GETTING INSIDE
Brigham Young has taken a cue from its football program—offense, offense and more offense.
The Cougars averaged 96.3 points during a three-game span against Eastern Washington (91), Nevada (110) and Nebraska (88) while raising their winning streak to seven games.
BYU (12-1) shot 61.2 percent from the field against Nebraska, a school that was limiting teams to 38.5 percent entering the contest. The Cornhuskers were allowing just 55.0 points prior to the Cougars putting 88 on the scoreboard.
“I am really happy with how we played offensively,” coach Dave Rose said. “The game against Eastern Washington and these two games (against Nevada and Nebraska), it seems like the guys are playing with confidence and sharing the ball.”
The hot stretch boosted the Cougars’ season field-goal percentage to 50.8, the best in the Mountain West Conference. BYU also leads the league in 3-point percentage (40.6) with junior guard Jackson Emery (36 of 71) leading the Mountain West with a 50.7 success rate.
And, of course, BYU leads the Mountain West in scoring (83.3) while putting together their fastest start since the 1987-88 squad won its first 17 games.
Junior guard Jimmer Fredette leads the Mountain West with a 19.5 scoring average but he’s received plenty of help from Emery (13.4) and freshman forward Tyler Haws (11.2). Haws scored a career-best 20 points against Nevada and didn’t miss a single shot—he was 7-of-7 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
NOTES, QUOTES
• BYU’s 57-point margin of victory over Eastern Washington was the school’s third-largest margin against a Division I opponent. It was the second time they won by 50 or more points this season (107-51 over Southern on Nov. 24).
• The Cougars lead the Mountain West Conference in free-throw shooting (78.9) and were a blistering 27 of 28 from the line against Nevada on Dec. 22. Junior guard Jimmer Fredette is shooting a Mountain West Conference-best 92.9 percent.
January At A Glance: Getting senior forward Jonathan Tavernari untracked is a major priority with Mountain West Conference play about to start. Tavernari has struggled mightily all season long and is shooting just 36.1 percent from the field with his scoring average down to 9.5, more than six points lower than last season. The Cougars could be exceptionally good if Tavernari rediscovers his stroke.
Quote To Note: “I think we’re happy with how guys are coming along but I think there’s so much room to improve. We can get so much better defensively and as a rebounding team,”—Cougars coach Dave Rose, trying to make sure his 12-1 team knows there’s more work to do.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Season Recap: Jimmer Fredette gets most of the credit for BYU’s strong start but the supporting cast has been pretty good, too. Not just the other starters, but reserves like freshman forward Brandon Davies, who is hitting 69.2 percent of his shots and is sixth on the team in scoring (5.4). The Cougars have proven they can go 10 players deep with little drop-off.
Player Rotation: Usual Starters—F Noah Hartsock, C Chris Miles, G Tyler Haws, G Jimmer Fredette, PG Jackson Emery. Key Subs—F Jonathan Tavernari, G/F Charles Abouo, G Michael Loyd, F Brandon Davies, G Lamont Morgan.
Game Review:
Brigham Young 91, Eastern Washington 34
Brigham Young 110, Nevada 104
Brigham Young 88, Nebraska 66
Game Preview:
at Arizona, Monday, Dec. 28
vs. Eastern New Mexico, Saturday, Jan. 2
vs. UNLV, Wednesday, Jan. 6
at Texas-El Paso, Saturday, Jan. 9
at Air Force, Wednesday, Jan. 13
In Focus: The Cougars are looking to beat Arizona for the first since 1978, when both schools were members of the Western Athletic Conference. BYU follows that contest with an easy tune-up against Eastern New Mexico. BYU opens Mountain West Conference at home against UNLV and then goes two weeks before its next home game (Colorado State).
Roster Report:
• Senior F Jonathan Tavernari has been dealing with a groin injury. He played just five minutes against Eastern Washington on Dec. 19 due to the injury and the lopsided score.
• Junior G Jimmer Fredette was the MVP of the Las Vegas Classic after averaging 28.5 points and 5.0 assists in victories over Nevada and Nebraska.
• Junior G Jackson Emery (24.0 points per game, 3.0 steals) and freshman G Tyler Haws (13.5) earned all-tournament honors at the Las Vegas Classic.
• Junior G Jimmer Fredette topped the 1,000-point barrier in the Cougars’ victory over Nevada. Fredette ranks 39th in school history with 1,034 career points through games of Dec. 27.
