Plaisted Leads BYU to Quarterfinal Win

LAS -- Sophomore Trent Plaisted led the No. 23 BYU Cougars to a 77-64 win over the TCU Horned Frogs in the Mountain West Conference Tournament quarterfinals Thursday. BYU has now won 11 of its last 12 games and improves to 24-7 on the season and 3-0 against the Horned Frogs this year. BYU will advance to the MWC semifinals for the first time since 2004.

"I'm proud of our guys," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "You have to be focused defensively and just play together. I think they did a good job tonight."

Plaisted led all scorers with 22 points and nine rebounds. Also scoring in double figures for BYU was Mike Rose with 16 points and Jimmy Balderson with 10 points. Sophomore Lee Cummard's defensive play limited Brent Hackett, coming off a 24-point game against New Mexico, to two points. Austin Ainge finished the game with seven assists.

Balderson opened the game by scoring on the team's first three-point attempt, which was soon followed by a Keena Young jumper, giving BYU a 5-0 lead. Turnovers plagued the Cougars early, allowing TCU the opportunity to tie the score at 8-8 with 14 minutes left in the first half.

Rose made his first three-pointer of the night at the 11:30 mark, before TCU's Neiman Owens was sent to the free-throw line to complete a three-point play. BYU continued to struggle before Balderson drove to the basket and laid it in with just under nine minutes to play in the half. Young scored two points off a Horned Frog turnover to give the Cougars a 21-16 lead.

The BYU bench continued to contribute as it has all season with Vuk Ivanovic's layup and ensuing rebound. TCU's Neil Dougherty capitalized on the Cougars' eighth turnover, narrowing BYU's lead to three points. With 4:32 left in the first half, Jonathan Tavernari's running layup was good off of a pass by Ainge.

Ainge's second assist of the game resulted in a Plaisted one-handed dunk. BYU's successful defensive play with 1:21 left in the first half resulted in a Horned Frog shot clock violation. Plaisted recorded another dunk, putting the Cougars up 34-24. Young's second foul of the game sent Hackett to the charity stripe where he went 2-for-2, giving the Cougars a 10-point lead at 36-26 going into the half.

TCU was held to a .320 field-goal percentage, missing all five of its three-point attempts, and was out rebounded 28-7 in the first half of play.

Plaisted's jumper to open the second half gave BYU a 12-point lead followed by a similar play on the opposite end of the court by Femi Ibikunle. Young's assist to Balderson with 17:27 left in the second half resulted in two points for the Cougars, bringing the score to 42-32.

Rose hit his second three-pointer of the game followed by a jump hook from Plaisted at the 12:58 mark. Ryan Wall drilled a three for the Horned Frogs, followed by another from Rose, bringing the score to 52-41. Following an 0-for-2 trip to the free-throw line for Balderson, Plaisted secured the rebound, scoring two points.

With 11:33 left in the second half, Rose found his fourth basket from behind the arc, building on an 8-0 BYU run. Ben Murdock kicked it out to Ivanovic for a reverse layin, giving the Cougars a 61-42 lead with 7:38 to play in the game. TCU's Ibikunle went 1-for-2 from the line before a long three was made by Wall.

Two made free throws by Murdock put BYU up by 20 points. With 3:35 left to play in the second half, a tip-in by Cummard gave the Cougars a 68-52 lead. TCU continued to fight with Kevin Langford scoring on a layup and later drawing a third foul on Young.

Balderson scored on a running layin before Ibikunle followed suit with under two minutes to play in the game. Fernando Malaman scored two points to end the game.

TCU was led by Langford with 23 points and Ibikunle with 13 points.

The Cougars advance to the MWC semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m. PT to play the winner of Thursday's second quarterfinal between Air Force and Wyoming. The game will be televised on CSTV.

CLICK HERE to view postgame notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
TCU vs BYU
03-08-07 12 p.m. at Thomas & Mack Center - Las Vegas, Nev.
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VISITORS: TCU 13-17
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
32 LANGFORD, Kevin..... f  6-13   1-1   10-10   1  6  7   3  23  3  2  1  0  33
33 PARKER, Alvardo..... f  2-3    0-0    2-2    0  2  2   3   6  0  0  0  0  18
02 HACKETT, Brent...... g  0-6    0-4    2-4    0  1  1   2   2  1  3  0  2  33
05 OWENS, Neiman....... g  3-8    0-0    0-1    1  3  4   4   6  1  0  1  0  36
13 DOUGHERTY, Neil P... g  1-4    0-0    1-2    0  0  0   2   3  3  0  0  1  21
03 EBIE, Jason.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   1
10 MORONES, Martiese...    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
11 WALL, Ryan..........    4-11   3-8    0-0    0  1  1   0  11  2  1  0  1  25
12 IBIKUNLE, Femi......    5-8    0-0    3-5    3  2  5   3  13  1  2  0  1  23
21 FISHEL, David.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
23 ADAMS, Blake........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  1  0  0   6
30 METZGER, Nick.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
44 HAWKINS, Zach.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
   TEAM................                         3  1  4             1
   Totals..............   21-54   4-13  18-24   8 16 24  19  64 11 10  2  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-25 32.0%   2nd Half: 13-29 44.8%   Game: 38.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-5   0.0%   2nd Half:  4-8  50.0%   Game: 30.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-12 83.3%   2nd Half:  8-12 66.7%   Game: 75.0%   2,2
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HOME TEAM: BYU 24-7
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 YOUNG, Keena........ f  4-13   0-0    0-0    4  4  8   3   8  3  3  0  2  28
44 PLAISTED, Trent..... c  9-12   0-0    4-6    3  6  9   3  22  0  2  2  0  31
13 AINGE, Austin....... g  0-5    0-3    3-4    0  2  2   2   3  7  2  0  1  29
23 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... g  4-8    1-3    1-4    2  1  3   1  10  1  1  0  0  24
30 CUMMARD, Lee........ g  2-4    0-2    0-0    3  4  7   2   4  1  1  1  1  27
02 ROSE, Mike..........    6-11   4-9    0-0    0  3  3   3  16  0  1  0  0  23
10 IVANOVIC, Vuk.......    2-2    0-0    1-3    1  0  1   3   5  0  0  0  0   4
15 MALAMAN, Fernando...    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   2  0  0  0  0   1
20 BURGESS, Sam........    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   0   0  1  1  0  0   7
24 MURDOCK, Ben........    0-0    0-0    3-4    0  1  1   1   3  2  2  0  0  11
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan.    2-5    0-2    0-0    3  4  7   2   4  1  2  1  0  15
   TEAM................                            3  3
   Totals..............   30-61   5-19  12-21  17 29 46  20  77 16 15  4  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-31 48.4%   2nd Half: 15-30 50.0%   Game: 49.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-8  25.0%   2nd Half:  3-11 27.3%   Game: 26.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-6  66.7%   2nd Half:  8-15 53.3%   Game: 57.1%    5
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Officials: Verne Harris, Mike Giarrantano, Michael Irving
Technical fouls: TCU-None. BYU-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
TCU...........................   26   38  -   64
BYU...........................   36   41  -   77
ID-533027
Points in the paint-TC 30,BY 42. Points off turnovers-TC 11,BY 10.
2nd chance points-TC 7,BY 18. Fast break points-TC 0,BY 12.
Bench points-TC 24,BY 30. Score tied-1 time. Lead changes-0 times.