GAME 16 - BYU Hosts TCU Wednesday at 7 p.m.

BYU GAME #16 FAST FACTS

BYU COUGARS (11-4, 1-0 MWC)

vs.

TCU HORNED FROGS (10-4, 2-0 MWC)

Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007

Marriott Center (22,700)

Provo, Utah

7 p.m. MST

Coaches:

BYU, Dave Rose (31-13 in second season; same overall)

TCU, Neil Dougherty (58-79 in fifth season; same overall)

Series:

BYU leads, 6-3, after winning both meetings last season

TV:

The MountainWest Sports Network (the mtn.) (Rich Cellini, play-by-play; Joe Cravens, game analysis)

Radio:

Tape delay on KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM out of Salt Lake City) at 8 p.m. MST, but live beginning with 6 p.m. pregame show on Cougar Sports Network stations and via BYU Radio (Greg Wrubell, play-by-play; Mark Durrant, game analysis)

Web:

Live audio (via KSL X-Stream on KSL.com and BYURadio.org starting with the pregame show at 6 p.m. MST). Live audio and live stats links are available on the men's basketball schedule page

TICKET INFORMATION

Lower Chair -- $18

Upper Chair -- $12

Lower Bench -- $10

Upper Bench -- $5

University/College Student -- $5

Student All-Sport Cardholders -- Free

BYU HOSTS TCU WEDNESDAY

BYU (11-4, 1-0 MWC) will conclude its seven-game homestand Wednesday hosting TCU (10-4, 2-0 MWC) at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center. The game will be televised on the MountainWest Sports Network (the mtn.). Because of President Bush's speech on Wednesday evening, KSL Newsradio's over-the-air broadcast of the game on 102.7 FM and 1160 AM out of Salt Lake City and its regular KSL Internet Stream at KSL.com will be tape-delay broadcast at 8 p.m. MST beginning with the tipoff. The live KSL broadcast will be available on Cougar Sports Network stations and online via the KSL X-Stream on KSL.com starting with the pregame show at 6 p.m. MST. BYU Radio will also carry the live KSL broadcast via satellite and online at BYURadio.org beginning at 6 p.m. The Cougars have won their last six games, including a league-opening win against San Diego State last Saturday, and own the nation's fourth-longest active home winning streak at 24 games. The Horned Frogs have won six of their last seven games, including MWC victories over New Mexico and Utah.

UP NEXT

BYU will play its first MWC road game of the season at UNLV on Saturday. The 7 p.m. PT tipoff will be televised on the MountainWest Sports Network (the mtn.).

COUGAR QUICK HITS

-- 2006 All-MWC Third Team forward Keena Young leads BYU this year in scoring (16.3) and is tied with 2006 Freshman All-American Trent Plaisted for top rebounding honors (7.1). Plaisted is second in scoring (11.5), while senior Austin Ainge leads BYU with 3.5 assists per game.

-- With 24 straight wins in the Marriott Center, the Cougars are currently tied with Air Force for the third-longest active home winning streak in the nation. BYU is 10-0 at home this season after winning their last 14 home games of 2005-06.

-- The Cougars have won their last six straight games, matching their longest winning streak from last year. BYU has not won seven straight games since the 2003-04 season.

-- BYU was picked to finish second in the Mountain West Conference in the preseason MWC media poll behind reigning champion San Diego State.

LOOKING AT TCU

After finishing last in the Mountain West Conference last season, the Horned Frogs are off to a 2-0 league start and a 10-4 overall record having won six of their last seven games. TCU returns two starters and five letterwinners from last season's 6-25 team that won just two MWC games. The Horned Frogs have two players scoring in double figures this year led by University of California transfer Kevin Langford with 11.1 points per game. The 6-foot-8 sophomore forward shoots .541 from the field while adding 5.6 rebounds per game, second on the team. Junior guard Brent Hackett also scores in double figures with 10.6 ppg to go along with 2.2 rpg and 1.9 assists per contest. The Horned Frog rebounding effort is paced by junior forward Alvardo Parker with 6.0 rpg. Parker also adds 9.4 ppg and leads the MWC in blocked shots with 37 on the year, 2.6 per game. Senior Neil P. Dougherty, the son of TCU head coach Neil Dougherty, runs the point for the Horned Frogs and averages 3.14 assists per game while ranking fifth in the league in assist/turnover ratio with a 1.69 mark. As a team, TCU averages 63.4 ppg on .424 shooting from the field, including a .342 mark from three-point range, while allowing opponents to score 60.7 ppg on .402 shooting from the floor. The Horned Frogs outrebound their opponents 35.5-33.5. Head coach Neil Dougherty is in his fifth year at the helm of the TCU program with a 58-79 overall record.

TCU'S PROBABLE STARTERS

Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG

F 32 Kevin Langford 6-8 242 So. 11.1 5.6

F 33 Alvardo Parker 6-8 218 Jr. 9.4 6.0

G 2 Brent Hackett 6-2 203 Jr. 10.6 2.2

G 5 Neiman Owens 6-3 195 Jr. 6.4 5.5

G 13 Neil P. Dougherty 6-0 195 Sr. 3.3 2.9

KEY RESERVES

Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG

G 11 Ryan Wall 6-0 175 Jr. 8.1 1.6

F 12 Femi Ibikunle 6-9 260 Sr. 3.0 3.4

TCU'S LAST OUTING -- Hackett Delivers From Long Range as TCU Downs Utah

SALT LAKE -- Brent Hackett hit five 3-pointers and scored 20 points to lead TCU to a 71-68 win over Utah on Saturday. The Horned Frogs (10-4, 2-0 Mountain West) were 10-for-18 from 3-point range and won in Salt Lake City for the first time since 1958. TCU has already matched its MWC win total from last year, when the Frogs went 2-14 in their first season in the league. Utah (5-10,0-2) is off to its worst start since 1972. Kevin Langford added 16 points for TCU. Luke Nevill had 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead Utah, and Johnnie Bryant added 23 points. A 57-percent free-throw shooting team entering the game, the Frogs were 21-for-25 from the line Saturday. Hackett was 5-for-8 from 3-point range and Langford was 5-for-5 on his free throws after starting the season 8-for-44. Ryan Wall of TCU was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 20 seconds to seal the win. Utah's Ricky Johns made a free throw with 1.2 seconds remaining and intentionally missed his second attempt, but the Utes could not get a shot off before the buzzer.

SERIES NOTES

The Cougars and Horned Frogs have met just nine times in the history of the two programs with BYU owning a 6-3 series lead. The series began with three straight Cougar victories, two in 1953 and one in 1960, before TCU was able to win three straight from 1985 to 1997. The two teams next met in the first round of the 1999 WAC Tournament in Las Vegas when BYU recorded a 90-74 win. Last season, the two schools met as members of the Mountain West Conference for the first time with BYU coming away with an 89-80 overtime win in the Marriott Center and then winning 81-72 at TCU. The Cougars are 4-1 against the Horned Frogs in Provo, 1-1 in Fort Worth and 1-1 on a neutral court.

QUOTING COACH ROSE

"We've got a really big game Wednesday against TCU. They're playing really well. Hopefully we'll be able to come out and play as well as we did on Saturday against San Diego State."

"TCU is a very, very good basketball team. It's a team that's got a lot of momentum and is playing really confident right now. It's also a team that will really fight you. Defensively, they're playing together and guarding guys so other teams are having a hard time shooting against them. That will be our challenge."

"Brent Hackett has really come along. He's a spark plug for their team. When he's playing well, they all feed off him. He's playing with a lot of energy and giving their team a lot of confidence right now."

LAST YEAR IN PROVO -- BYU RALLIES TO DEFEAT TCU

PROVO -- BYU stormed back during the last minute of regulation to force overtime, and the Cougars outscored TCU 17-8 in the extra period, earning the 89-80 win and extending BYU's home win streak to nine games. Trent Plaisted had career and game highs of 22 points and 16 rebounds despite playing most of the game in foul trouble. Lee Cummard had just six points but hit the game-tying three with 10 seconds remaining in regulation. Brock Reichner was second on the team with 13 points while Rashaun Broadus had 12, Fernando Malaman and Keena Young had 11 apiece, and Jimmy Balderson added 10. Reichner also chipped in six assists. With the score tied at 57, Cummard hit a three, but then the Horned Frogs scored 13 of the next 14 points to go up 69-61. With less than one minute remaining, Reichner hit a three to cut the TCU lead to five, but Chinweze hit two free throws to push the lead back to seven at 71-64. Broadus hit a layup with 41.1 seconds remaining, and then the Cougars got the ball back, and Broadus hit a three to cut the lead to two. BYU quickly fouled Chinweze, who made 1-of-2 to put TCU up three. The Cougars quickly ran up the court but struggled to find an open man. Cummard eventually broke free and hit the game-tying three with 10 seconds left. After a series of timeouts, the Horned Frogs were unable to release the ball before the horn and the game went into overtime. TCU scored first but BYU went on a 10-2 run to go up by six at 82-76. Broadus and Reichner both hit threes during the run. Murry hit a three just at the one-minute mark to cut the lead to three at 82-79. The Cougars sealed the deal by scoring seven of the last eight points. The Cougars took a 19-14 lead early in the first half behind six points from Plaisted and threes by Reichner, Malaman and Austin Ainge. From there BYU went cold and TCU caught fire, scoring the next 13 points on 4-of-4 free-throw shooting and three shots from downtown. Plaisted continued his solid play by scoring six more before the half but the Horned Frogs continued to connect, taking a 41-29 lead into the break. BYU turned the tables on TCU to start the second half, going on a 10-3 run to cut the lead to five at 44-39. The Horned Frogs, who started the second period just 1-of-11 from the field, pushed the lead back to nine at 50-41 behind four free throws by Murray. The Cougars then went on another run, this time 14-2, to take a 55-52 lead.

WHAT WAS SAID AFTER THE GAME ...

BYU Head Coach Dave Rose

-- "We had a bleak couple of minutes there but we came out positive and made the big plays."

-- "Every game breeds new confidence. They are able to experience different things, and that builds confidence and builds the program. This was one of those games."

-- "These types of games also build character, the character to win. That's something you can build on. Even though we had a tough half, you've got to give credit to the guys who made big plays."

-- "We made a nice run in the second half. We made the big plays. We got confidence, and our team finally began to believe that we could win."

TCU Head Coach Neil Dougherty

-- "You've got to give credit to BYU; they made shots down the stretch and made the plays they had to make."

-- "Our effort level was good enough to win, but when it came down to it we had to make a couple more plays to put it away. It was a great game."

LAST YEAR IN FORT WORTH -- COUGARS VICTORIOUS IN FINAL ROAD GAME

FORT WORTH -- The Cougars completed the season series sweep of TCU with an 81-72 win over the Horned Frogs in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. BYU has now won eight of its last nine games beginning with an 89-80 overtime win against TCU in Provo, a game some have dubbed the "Marriott Center Miracle." In a first half reminiscent of the first matchup of the season between the two teams, the Cougars started out slow, missing their first five shots before Rashaun Broadus drained a three-pointer 2:35 into the game. The BYU shooting drought did not last long, however, as the Cougars made five of their next six baskets to take an early 14-10 lead. Down 20-16, TCU put together a 10-0 run as BYU did not score from the field for 3:29. From there, BYU put together a 12-2 spurt of its own to end the half and retake the lead at 32-28. BYU opened up its largest lead of the game to that point at 39-32 just two minutes into the second half thanks to four points from Broadus and a three-pointer from Brock Reichner. The Horned Frogs fought back with a 13-5 run to wrestle the lead away from the Cougars at 45-44. However, Balderson, making his first appearance of the second half, drained a three-pointer to spark a 7-0 BYU run that gave the Cougars a 51-45 advantage. Keena Young, who had a quiet first half after posting a career-high 20 points against SDSU, took over the game from there, recording seven straight points for BYU to help the Cougars maintain a six-point cushion. The two teams went back and forth over the next four minutes until four straight free throws gave the Cougars a 10-point lead at 68-58. TCU refused to go down without a fight, however, preventing BYU from pulling away by making shots down the stretch to keep the Cougars on their toes. A three-pointer with a minute to play brought the Horned Frogs to within six at 76-70 and brought back memories of BYU's 11-3 run in the last minute of play to erase an eight-point deficit and force overtime in the first game between the two teams this season. But it was not to be for TCU as the Cougars showed why they are the league's hottest team in notching the 81-72 win. Plaisted put on a show against the Horned Frogs, leading BYU with 17 points and 18 rebounds, the most by a Cougar since Gary Trost pulled down 18 on Dec. 19, 1991. He was joined in double figures by Broadus with 16 points, Young with 15, Balderson with 11 and Lee Cummard with 10 points. Fourteen of Young's 15 points came in the second half. Austin Ainge came off the bench to lead BYU with six assists.

WHAT WAS SAID AFTER THE GAME ...

BYU Head Coach Dave Rose

-- "The game was kind of dysfunctional as far as flow when you consider all the free throws and the clock malfunctions. We were playing a little out of character, especially in the first half. The pace of how we played in second half was much better. It really helped us play better."

-- "This game was really important for us. We wanted to go into the final week of the season in a position to get a piece of the Mountain West Conference Championship. We had to win tonight to do that. This win was big for our players and for our program at this point."

-- "Trent was terrific tonight. From the get-go, he was active and tracking down balls. His six offensive rebounds were really huge for us. He's a special athlete."

TCU Head Coach Neil Dougherty

-- "We weren't able to guard without fouling. Forty free throws is a large number. You've got to give them credit, they got us out of position. Plaisted is the best freshman in the conference.

BYU NOTES

BYU's LAST OUTING -- Season Highs Boost Cougars over Aztecs

PROVO -- In one of the most physical and intense games of the year, the BYU men's basketball team began Mountain West Conference play Saturday by beating the defending MWC-champion San Diego State Aztecs in the Marriott Center, 80-58. BYU's Rashaun Broadus led all scorers with a season-high 19 points. Lee Cummard had his second double-double in as many games with 16 points, tying a career high, and 11 rebounds. Trent Plaisted finished with 13 points, and Keena Young with 12 points and eight boards. A triple from Broadus gave the Cougars a 5-2 lead at the 17-minute mark and, although the score was tied three more times in the next five minutes, BYU was successful in not allowing SDSU to take the lead for the rest of the game. A shoot-out began with just under 13 minutes to go as BYU senior Mike Rose dropped a three from the wing that was answered by a Richie Williams deep ball of his own. Rose pulled up from the opposite wing on the next possession, and the ball went in and out, but was tipped in by Cummard. Cummard got a steal on the next possession and was fouled hard going up for the fast-break lay-up. The Cougars took a 13-9 lead after he hit both free throws. With the score tied at 13 with 10 minutes to go in the half, Cummard added a three-point bucket to his six rebounds and gave his team a 16-13 lead. He continued his impressive first-half performance with a rebound and a steal on the next two Aztec possessions. Another shot from behind the arc for Cummard spread the Aztec defense, and Broadus was able to hit Fernando Malaman for a bucket underneath to give the Cougars a 25-17 lead with five minutes left in the first half. The BYU lead reached nine at 28-19 with 3:05 to go when Cummard rolled off a Malaman pick on the right wing and knocked down his third three of half. That lead went to 10 on a Balderson free throw and 12 on a left-handed baby hook in the paint from Plaisted. Plaisted ended the half with a tough lay-up, getting bumped and going under the hoop to set the halftime score at 35-23. BYU came out of the break on a roll with free throws from Keena Young as well as a three-pointer and two free throws from Broadus to take the BYU lead to 42-25. That lead went to 44-25 on two more free throws from Young. BYU forced SDSU to run the shot clock to under 10 seconds as Heath attacked the lane and went to the line for two free ones. On the next SDSU possession Heath attacked again but was not as fortunate as Malaman sent Heath's effort back seven feet on a rejection. Following the Malaman rejection, the Aztecs tallied two steals in the next two Cougar possessions and lowered the lead to 11. Cummard proved just as relentless, however, as he hit an 18-footer from the baseline followed by a block on a Heath three-pointer. Plaisted blocked his fifth shot on a Lorrenzo Wade lay-up with just under 13 minutes remaining in the game, and Balderson followed by taking the BYU lead back to 16, 52-36, on a fast-break lay-up. SDSU looked to mount a comeback by getting a steal and lay-up on the full-court press, but Plaisted flushed those dreams with a monster, two-handed throw down on the next possession. The Cougars tied their season-high with nine blocks on yet another Plaisted rejection, taking his career high to six. Broadus went to the line with 7:58 to go in the game and sunk both attempts. BYU's lead reached 18 points with those and went to 20 on a Young tip-in. The real dagger, though, was Austin Ainge's three-point bucket from the left corner that followed, taking the score to 66-43 and capping a 10-0 BYU run. The Cougars opened up their largest lead of the game at 76-51 before sprinting to the 80-58 victory. Heath came into the game scoring 20 points or more in the last four games and more than 10 points in forty straight games. The seven-time MWC Player of the Week and all-time leading scorer for the Aztecs finished the game with 13 points and a season-high six turnovers.

WHAT WAS SAID AFTER THE GAME ...

BYU Head Coach Dave Rose

-- "I thought that this game might have been our best team effort defensively this year. Defensively, we finished really well."

-- "Lee (Cummard) did a great job on defense. He was great. He showed a lot of confidence. It was a great effort."

-- "Tonight was probably Rashaun's (Broadus) best game of the season. He created a great pace. He was great on defense."

San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher

-- "We were not able to have poise when they got a couple runs going. The crowd carried them, and we reacted in a way that carried them."

-- "They gave us a good old-fashioned, back-of-the-shed licking. Some of that was BYU. They're a good team. But some of that was us."

BYU NOTES FROM LAST OUTING

-- Individual Career Highs: Lee Cummard - 16 points (tied); Trent Plaisted - 6 blocks.

-- Individual Season Highs: Rashaun Broadus - 19 points.

-- Team Season Highs: 11 blocks.

-- BYU's win over San Diego State extended its home winning streak to 24 games, which is tied for the third-longest active home victory streak in the nation. The Cougars are 10-0 at home this season.

-- The Cougars are also now 5-3 in Mountain West Conference openers, including a 4-1 mark at home and a 3-2 record when opening against SDSU.

-- BYU's 22-point win (80-58) marked its largest margin of victory in MWC play since a 29-point win (82-53) on Jan. 17, 2004 against Colorado State.

-- With six straight victories over Utah State, Western Oregon, Liberty, Oral Roberts, Seton Hall and SDSU, the Cougars are enjoying their longest winning streak of the season and have tied their longest victory streak from last year.

-- BYU is now 11-1 when scoring at least 70 points and 10-0 when holding opponents under 70 points.

-- The Cougars are also 11-0 this season when outrebounding their opponents, posting a 43-28 advantage against the Aztecs on the glass.

-- BYU's 25-point lead three times in the second half marked San Diego State's largest deficit of the season, surpassing their 21-point deficit against No. 7 Arizona.

-- With a 35-23 halftime advantage, the Cougars led at the break for the 11th time this season, enjoying their fifth double-digit lead. BYU is now 10-1 when leading at the break.

-- Young's 12 points against the Aztecs marked the 14th time in BYU's 15 games he has scored in double figures.

-- Cummard posted the second double-double of his career and his second straight with 16 points and 11 rebounds against the Aztecs. Cummard had 16 points and 12 rebounds in BYU's last outing against Seton Hall.

-- Cummard also played well defensively, posting three steals and two blocks while holding the Aztecs' leading scorer Brandon Heath, who entered the game second in the MWC averaging 20.3 ppg, to just 13 points.

-- Broadus scored in double figures for the fourth time this season with a season-high 19 points.

-- After scoring just 11 points in BYU's first six games (1.8 ppg), senior Mike Rose has come on strong for the Cougars, scoring 45 points in the last seven games (6.4 ppg), including three against San Diego State.

-- Plaisted posted his 14th and BYU's 23rd dunk of the season at the 11:06 mark in the second half.

-- With the score tied 13-13 at the 10:55 mark of the first half, BYU used a 7-0 run with baskets from Cummard (three-pointer), Broadus and Young to take a 20-13 lead, which the Cougars never relinquished.

BROADUS SUSPENDED FOR THE SEASON

On Monday, BYU men's basketball head coach Dave Rose suspended senior point guard Rashaun Broadus from the team for the remainder of the season. Broadus started in 11 of 15 games this season, averaging 6.1 points and 2.2 assists. Senior Austin Ainge, who has made seven starts this season and is averaging 5.7 points and a team-leading 3.5 assists, will replace him in the starting lineup while junior transfer Ben Murdock is expected to see more time in a reserve role. "Our basketball program at BYU has expectations of behavior and high standards that we've set for ourselves," Rose said. "Unfortunately, Rashaun Broadus made some decisions not in keeping with these standards, and I've decided to suspend him for the remainder of the season. He will not be playing or practicing with the team. The whole thing is very unfortunate. We have great confidence in the point guards we have. Austin (Ainge) has played very well and continues to play well. He is a very aggressive player who has a lot of experience. Ben (Murdock) will get more minutes than he's been getting. He's very competitive and has competed well in practice."

WINNING BIG

BYU's 22-point (80-58) win over San Diego State Saturday in the Marriott Center marked the Cougars' largest margin of victory in MWC play since a 29-point win (82-53) on Jan. 17, 2004 against Colorado State. BYU has won just seven games by 20 points or more in MWC play since the formation of the league prior to the 1999-2000 season.

VICTORY STREAKS

With six straight wins against Utah State, Western Oregon, Liberty, Oral Roberts, Seton Hall and San Diego State, the Cougars are currently enjoying their longest winning streak of the season and have tied their longest string of victories of last year. BYU has not won seven straight games since the 2003-04 season when the Cougars won nine straight. Earlier this year with wins against Idaho State, Portland and Southern Utah, the Cougars put together a three-game win streak, which ended with a loss at Boise State. BYU had several winning streaks last season, including its longest since the 2003-04 season at six straight victories. That streak was tied for the seventh-longest active winning streak in the nation. The Cougars' prior victory streaks last year included one four-game streak, two three-game streaks and two two-game streaks. BYU won 10 of its last 13 games last year.

ON THE ROAD

BYU's win at Weber State marked the Cougars' first road win of the season. BYU is 1-3 on the road this year with a season-opening loss at current No. 1 UCLA, a Nov. 29 setback at Boise State and an overtime defeat at Lamar. The Cougars lost their only neutral court so far this season with a loss against No. 25 Michigan State at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich. The victory over the Wildcats snapped a three-game road losing streak dating back to last year's season-ending defeat at Houston in the NIT and a five-game nonconference road losing streak since defeating Washington State last year in Spokane Arena on Nov. 22, 2005. BYU finished last year 6-8 away from home, including a 4-4 mark during MWC play.

BOUNCE BACK COUGARS

The Cougars' back-to-back losses vs. then-No. 25 Michigan State and at Lamar marked the first time under Dave Rose that BYU has lost consecutive regular-season games. Prior to the Lamar loss, BYU had bounced back from each of its two losses this season with wins, including back-to-back victories after their loss at Boise State on Nov. 29. BYU recovered from its season-opening loss at then No. 5 UCLA (now ranked No. 1 in the polls) with three straight wins. Last year with its 20-9 overall record, BYU suffered consecutive defeats only once -- against Utah in the Mountain West Conference Tournament and at Houston in the NIT in the last two games of the year, having bounced back from each prior loss with a victory.

MAGIC NUMBER: 70

This year the Cougars are scoring 76.7 points and allowing 66.1 points. BYU is 10-0 when opponents score less than 70 points this year and 1-4 when they score 70 or more. BYU is 11-1 when it scores 70 or more points (exception at Lamar) and 0-3 when scoring less than 70. Last year BYU was 12-0 when holding opponents under 70 points and 8-9 when allowing opponents to surpass the 70-point threshold. Cougar foes averaged 71.7 points per game last year. BYU was also 17-4 when scoring 70 or more points and 3-5 when falling below the 70-point mark. The Cougars led the MWC in scoring last year, averaging 76.2 ppg, and scored 100 points in conference play for the first time since Feb. 10, 1994 in their home game against league-champion San Diego State.

CLEANING OFF THE GLASS

BYU is 11-0 this season when outrebounding its opponents and 0-4 when losing the battle of the boards. The Cougars lead the MWC in rebounding average (40.3) and rebounding margin (+7.3). Sophomore Trent Plaisted and senior Keena Young lead BYU as each averages 7.1 rpg. The Cougars have averaged 47.5 rebounds per game in their last four games, including back-to-back season-high efforts of 52 rebounds vs. Oral Roberts and then 55 against Seton Hall. BYU outrebounded the Pirates 55-34 as four Cougars had nine or more rebounds (Cummard 12, Young, Plaisted and Ainge 9). Cummard and Ainge achieved new career highs.

CLOSE CALLS

BYU is the only MWC team that has not had a game decided by three points or less this season. The Cougars have had some close games, however, as three games have required overtime this season. BYU is 2-1 in overtime with an 86-77 loss at Lamar on Dec. 13 and an 84-78 win against Idaho State on Nov. 18 and a 73-69 victory at Weber State on Dec. 2. This is the first season since 2001-02 that BYU has played multiple extra period games in one year (BYU was 0-3 in overtime that season). The Cougars' loss at Lamar ended a five-game overtime winning streak dating back to March 14, 2003, an 86-80 setback against Colorado State at the MWC Tournament. BYU is 50-45 (.526) all-time when playing past regulation.

VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

BYU is the only MWC team to face two ranked opponents during nonconference play. The Cougars lost 76-61 to then-No. 25 Michigan State (currenlty No. 24) at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich. BYU suffered a season-opening (82-69) loss at then-No. 5 UCLA (currenlty No. 1) on Nov. 15. BYU's last win over a ranked team came at the Delta Center (recently renamed EnergySolutions Arena) in Salt Lake City on Dec. 6, 2003 with a 76-71 victory vs. 25th-ranked Oklahoma State, who advanced to the Final Four that season.

CONSISTENT COUGAR

BYU's most consistent player this year has been senior forward Keena Young, who has scored in double figures in 14 out of 15 games. He leads BYU in scoring (16.3), which is seventh in the league, and is tied for top rebounding honors with Trent Plaisted (7.1), fourth in the conference. The senior co-captain has led BYU in scoring six times and rebounding six times, including his career-high 16-rebound performance against Oral Roberts for his fourth double-double of the season (21 points). His 27 points at Weber State is the most by a Cougar since Dec. 13, 2003 (Rafael Araujo - 28).

VETERAN LEADERSHIP

Senior Austin Ainge is averaging a team-best 3.5 assists, fifth in the MWC, and is second on the team in three-pointers (19). He totaled a season-high 16 points with a career-best nine rebounds off the bench against Seton Hall. He scored 11 points off the bench-- all in the first half -- to give BYU early control of the game against Utah State. His 14 points -- all in the second half -- against Boise State fueled BYU's furious comeback attempt. Ainge has started seven games at the point and come off the bench in eight outings.

DOING IT ALL

Lee Cummard contributes across the box score and on the defensive end of the floor for BYU. In the Cougars' conference opener against San Diego State, he recorded his second straight double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds while contributing 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. In the BYU Holiday Classic, he averaged 11.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting .542 from the floor, .444 on threes and was perfect from the line. He was named to the all-tournament team. After coming one rebound away from the first double-double of his career against Oral Roberts with 13 points and a then career-high 9 rebounds to go along with 5 assists, he finished the Classic with career highs of 16 points and 12 rebounds vs. Seton Hall. He leads BYU with 22 treys. He has had at least one steal in 13 of 15 games. On the year, Cummard averages 10.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.6 blocks while shooting .519 from the floor, .468 on threes and .833 from the line. He guards the opponent's top perimeter player. One of his defensive highlights was helping hold Utah State's leading shooter Jaycee Carroll, who ranked 22nd in the nation shooting .629, to just .308 shooting (4-for-13) and seven points below his average.

FOR STARTERS

BYU will change its starting lineup against TCU after using the same starting five in the last six games. Senior guard Austin Ainge will re-enter the starting lineup as a result of the suspension of Rashaun Broadus. Coach Rose has used four different starting lineups so far this year. The original starting lineup of the season included Broadus at the point, Lee Cummard and Jimmy Balderson on the wing, and Keena Young and Trent Plaisted in the post with Ainge a key player coming off the bench. That lineup was 7-1 overall on the year, with the loss being at current No. 1 UCLA in the season opener. Sophomore Lee Cummard and senior Keena Young have started every game this year, while sophomore Trent Plaisted has missed just one start because of injury. Broadus started 11 games and Ainge seven with the two points guards starting together on three occasions.

BYU BASKETBALL ON TELEVISION

BYU's next televised game will be on Jan. 10 when BYU hosts TCU to cap a seven-game homestand. The game will be aired on the mtn. The Mountain West Conference's 2006-07 men's basketball television schedule features an unprecedented 99 games on national and regional television, including 65 of the 72 conference contests and all eight MWC Championship matchups. The television coverage provided by the MWC broadcast partners in 2006-07 is more than triple the national and regional telecasts MWC men's basketball has received in previous years. Seventy-five games will be shown on the MountainWest Sports Network (the mtn.), with 17 to be broadcast nationally on College Sports Television (CSTV) and seven on VERSUS (formerly OLN). BYU will have 18 regular-season games televised as part of the 2006-07 MWC television schedule, including three games on CSTV, one on VERSUS and 14 on the mtn. With the exception of a road game at TCU, BYU's entire conference schedule will be televised in 2007. BYU's nonconference games featured in the MWC broadcast schedule include home dates with Southern Utah (Nov. 24, 8 p.m. MT), San Jose State (Dec. 6, 7 p.m. MT) and Utah State (Dec. 16, 4 p.m. MT). While not part of the MWC television package, BYU's regular-season opener at 2006 NCAA runner-up UCLA on Nov. 15 was televised on Fox Sports Net Prime Ticket, while the BYU-Michigan State matchup on Dec. 9 at The Palace at Auburn Hills was carried on ESPN2. BYU's game at Boise State on Nov. 29 was aired on KTVB in Boise and the matchup with Weber State was carried in Utah on KJZZ-TV.

DEFENDING THE HOME COURT

With 24 straight wins in the Marriott Center, the Cougars currently own the nation's fourth-longest active home victory streak. BYU has won its first 10 home games this season after going 14-1 at home last year including wins in its last 14 straight home contests.

Active Homecourt Winning Streaks (through games played Jan. 9, 2007)

Wins Team This year Next home game

47 Gonzaga 7-0 Jan. 27 vs. San Francisco

31 Connecticut 12-0 Jan. 10 vs. Marquette

25 Air Force 8-0 Jan. 20 vs. San Diego State

24 BYU 10-0 Jan. 10 vs. TCU

22 Memphis 9-0 Jan. 16 vs. UAB

21 George Washington 6-0 Jan. 13 vs. St. Bonaventure

HALFTIME REPORT

BYU has led at the half in 11 of the team's first 15 games. BYU's win over Seton Hall last Saturday marked the first time the Cougars have won this year after trailing at the break. The Cougars' 82-69 loss at UCLA after leading 39-36 at the half marked the first time since the 2004-05 season that BYU has lost when leading at the half. The Cougars are now 10-1 when leading at the half and 1-3 when trailing this season and have had a double-digit lead at the break five times. Last year, BYU was 14-0 when leading at the half, 5-9 when trailing and 1-0 when tied. Of the 14 games in which they led at the half, the Cougars led by double digits six times.