Fredette and Loyd Lead in Win Over Bradley

PROVO -- In a hard-fought battle, the BYU men’s basketball team opened the 2009-10 season with a 70-60 victory over the Bradley Braves Friday night at the Marriott Center in the first game of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge. The Cougars have now won their last three season openers.

“There was a lot of energy in the building,” said BYU men’s basketball head coach Dave Rose. “These were two good teams really competing and it came down to the wire. I am proud of our players – they played a good game.”

Jimmer Fredette led all scorers with 25 points on 6-of-14 shooting and 12-of-14 from the free throw line while teammates Jonathan Tavernari and Michael Loyd, Jr. poured in 13 and 10 points, respectively. Loyd continuously scored big baskets in crucial moments to help the team by going 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 behind the three-point arc while Fredette led with four assists in the game.

“The experience that Jimmer had really helped tonight,” Rose said. “Mike Loyd came out and played really well for us. It takes a lot of guys to win a game and tonight we had a lot of help.”

Overall, the Cougars shot 40 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free throw line while the Braves had a 36 percent outing. BYU guard Jackson Emery led the team with six defensive rebounds while sophomore Charles Abouo and freshman Brandon Davies had three offensive rebounds apiece.

The Braves’ Chris Roberts led Bradley with 16 points by going 5-of-7 from the field while Sam Maniscalco had a huge first half and finished the game with 15 points. Brave forward Andrew Warren contributed 13 points.

“We had some issues with guarding,” Rose said. “They were quick, athletic guys. Once we started switching we were effective. We played through the fouls and made it to the end.”

Both were equally matched in the paint with 16 points apiece while BYU led in second-chance points (15-11) and Bradley countered with 24 points from the bench to the Cougars’ 21.

Maniscalco and Warren constantly made big shots to keep the Braves in striking distance and never allowed a consistent Cougar lead. Bradley stormed back into the game down by 10 points after halftime to tie it up at 39-all with 13 minutes left.

The Cougars forced a Bradley timeout after building a 54-45 lead when multiple players contributed buckets. Sophomore Noah Hartsock scored his first bucket of the season followed by jump shots from Fredette and Tavernari.

Bradley’s Warren consistently made shots down the stretch, including a three-point play and a three-pointer to pull the Braves within seven points, 63-56.

Both teams got off to a shaky start as the Cougars opened the game 2-for-7 shooting while Bradley began 1-for-6 as BYU gained a 5-2 lead five minutes into the game.

Fredette pushed the lead to 12-4 with a three-pointer and a jump shot off the glass before Davies scored on an acrobatic offensive rebound and tip-in.

The Braves’ Maniscalco kept Bradley in the game with four converted free throws and a trey to keep the game close, 17-13, in favor of the Cougars.

Michael Loyd, Jr. made a big three-pointer to extend the lead to 20-13 for BYU with seven minutes remaining in the half.

After a rough start, senior Tavernari converted a crucial trey to extend the lead to 27-18 with four minutes remaining in the half.

At the half, the Cougars built a 32-25 lead as Fredette led the team with nine points on 4-of-9 shooting while Tavernari contributed six and Loyd poured in five. The team shot 38 percent on 12-of-32 shooting in the opening half to the Braves’ 27 percent. BYU also earned seven second-chance points to Bradley’s two.

The Cougars will next face Idaho State on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. MT in the Marriott Center.

CLICK HERE for game notes and quotes.

Official Basketball Box Score

BRADLEY BRAVES vs BYU COUGARS

11/13/09 7:32 pm at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah

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VISITORS: BRADLEY BRAVES 0-1 ; MVC 0-0

TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS

## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN

02 Dunson, Dodie....... f 0-4 0-2 0-2 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 25

24 Warren, Andrew...... f 4-13 3-6 2-2 2 4 6 2 13 3 3 0 0 35

54 Singh, Sam.......... c 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 3 2 1 2 0 0 17

01 McCain, Eddren...... g 2-6 0-3 2-4 3 1 4 3 6 1 1 0 1 24

05 Maniscalco, Sam..... g 3-10 3-5 6-6 0 2 2 4 15 2 2 0 1 34

21 Egolf, Will......... 3-5 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 3 6 0 3 0 0 12

23 Roberts, Chris...... 5-7 1-2 5-8 1 4 5 3 16 2 2 1 2 26

32 Simms-Edwards, D.... 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 2 0 2 2 0 1 14

41 Thompson, Anthony... 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 3 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 13

TEAM................ 2 2 4

Totals.............. 18-50 7-18 17-26 10 22 32 22 60 12 15 2 5 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 6-22 27.3% 2nd Half: 12-28 42.9% Game: 36.0% DEADB

3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% Game: 38.9% REBS

F Throw % 1st Half: 10-12 83.3% 2nd Half: 7-14 50.0% Game: 65.4% 2

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HOME TEAM: BYU COUGARS 1-0 ; MWC 0-0

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...... f 1-4 1-3 2-2 0 6 6 4 5 2 1 0 1 22

24 TAVERNARI, Jonathan. f 5-18 3-8 0-0 0 4 4 3 13 0 4 0 1 33

54 MILES, Chris........ c 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 2 2 0 0 0 17

01 ABOUO, Charles...... g 2-7 0-1 0-0 3 2 5 2 4 0 2 1 2 18

32 FREDETTE, Jimmer.... g 6-14 1-5 12-14 1 4 5 1 25 4 2 0 0 37

00 DAVIES, Brandon..... 1-1 0-0 1-4 3 0 3 4 3 0 2 1 0 10

02 MORGAN, JR., Lamont. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

10 LOYD, JR., Michael.. 4-4 2-2 0-1 0 4 4 1 10 0 0 0 1 22

12 MAGNUSSON, Logan.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 2

15 ANDERSON, James..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2

23 HAWS, Tyler......... 0-2 0-0 4-6 2 5 7 3 4 2 0 0 0 19

34 HARTSOCK, Noah...... 2-2 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 3 4 0 0 1 0 15

TEAM................ 1 2 3

Totals.............. 22-55 7-19 19-27 14 30 44 24 70 11 11 3 5 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-32 37.5% 2nd Half: 10-23 43.5% Game: 40.0% DEADB

3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-14 35.7% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 36.8% REBS

F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 16-22 72.7% Game: 70.4% 4

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Officials: Tom O'Neill, David Hall, Kelly Self

Technical fouls: BRADLEY BRAVES-None. BYU COUGARS-None.

Attendance: 16276

Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total

BRADLEY BRAVES................ 25 35 - 60

BYU COUGARS................... 32 38 - 70

Points in the paint-BRAD-M 16,BY 16. Points off turnovers-BRAD-M 12,BY 19.

2nd chance points-BRAD-M 11,BY 15. Fast break points-BRAD-M 2,BY 0.

Bench points-BRAD-M 24,BY 21. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-1 time.

Last FG-BRAD-M 2nd-01:44, BY 2nd-05:09.

Largest lead-BRAD-M by 2 1st-19:30, BY by 13 2nd-05:09.

File Attachments

Box-Score.pdf

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Fredette and Loyd Lead in Win Over Bradley