Game 19 - Cougars Look to Remain Unbeaten in MWC Action

Cougars at Home vs. Colorado State on Saturday

No. 18/17 BYU men’s basketball (17-1, 2-0 MWC) returns to the Marriott Center with a 12-game winning streak to take on Colorado State on Saturday, Jan. 16, at 4 p.m. MST. The game can be heard live on KSL Newsradio beginning with the pregame show at 5 p.m. MST on 102.7 FM and 1160 AM or via the Internet at KSL.com. It will be televised live on The Mtn.

Tickets Discounted for Saturday

Saturday's game game is billed as Wells Fargo Family night and tickets are discounted in the entire arena. Lower chair tickets will be available for $10, upper chair for $5 and upper bench for $1.

Up Next

The Cougars play their second-straight home game when they host Wyoming on Wednesday, Jan. 20, at 6 p.m. Listen to the game live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 5 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 The Mtn.

Cougar Quick Hits

— Jimmer Fredette set BYU single-game records with 49 points and nine threes against Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl Classic in Tucson, Ariz., at the McKale Center. BYU handed Arizona its worst loss at the McKale Center, 99-69.

— Jimmer Fredette was named MVP of the HoopTV Las Vegas Classic after averaging 28.5 points, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals in wins over Nevada and Nebraska. Jackson Emery (24.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, 3.0 spg) and Tyler Haws (13.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg) earned all-tournament honors.

— Fredette is 35th all-time in scoring at BYU with 1,098 career points. He leads the conference in scoring at 19.9 points per game. He is also 15th at BYU in career assists with 278 and 12th in steals with 103.

— 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 114-35 (.765) overall, he is the fastest BYU coach to reach 100 wins.

— 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 230 after hitting one at Air Force. He is also climbing the lists for points (16th with 1,338) and steals (5th with 134).

— Tavernari is on pace to become the BYU player with the most wins in a career. Since his freshman campaign, he has been a part of 90 Cougar wins, seven behind former teammate Lee Cummard (2005-09), who was a part of 97 BYU wins, and four behind Russell Larson, who was a part of 94 wins (1991-95).

BYU Game #19 Fast Facts

No. 18/17 BYU (17-1, 2-0) vs. Colorado State (11-5, 2-0)

Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010

Marriott Center (22,700)

Provo, Utah

4 p.m. MST

Coaches

BYU, Dave Rose (114-35 in fifth season; same overall)

Colorado State, Tim Miles (27-52 in third season; 239-184 in 15th season overall)

Series

BYU leads 86-46, including a regular season sweep in 2008-09

TV

Live on The Mtn. (Dan Gutowsky, play-by-play; Andy Toolson, game analysis)

Radio

KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM and online at KSL.com) and the Cougar Sports Network (3 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 Colorado State

Colorado State is 11-5 overall and 2-0 in Mountain West Conference action with wins coming at Wyoming (83-73) and at home vs. Air Force (83-73). Freshman Dorian Green leads the team in scoring and assists at 13.5 points and 2.3 dimes per game while shooting a team-best .835 from the free throw line. Junior Andy Ogide leads the team in rebounding (5.8 rpg) and is second in scoring (12.2 ppg) while shooting .542 from the field. Junior Travis Franklin also scores in double figures at 11.8 ppg and adds 5.4 rpg. Adam Nigon pitches in 8.5 ppg and 2.0 apg and has hit a team-best 28 threes. Andre McFarland shoots .415 from downtown and scores at a 7.6 ppg rate. As a team Colorado State averages 70.1 points and shoots .438 from the field. Opponents average 63.2 points and shoot .409 against the Rams. Tim Miles is in his third season with Colorado State where he is 27-52.

Colorado State’s Last Outing — CSU flies past Air Force, 70-48

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Junior forward Andy Ogide led all scorers with 13 points, as CSU defeated Air Force, 70-48, at Moby Arena Saturday night. The victory helped CSU begin a perfect 2-0 in conference play, and 8-0 at home this season. The last time CSU won its first two conference games was 2002-03, when the Rams went on to win the Mountain West Conference tournament before losing to Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament. CSU (11-5) has established itself as one of the best home teams in the MWC. “We want Moby to be a difficult place to play in, and to get a home court advantage,” Head Coach Tim Miles said. The win over Air Force marks the third consecutive game in which CSU hasn’t trailed. It was also the Rams’ largest margin of victory (22) in a conference game in the Miles era. The Rams grabbed the early lead after junior guard Adam Nigon splashed a three-pointer on CSU’s first possession. A layup by Air Force forward Derek Brooks tied the game at 5 with 17:15 left to play in the first half. But a Travis Franklin dunk on the ensuing possession would spark a 15-3 run by the Rams that put them up by 12 at the 6:47 mark. They led 26-15 heading into the break. In the second half, it was all Ogide, who responded after a quiet first half. He tallied 11 of his game-high 13 points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field, and 5-of-7 shooting from the line. “Coach was on me pretty hard so I tried to step it up as much as I could,” Ogide said. The Rams got some good contribution from true freshmen Dorian Green and Greg Smith after intermission as well. Green scored all nine of his points in the second half and Smith tallied seven of his nine after the break. Franklin finished with 11 points and five boards and true freshman Pierce Hornung finished with six points and six rebounds. The Falcons (8-7, 0-2 MWC) scratched and clawed their way back into the game, cutting the Rams’ lead to seven with just over 12 minutes to play in the game. But CSU used a 17-4 run to break the game open with just under 7 minutes, after Smith hit a three-pointer to push the Rams’ lead back up to 23. Their largest lead of the night would be 24. But despite CSU’s hot start, Miles remains focused. “It will be a bigger challenge next Saturday at BYU,” Miles said. “The rugged part of our schedule is still ahead of us.”

Series Notes

BYU and Colorado State play for the 133rd time on Saturday with the Cougars leading the overall series 86-46. BYU has won the last six meetings, including a sweep last season. The Cougars won 86-60 at Colorado State and 94-60 at home. BYU is 55-10 at home against Colorado State and has won the last 10 home games against the Rams.

Winning Streaks

BYU’s current 12-game winning streak is one of the longest in Cougar history. See the list below to see where it ranks among the best streaks by a BYU squad.

Year, Streak

1987-88, 17

1916-17, 14

1941-42, 13

1992-93, 13

1985-86, 12

1979-80, 12

2009-10, 12

Best Start

At 17-1 overall, BYU men’s basketball has tied the 1987-88 team for the best record through 18 games in program history. The 1971-72 team went 16-2 through 18 games for the second-best record.

In the Rankings

The BYU men’s basketball team entered the top-25 rankings for the first time this season on Jan. 4 at No. 25 in the AP Poll and No. 23 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The Cougars are currently ranked No. 18 in the AP Poll and No. 17 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, their highest rankings in both polls since 1987-88. Rose has led his teams to the rankings in the each of the last four seasons to become the first Cougar coach to lead BYU into the rankings in four-straight seasons. The Cougar basketball program has now been ranked in the AP Poll during 18 seasons since its first national ranking in 1950-51.

BYU as a Ranked Team

BYU owns a 140-58 record as a ranked team, including 3-0 this season. The Cougars are 80-12 at home, 38-28 on the road and 22-18 at neutral sites when nationally ranked. BYU is 12-6 as a ranked team under Dave Rose.

1,000-Point Scorers

With five points at UTEP, Jonathan Tavernari has 1,338 career points and is ranked 16th all-time in scoring at BYU. He is 35 points from passing Trent Plaisted for 15th all-time.

Jimmer Fredette eclipsed 1,000 career points when he hit a three with 10:04 remaining against Nevada. He reached the milestone in 80 games. After scoring eight points at Air Force he has 1,098 career points — 35th all-time. He is three points from passing Mark Handy for 34th 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 230 makes and 618 attempts. Jimmer Fredette is ninth with 125 makes and seventh with 331 attempts.

Top-10 Pick Pockets

Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari had two steals at Air Force to give him 134 for his career. He is fifth all-time in BYU history and is five from passing Nate Call for fourth all-time. Jimmer Fredette is 12th all-time with 103 steals and Jackson Emery is 15th with 100.