Game 25 - Cougars at UNLV on Saturday

Cougars to Take on UNLV on Saturday

No. 12/12 BYU men’s basketball (22-2, 7-1 MWC) will look to maintain its hold on first-place in the MWC when it takes on second-place UNLV (18-4, 6-2 MWC) on Saturday, Feb. 6, at 1 p.m. PST. The game can be heard live on KSL Newsradio beginning with the pregame show at 12 p.m. PST on 102.7 FM and 1160 AM or via the Internet at KSL.com. The game will be televised live on Versus.

Up Next

The Cougars return to the Marriott Center to play Air Force on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 4 p.m. MST. Listen to the game live on the radio beginning with the pregame show at 3 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.

— BYU’s 15-game winning streak, it’s second-longest winning streak in school history ended on Jan. 27 at New Mexico, 76-72.

— Fredette is 21st all-time in scoring at BYU with 1,252 career points. He leads the conference in scoring at 21.5 points per game. He is also 14th at BYU in career assists with 303 and 12th in steals with 109.

— 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 five-straight 20-win seasons and four-straight postseason appearances. At 119-36 (.768) overall, he is BYU’s all-time leader in winning percentage.

— 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 238 after hitting one three vs. TCU. He is also climbing the lists for points (14th with 1,386) and steals (3rd with 141).

— Since Jonathan Tavernari’s freshman year BYU has won 99 games — the best four-year stretch in BYU basketball history — and he has played in 95. The only Cougar to have played in more wins in BYU history is Lee Cummard, who played in 97 victories.

BYU Game #25 Fast Facts

No. 12/12 BYU (22-2, 7-1) at UNLV (18-4, 6-2)

Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010

Thomas and Mack (18,500)

Las Vegas

1 p.m. PST

Coaches

BYU, Dave Rose (119-36 in fifth season; same overall)

UNLV, Lon Kruger (130-67 in sixth season; 448-290 in 24th season overall)

Series

UNLV leads 16-14, including a 77-73 BYU win on Jan. 6 in Provo

TV

Live on Versus (Ted Robinson, play-by-play; Blaine Fowler, game analysis)

Radio

KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM and online at KSL.com) and the Cougar Sports Network (12 p.m. PST 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 UNLV

UNLV is 18-4 overall and 6-2 in the Mountain West Conference. The Rebels (9-2 at home this season) have won four-straight, including wins at Colorado State (80-72) and TCU (79-70), at home against Air Force (60-50) and at Wyoming (78-50). BYU defeated UNLV 77-73 on Jan. 6, the conference opener for both teams. Tre’Von Willis leads the Rebels in scoring at 17.2 points per game while shooting .491 from the field and .857 from the free throw line. Chace Stanback adds 10.5 points per game and a team-best 5.4 boards per game. Oscar Bellfield is third in scoring at 9.3 points per game and leads in assists at 4.8 dimes per contest. Matt Shaw adds 7.1 points per game while Kendall Wallace and Derrick Jasper average 6.7 points apiece. Wallace leads the team with 38 threes while shooting .388 from downtown. As a team UNLV averages 75.4 points per game and shoots .457 from the field, .313 from three and .720 from the free throw line. The Rebels average 35.3 rebounds and 16.6 assists per game. UNLV opponents average 65.0 points, 35.5 rebounds and 10.0 assists per game. Rebel opponents shoot .395 from the field, .329 from three and .691 from the free throw line. Lon Kruger is in his sixth season at UNLV here he has a 130-67 record.

UNLV’s Last Outing — UNLV Whips Wyoming, 78-50

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - Matt Shaw came off of the bench and tied his career-high with 16 points as UNLV ran past Wyoming 78-50 in Mountain West Conference play on Wednesday night.

The Runnin’ Rebels (18-4,6-2) gave up a layup on the game’s opening tip, but dominated action the rest of the way, leading by as many as 30 in the second half.

Ryan Dermody led the Cowboys (9-13, 2-6) with 12 points.

UNLV took control early in the game and opened up a double-digit lead on a pair of 3-pointers by Oscar Bellfield and baskets by Justin Hawkins and Chace Stanback. The Rebels led 40-27 at halftime.

Trailing 52-29, the Cowboys scored eight straight to cut the lead to 15, but could get no closer as UNLV outscored the Wyoming 26-13 the rest of the way.

UNLV dominated in the paint, outscoring Wyoming 32-16.

Series Notes

BYU and UNLV play for the 31st time on Saturday with UNLV leading the overall series 16-14. The Cougars won 77-73 at home this season after losing twice to the Rebels in 2008-09. UNLV leads 12-4 in Las Vegas and has won the last six at home. The Cougars are 4-7 against UNLV under Dave Rose.

Last Four Games

Fredette has been scoring at a torrid pace the last four games, averaging 30.5 points per game. He posted 33 at San Diego State, 27 at New Mexico, 36 at home against Utah and 26 at home against TCU. He is shooting .475 (38-80) from the field, .680 (17-25) from three and .935 (29-31) from the free throw line during the four-game stretch. Fredette has been especially efficient in the second halves of those games, averaging 17.8 points while shooting .733 (11-15) from three and .947 (18-19) from the free throw line.

Best Season of Larceny in Program History

With two steals against TCU, Jackson Emery has 64 steals this season, the second most in a single season in school history and three from breaking the school record of 66 set by Marty Haws in the 1989-90 season.

1,600 Wins

BYU’s 76-56 win over TCU was the 1,600th victory in program history. BYU is the 19th program in NCAA history to win 1,600 games. Oregon State, Washington, Louisville and Texas also reached the plateau this season.

Abouo on the Boards

In the last six games Charles Abouo has been a major factor on the boards. In 82 minutes of play, he has grabbed 27 rebounds, an average of 13.2 boards per 40 minutes. His scoring has also increase over that time to 5.5 points per game or 16.1 points per 40 minutes.

Best Start

At 22-2 overall, BYU men’s basketball has tied the 1987-88 team for the best record through 24 games in program history. See below for the other best records through 24 games.

In the Rankings

BYU men’s basketball 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. 12 in the AP Poll and No. 12 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Rose has led his teams to the rankings in 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 145-59 record as a ranked team, including 8-1 this season. The Cougars are 84-12 at home, 39-29 on the road and 22-18 at neutral sites when nationally ranked. BYU is 17-7 as a ranked team under Dave Rose.

1,000-Point Scorers

With six points vs. TCU, Jonathan Tavernari has 1,386 career points and is 14th all-time in scoring at BYU. He is three points from passing Andy Toolson for 13th all-time. After scoring 26 points vs. TCU, Jimmer Fredette has 1,252 career points — 21st all-time. He is 33 points from passing Alan Taylor for 20th 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 238 makes and 635 attempts. Jimmer Fredette is fifth with 145 makes and is fourth with 365 attempts.

Top-10 Pick Pockets

Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari had one steal vs. Utah to give him 141 for his career. He is third all-time in BYU history. Jackson Emery is ninth with 121 while Jimmer Fredette is 12th with 109.

When Jimmer Scores 20...

Jimmer Fredette had 26 points vs. TCU, his 14th 20-point game this season and 22nd of his career. He has reached 30-plus points four times this season. BYU is 19-3 when Fredette scores 20 or more and has won 18 of the last 19 games in which he had reached the 20-point mark.