Game 18 - BYU to Face Air Force on the Road

Ranked Cougars at Air Force on Wednesday

No. 25/23 BYU men’s basketball (16-1, 1-0 MWC) will take its 11-game winning streak to Colorado to take on Air Force (8-7, 0-2 MWC) on Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 6 p.m. 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.

Up Next

The Cougars return home after back-to-back road games for an MWC meeting with Colorado State on Saturday, Jan. 16, 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.

— 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 1,090 career points. He leads the conference in scoring at 20.7 points per game. He is also 15th at BYU in career assists with 275 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 113-35 (.764) 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 229 after hitting three at UTEP. He is also climbing the lists for points (17th with 1,333) and steals (5th with 132).

— 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 89 Cougar wins, eight behind former teammate Lee Cummard (2005-09), who was a part of 97 BYU wins, and five behind Russell Larson, who was a part of 94 wins (1991-95).

BYU GAME #18 FAST FACTS

No. 18/17 BYU (16-1, 0-0) at Air Force (8-7, 0-2)

Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010

Clune Arena (5,858)

USAFA, Colo.

6 p.m. MST

Coaches

BYU, Dave Rose (113-35 in fifth season; same overall)

Air Force, Jeff Reynolds (34-42 in third season; 116-76 in seventh season overall)

Series

BYU leads 50-12, including a regular season sweep and a win in the MWC Tournament in 2008-09

TV

Live on The Mtn. (Jame Bates, play-by-play; Dave Bollwinkel, game analysis)

Radio

KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM and online at KSL.com) and the Cougar Sports Network (5 p.m. MST pregame show — Greg Wrubell, play-by-play)

Web

Live stats links are available on the basketball schedule page at www.byucougars.com/basketball_m/

Looking at Air Force

Air Force is 8-7 overall and 0-2 in Mountain West Conference action with losses coming at TCU (59-50) and at Colorado State (70-48). Grant Parker leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 17.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game but has not played in the team’s last eight games. Evan Washington is second on the team in both categories at 11.6 ppg and 5.1 rpg while Tom Fow is third in scoring (11.2 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (4.1 rpg). As a team Air Force averages 62.7 points per game while shooting .466 from the field. Falcon opponents average 61.5 points and shoot .407 from the field. Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds is in his third season with the Falcons where he is 34-42.

Air Force’s Last Outing — Falcons Fall To Rams, 70-48

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) _ Colorado State’s defenders knew what to expect of Air Force. The Rams had seen it deliberate Princeton offense before. “We’re experienced against that offense and defended the Princeton defense real well and we should have,’’ said Rams forward Travis Franklin. “We saw that style against Denver, UC-Davis and Colorado.’’ Andy Ogide scored 13 points and Colorado State defeated Air Force 70-48 Saturday night. Franklin added 11 points for Colorado State (11-5, 2-0 Mountain West), unbeaten after two conference games for the first time since 2002-03. The Rams have won three in a row overall. And their familiarity and their aggressive defensive play paid dividends. The Rams forced 18 turnovers and Air Force into its lowest scoring half of the season. Mike Fitzgerald had 11 points for the Falcons (8-7, 0-2), who have an 11-game conference road losing streak. Air Force’s last conference road victory came Feb. 23, 2008 in Fort Collins. The loss was also their 18th consecutive conference setback overall. The Falcons were without three starters. Injuries sidelined leading scorer Grant Parker (groin strain), Sammy Schafer (concussion) and Taylor Stewart (broken hand). Air Force shot 26 percent in the first half, but made its first three shots of the second half, including a layup by Taylor Broekhuis with 16:11 to play to make it a 31-23 game. Broekhuis’ short jumper pulled the Falcons to within 34-28 before Travis Busch’s backdoor layup began a 12-3 run that pushed Colorado State’s lead to 46-31 with 10:25 left. Michael Lyons’ jumper ended the drought for the Falcons, but Colorado responded with a 14-4 run, including nine points by Ogide, that gave the Rams their biggest lead, 60-37 with 5:52 remaining. Colorado State began clearing its bench, and Air Force closed to within 60-43 on Evan Washington’s basket but got no closer. Franklin had seven points at halftime, and the Rams led 26-15. Their lead could have been larger, but they made only 2-of-7 free throws in the last three minutes. Air Force was 6 of 23 from the field before halftime, and its point total was its lowest for a first half this season.

Series Notes

BYU and Air Force play for the 63rd time on Wednesday with the Cougars leading the overall series 50-12. BYU has won the last eight meetings, including three last season. The Cougars won 71-50 at Air Force, 54-49 at home and 80-69 in the MWC Tournament. BYU is 21-7 in Clune Arena including the last three.

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 139-58 record as a ranked team, including 2-0 this season. The Cougars are 80-12 at home, 37-28 on the road and 22-18 at neutral sites when nationally ranked. BYU is 11-6 as a ranked team under Dave Rose.

Free Throw Streaks

Junior guard Jimmer Fredette set a BYU record with 39-consecutive made free throws from Nov. 17 to Dec. 12. Fredette broke the record when he hit his 33rd-consecutive free throw with 16:56 remaining in the second half against Arizona State. He had a streak of 13 straight in the first two games and reached 20-straight before missing after six-straight makes against Nebraska. For the season he is shooting .927 from the line and his career percentage is .876 — second in Cougar history. Tyler Haws is shooting .873 from the line and had a streak of 20-straight made free throws end against Eastern New Mexico. Jackson Emery had a streak of 14-straight free throws end at UTEP and is shooting .816 for the season.

1,000-Point Scorers

With 19 points at UTEP, Jonathan Tavernari has 1,333 career points and is ranked 17th all-time in scoring at BYU. He is five points from passing Marty Haws for 16th 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 a BYU record seven points vs. UNLV he has 1,090 career points — 35th all-time. He is 11 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 229 makes and 613 attempts. Jimmer Fredette is ninth with 124 makes and seventh with 329 attempts.

Top-10 Pick Pockets

Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari had one steal at UTEP to give him 132 for his career. He is tied for fifth all-time in BYU history and seven from passing Nate Call for fourth all-time. Jimmer Fredette is 12th all-time with 103 steals and Jackson Emery is tied for 15th with 98.

When Jimmer Scores 20...

Jimmer Fredette had a Cougar record 49 points in BYU’s 99-69 win at Arizona, his ninth 20-point game this season — including fourth straight and fifth in six games — and 17th of his career. BYU is 15-2 when Fredette scores 20 or more and has won the last 14 games in which he has reached the 20-point mark.

100 Victories and Counting

With BYU’s 83-65 win over Hawai’i, Dave Rose earned his 100th career victory in his 134th game as BYU’s head coach. He reached the 100-win plateau faster than any coach in BYU history. Roger Reid previously held the record, achieving the mark in 143 games. Below is a list of the BYU head coaches who won at least 100 games, their career record, how many games it took them to reach the milestone and who they defeated for victory number 100.