Game 10 - Cougars to Host Wagner in HoopTV Las Vegas Classic Game

BYU To Host Wagner in Game One of HoopTV Las Vegas Classic

BYU men’s basketball (8-1) returns to the Marriott Center to host two games as part of the HoopTV Las Vegas Classic on Thursday and Saturday. The Cougars will take on Wagner on Thursday and Eastern Washington on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to tip at 7 p.m. and will be televised live on BYU TV. Thursday’s game can be heard live on KSL Newsradio beginning with the pregame show at 6 p.m. MST on 102.7 FM and 1160 AM or via the Internet at KSL.com.

Up Next

The Cougars will play their second game of the HoopTV Las Vegas Classic on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center. Listen to the game live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 6 p.m. MST on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM or via the Internet at KSL.com. The game will be televised live on BYU TV.

Cougar Quick Hits

— Jimmer Fredette hit his first four free throws against Fresno State to extend his BYU record for consecutive free throws to 39. The streak ended when he missed his final attempt of the game with 13 seconds remaining.

— With 24 points vs. Fresno State, Jimmer Fredette has scored in double figures in 23-straight games, the longest such streak since Russell Larson scored in double figures in 44-straight games from 1993-95.

— Since Rose took over as head coach of BYU basketball, the Cougars are 66-3 (.956) in the Marriott Center, including a 53-game winning streak from 2005 to 2008 — the longest in school history. With the win over Arizona State, the Cougars have an 11-game home winning streak.

— 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. At 105-35 (.750) overall, he reached 100 wins faster than any other coach in BYU history. Roger Reid held the previous record, reaching 100 wins in 143 games.

— Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari became BYU’s all-time leader in three-pointers with two treys vs. San Francisco to give him 214. He is now at 217 after hitting two at Fresno State. He is also climbing the lists for points (20th with 1,252) and steals (7th with 127).

BYU GAME #10 FAST FACTS

BYU (8-1) vs. Wagner (1-7)

Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2009

Marriott Center (22,700)

Provo, Utah

7 p.m. MST

Coaches

BYU, Dave Rose (105-35 in fifth season; same overall)

Wagner, Mike Deane (90-94 in seventh season; 433-316 in 26th season overall)

Series

Thursday’s game will be the first meeting between the schools

TV

Live on BYU TV (Dave McCann, play-by-play; Andy Toolson, game analysis; Jarom Jordan, courtside reporter)

Radio

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

Web

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

Looking at Wagner

Wagner is 1-7 on the season and coming off its first victory of the season, a 59-58 triumph at Saint Peter’s College. The Seahawks opened with a seven-game losing streak. They are 1-4 on the road and 0-3 at home. Five-foot-11 guard Chris Martin leads the squad in scoring (14.3) and made threes (21) and adds 11 assists and eight steals. Senior center Michael Orock is second in scoring (10.0) and first in rebounding (7.9) and blocks (12). Ryan Conrad and Josh Thompson are third and fourth in scoring at 9.3 and 8.0 points per game, respectively. T.J. Czeski leads the team with 3.6 assists per game. As a team Wagner averages 61.8 points and shoots .362 from the field. Its opponents average 74.5 points and shoot .424 from the field. The Seahawks are coached by Mike Deane, who is in his seventh season at Wagner with a 90-94 record. His career record is 433-316. He is 24th in wins among active coaches.

Wagner’s Last Outing — Wagner Defeats Saint Peter’s 59-58 For First Win Of Season

Jersey City, NJ - Freshman guards Ryan Conrad (Charlotte, NC/Providence Day) and Danny Mundweiler (Overland Park, KS/Olate East) scored 12 and 11 points respectively, to lead Wagner past Saint Peter’s, 59-58. With the win, the Seahawks improve to 1-7 on the season while Saint Peter’s fell to 4-5. With Wagner trailing 49-48, Mundweiler drained a clutch three-pointer to put the Seahawks on top 51-49 with 3:30 left to play in the game. After Yvon Raymond hit two free throws to tie it at 51-51, junior center Clifton Spiller (Pleasantville, NJ/ Holy Spirit) gave the Seahawks the lead for good on a put back in the lane with 1:16 to play that made it 53-51. After a missed three-pointer by Wesley Jenkins, Wagner went to work at the free throw line. Conrad made 2-of-2 with 41 seconds left to lift the Seahawk lead to 55-51. Following another missed three-pointer by Jenkins with 30 seconds left, junior guard T.J. Czeski (Amsterdam, NY/ Amsterdam) sank two free throws to build the lead to 57-51 with 24 seconds left. With 20 seconds left, Jenkins hit a pair of free throws for the Peacocks to make it a 57-53 game. Conrad missed a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left but Wagner got the ball back on a Jenkins turnover. Czeski was fouled by Jenkins with 10 seconds to play and hit 1-of-2 to make it 58-53. A Raymond layup cut the Peacock deficit to 58-55 with three seconds left. Czeski then made 1-of-2 from the line to put the game out of reach at 59-53 before Steven Samuels hit a three-point jumper at the buzzer to fashion the final score at 59-58. Senior forward Doug Elwell (Staten Island, Ny/Monsignor Farrell) pulled down a career-high10 rebounds for Wagner, which won despite shooting 30.8 percent from the floor (16-for-52). With starting center Michael Orock (Hoboken, NJ/ Hoboken) in early foul trouble, Spiller had his most productive game of the season off the bench, scoring seven points while grabbing a career-high eight rebounds. Freshman forward Josh Thompson (Richland, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) added nine points and four rebounds for the Seahawks. Jeron Belin, Darius Conley and Wesley Jenkins scored 10 points each for Saint Peter’s. Conley had 12 of the Peacocks’ 52 rebounds. Jenkins, who came into the game averaging a team-best 15.6 points per game, was held to 2-of-16 shooting, and was 0-of-7 from three-point range. Saint Peter’s shot 30.2% from the field.

Series Notes

Thursday’s game is the first meeting between BYU and Wagner.

39-Straight Free Throws

Junior guard Jimmer Fredette’s streak of consecutive free throws without a miss ended at 39 at Fresno State. Fredette made his first four against the Bulldogs to extend the record streak from 35 to 39 but missed his final attempt with 13 seconds remaining in the game. The previous record was 32 by Michael Smith in 1989. Fredette broke the record for free throw excellence at BYU when he hit his 33rd-consecutive free throw with 16:56 remaining in the second half against Arizona State. The streak started in the second game of the season when he made his last five attempts against Idaho State. Fredette is shooting .929 this season — including 52 of 54 (.963) since missing his first two attempts of the season — and .868 for his career.

1,000-Point Scorers

With 10 points vs. Fresno State, Jonathan Tavernari has 1,252 career points and is ranked 20th all-time in scoring at BYU. He is 33 points from passing Alan Taylor for 19th all-time.

Downtown Record Watch

Jonathan Tavernari hit two threes vs. San Francisco to become BYU’s all-time leader in career threes, passing Mark Bigelow who had 213 for his career. He is also the leader for career attempts. Tavernari owns the record for threes in a season with 88 in 2007-08. He now has 217 makes and 584 attempts.

Top-10 Pick Pockets

Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari had two steals at Fresno State to give him 127 for his career. He is seventh all-time in BYU history and two from passing Lee Cummard for sixth.

When Jimmer Scores 20...

Jimmer Fredette had 24 points in BYU’s 72-67 win at Fresno State, his fifth 20-point game this season and 13th of his career. BYU is 11-2 when Fredette scores 20 or more and has won the last 10 games in which he has reached the 20-point mark. With three-straight 20-point games to start 2009-10, he matched his longest streak for consecutive games with 20 or more points. The first streak came last season when he had 21 at Utah (Jan. 27, 2009), 28 at home against Wyoming (Jan. 31) and 20 at Air Force (Feb. 3).

First Career Start

Freshman Tyler Haws started for the first time in his young career at Hawai’i, helping the Cougars to an 83-65 win over the Rainbow Warriors. He chipped in 12 points, one assist and one steal in the victory while playing 25 minutes. He has now started seven-straight games for the Cougars. Noah Hartsock made his first career start vs. San Francisco and turned in five points, two assists, two blocks, two steals and two points in 28 minutes of action. Hartsock has started the last three games for the Cougars.

Freshman Double-Double

Freshman Tyler Haws recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds against Arizona State, an 81-68 home win for the Cougars. He also had career highs of six free throw attempts, six free throw makes and 10 field goal attempts while tying a career high with five makes from the field. His double-double marks the first double-double by a Cougar freshman since Trent Plaisted had 18 points and 13 rebounds against Houston in the NIT on March 15, 2006. Plaisted had six double-doubles his freshman year. Jimmer Fredette has BYU’s other double-double this season, a 12-point, 10-rebound effort vs. Southern.