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PROVO -- A big first half helped the No. 17 BYU men’s basketball team secure a 91-48 victory over Air Force at the Marriott Center on Saturday. With the win the Cougars improve to 23-3 overall and 8-2 in Mountain West Conference play.

“I was really pleased with how we started the game and how we kept the momentum going in the first half,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose. “We shared the ball well, played on attack and took good shots. Defensively we did really well. This was a good game for our team, especially after sitting out this week.”

Senior Jonathan Tavernari led all scorers with 19 points, including five three-pointers. Other Cougars scoring in double figures included Jackson Emery with 18 and Tyler Haws with 16. It is BYU’s second game this season with three players scoring 15 points or more.

Emery made two quick three-pointers to open the game, but the Falcons scored the next seven points to gain their only lead of the game. Coming out of a timeout, the Cougars went on a 12-0 run, which included an Emery steal and fast-break layup with 14:26 to play in the first half. Tavernari capped the run with his first of four consecutive treys in two minutes. His quick 12 points gave BYU a 27-12 lead.

“Jonathan’s been terrific the last month,” said Rose. “He’s shooting the ball with a lot of confidence. If we get him playing with that look in his eye, knowing his shot will go in, it will be a real bonus for this group.”

A strong defensive effort by the Cougars kept the Falcons from scoring back-to-back baskets for the final 15 minutes of the half.

“Defensively we were really engaged,” said Rose. “We had a good game plan going in, but our guys executed it well. We challenged shots, were able to run and we shared the ball really well. It was good to see extra passes.”

Emery made two additional three-pointers during a 13-0 BYU run. A three-point play converted by senior Chris Miles extended the BYU lead to 30 points with 1:44 to play in the first half.

The half ended with a jumper by Haws, sending the Cougars into the locker room with a 53-20 lead. BYU shot 66.7 percent from the field in the first half and outrebounded Air Force 19-to-7.

Jimmer Fredette opened the second half scoring a jumper for BYU. Haws soon followed with a make from behind the arc, bringing the score to 58-22. The freshman went 5-of-6 on three trips to the free throw line, accounting for nine of the Cougars’ next 14 points.

Tavernari and Michael Loyd, Jr. were perfect on two trips to the charity stripe with eight minutes to play in the game. A three-pointer by Charles Abouo extended the BYU lead to 80-42. Playing in his first game since an appendectomy last week, freshman Brandon Davies made two free throws with just over six minutes to play. He and James Anderson converted late free throws as time ran off the clock.

The Cougars return to action on Feb. 17 as they travel to Colorado State. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT and the game will be televised live on The Mtn.

CLICK HERE for game notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score
Air Force vs BYU COUGARS
02/13/10 4:02 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Air Force 9-15, 1-10 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
10 FLETCHER, Todd...... *  1-5    1-5    0-0    0  5  5   2   3  2  1  0  1  22
14 LYONS, Michael...... *  3-7    2-4    2-2    1  2  3   2  10  2  5  0  1  31
33 McLAIN, Mike........ *  2-3    2-2    0-1    0  2  2   2   6  1  2  0  0  23
35 WASHINGTON, Evan.... *  1-4    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   2   2  3  1  0  0  26
50 PARKER, Grant....... *  2-7    0-2    1-2    0  2  2   3   5  2  5  0  0  22
05 FITZGERALD, Mike....    4-8    4-7    1-2    2  0  2   1  13  0  3  0  0  19
13 BOHANNON, Zach......    2-2    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   2   4  1  1  0  1  18
20 FOW, Tom............    1-3    1-3    0-0    0  0  0   1   3  0  0  0  0   2
22 MERRIEX, Avery......    0-3    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  1  2  0  0  14
24 BROOKS, Derek.......    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   2  0  0  0  0   3
32 HEMPSEY, Shawn......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  1  0  0   8
34 BROEKHUIS, Taylor...    0-1    0-0    0-1    0  1  1   3   0  0  1  0  0  12
   TEAM................                         1     1
   Totals..............   17-45  10-26   4-8    4 15 19  22  48 12 22  0  3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-24 33.3%   2nd Half:  9-21 42.9%   Game: 37.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-12 33.3%   2nd Half:  6-14 42.9%   Game: 38.5%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  0-0   0.0%   2nd Half:  4-8  50.0%   Game: 50.0%    3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: BYU COUGARS 23-3, 8-2 MWC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
04 EMERY, Jackson...... *  7-9    4-6    0-0    1  4  5   0  18  3  1  0  1  26
23 HAWS, Tyler......... *  5-8    1-2    5-6    1  1  2   2  16  2  3  0  4  25
32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... *  3-6    1-3    2-2    1  0  1   1   9  6  1  0  0  27
34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... *  4-7    0-0    0-0    2  4  6   2   8  2  1  0  0  25
54 MILES, Chris........ *  1-2    0-0    1-1    0  3  3   2   3  0  0  1  0  10
00 DAVIES, Brandon.....    0-2    0-0    3-7    0  2  2   2   3  0  2  0  2  12
01 ABOUO, Charles......    1-2    1-1    0-0    4  0  4   1   3  1  2  0  1  14
10 LOYD, JR., Michael..    2-4    0-1    3-4    0  3  3   0   7  3  1  0  1  16
12 MAGNUSSON, Logan....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   0   0  1  0  0  1   9
13 ZYLSTRA, Brock......    0-1    0-0    1-2    0  0  0   1   1  0  1  0  0   8
15 ANDERSON, James.....    1-2    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   1   4  0  0  0  0   4
45 TAVERNARI, Jonathan.    6-10   5-7    2-2    1  4  5   1  19  2  0  0  3  24
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   30-53  12-20  19-26  11 25 36  13  91 20 12  1 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 20-30 66.7%   2nd Half: 10-23 43.5%   Game: 56.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 10-14 71.4%   2nd Half:  2-6  33.3%   Game: 60.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-3  100 %   2nd Half: 16-23 69.6%   Game: 73.1%    4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Bruce Hicks, Shawn Lehigh, Chris Rastatter
Technical fouls: Air Force-None. BYU COUGARS-None.
Attendance: 15647
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Air Force.....................   20   28  -   48
BYU COUGARS...................   53   38  -   91
Points in the paint-AF 12,BY 24. Points off turnovers-AF 11,BY 30.
2nd chance points-AF 6,BY 14. Fast break points-AF 0,BY 4.
Bench points-AF 22,BY 37. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-AF 2nd-00:40, BY 2nd-01:23.
Largest lead-AF by 1 1st-16:00, BY by 46 2nd-01:23.

Cougars Host Air Force on Saturday

No. 17/17 BYU men’s basketball (22-3, 7-2 MWC) will look to keep pace with New Mexico atop the Mountain West Conference standings when the Cougars host Air Force on Saturday at 4 p.m. MST in the Marriott Center. The game can be heard live on KSL Newsradio beginning with the pregame show at 3 p.m. MST on 102.7 FM and 1160 AM or via the Internet at KSL.com. The game will be televised live on The Mtn.

Up Next

The Cougars hit the road to play at Colorado State on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 6 p.m. MST. 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.

— 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 1,273 career points. He leads the conference in scoring at 21.4 points per game. He is also 14th at BYU in career assists with 309 and 12th in steals with 111.

— 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 119-37 (.763) 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 240 after hitting two threes at UNLV. He is also climbing the lists for points (13th with 1,402) and steals (3rd with 142).

— 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 #26 Fast Facts

No. 17/17 BYU (22-3, 7-2) vs. Air Force (9-14, 1-9)

Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010

Marriott Center (22,700)

Provo, Utah

4 p.m. MST

Coaches

BYU, Dave Rose (119-37 in fifth season; same overall)

Air Force, Jeff Reynolds (35-49 in third season; 117-83 in seventh season overall)

Series

BYU leads 51-12, including a 67-49 BYU win on Jan. 13 at Air Force

TV

Live on The Mtn. (Ari Wolfe, play-by-play; Andrea Lloyd, 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 Air Force

Air Force is 9-14 overall and 1-9 in the Mountain West Conference. The Falcons are 1-8 away from Clune Arena including 0-7 in true road games. Air Force has lost three straight, including 70-48 at San Diego State, 65-51 at home against TCU and 51-47 at home against Colorado State. The Falcons’ conference win was a 70-63 home victory against Wyoming. Grant Parker leads the team in scoring at 14.2 points and rebounding at 5.2 boards per game. Evan Washington is second on the team in scoring (11.7 ppg) and rebounding (5.1 rpg) and first in assists (3.1 apg) and field goal percentage (.503). Tom Fow adds 9.6 ppg and a team-best 36 threes. As a team the Falcons average 59.1 ppg and shoot .441 from the field, .316 from three and .643 from the free throw line. Air Force opponents average 62.7 ppg and shoot .435 from the field and .339 from three. The Falcons are out -rebounded 29.4-32.1. Jeff Reynolds is 35-49 in his third season at Air Force.

Air Force’s Last Outing — Air Force Falls To Colorado State, 51-47

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) - Learning to win on the road is a tough task for any team, but Colorado State did just that against Air Force Tuesday night. Evan Washington’s game-tying 3-point attempt with five seconds remaining came up short and the Rams hit three free throws in the game’s final 2:10 as Colorado State topped Air Force 51-47. Andy Ogide scored 12 points to lead the Rams (15-9, 6-4 Mountain West), while the Falcons (9-14, 1-9) were paced by Grant Parker’s game-high 13 points. Colorado State won for the fourth time in its last five games, and Air Force has dropped nine of its last 10. Air Force cut Colorado State’s lead to one on two separate occasions, both times on a pair of Taylor Broekhuis free throws, but it was as close as the Falcons would get. Broekhuis’ free throws at the 2:36 mark closed the gap to 48-47, but Dorian Green answered with two of his own to give the Rams a three-point advantage. After trailing the Falcons 29-21 at the half, the Rams forced Air Force into 4-of-22 shooting in the second half. Colorado State took the lead at the 5:32 mark on a pair of Travis Franklin free throws and never looked back. “We just found enough stops to win,” Colorado State coach Tim Miles said. “I credit the kids. They really came back, and we really won with defense. You knew it was going to be a tight one and a tough one. Tonight, we learned how to find a way to win, and I thought that was good.” Colorado State improved to 65-30 against Air Force all-time and swept the season series. The Rams defeated the Falcons 70-48 in Fort Collins, Colo., on Jan. 9. “I thought we played hard, but in this league, playing hard is not good enough,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “We had trouble scoring the whole second half. We can make it when we want, but we had open shots and didn’t hit them. We wanted to drive the ball there at the end because we had 29 seconds left, but we went a little brain dead.” Freshman Greg Smith had 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench, and Green added 10 of his own. Air Force’s Washington had nine points to go along with his career high-tying eight rebounds in the loss. “I made a few good plays, so I’m pretty excited about that,” Smith said. “I was just at the right place at the right time, and any time you’re around the rim, you really find some boards there.” It was a frustrating loss for the Falcons. “We missed some shots, but we also didn’t attack them the way we needed to,” said Parker, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half. “They just came out in the second half and put pressure on us, and I think we were back on our heels a little bit. We had a chance, but we didn’t execute at the end.”

Series Notes

BYU leads the all-time series against Air Force 51-12 and has won the last nine meetings, including a 67-49 win at Air Force this season. The Cougars are 25-4 at home all-time against Air Force and have won four straight in the Marriott Center against the Falcons.

Four Game Stretch

Jimmer Fredette’s four game stretch from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2 was his best this season as he averaged 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 shot .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 was 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 one steal at UNLV, Jackson Emery has 65 steals this season, the second most in a single season in school history and two 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.

Best Start

At 22-3 overall, BYU men’s basketball is one game behind the 1987-88 team for the best record in program history through 25 games. See below for the other best records through 25 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. 17 in the AP Poll and No. 17 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. BYU has been as high as No. 12 in the AP Poll and No. 10 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 16 points at UNLV, Jonathan Tavernari has 1,402 career points and is 13th all-time in scoring at BYU. He is seven points from passing Jay Cheesman for 12th all-time. After scoring 21 points at UNLV, Jimmer Fredette has 1,273 career points — 21st all-time. He is 12 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 240 makes and 641 attempts. Jimmer Fredette is fifth with 147 makes and is fourth with 372 attempts.

Top-10 Pick Pockets

Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari had one steal at UNLV to give him 142 for his career. He is third all-time in BYU history. Jackson Emery is ninth with 122 while Jimmer Fredette is 12th with 111.

When Jimmer Scores 20...

Jimmer Fredette had 21 points at UNLV, his 15th 20-point game this season and 23rd of his career. He has reached 30-plus points four times this season. BYU is 19-4 when Fredette scores 20 or more points.