the best 32-game record in program history.

BYU Game #33 Fast Facts

No. 8/8 BYU (29-3, 14-2) vs. New Mexico (21-11, 8-8)

Friday, March 11, 2011

Thomas and Mack Center

Las Vegas

6 p.m. PT

Coaches

BYU, Dave Rose (156-43 in sixth season at BYU; same overall)

New Mexico, Steve Alford (97-37 in fourth season at New Mexico; 405-220 in 20th season overall)

Series

BYU leads 74-55 vs. New Mexico with the Lobos winning the last three meetings

Radio

KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM) and the Cougar Sports Network (Greg Wrubell, play-by-play; Mark Durrant, game analysis)

TV

CBS College Sports (Ted Robinson, play-by-play; Steve Lappas, game analysis)

Web

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

CLICK HERE to see where Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery rank in the BYU and Mountain West Conference record books.