BYU survives scare; Rebels ready to open postseason
Top-seeded Brigham Young survived the quarterfinal round with an 80-69 victory over No. 9 Air Force in the first game of Thursday’s four-game slate.
Jimmer Fredette had 21 points and Bishop Gorman product Jonathan Tavernari added 19 for the Cougars. Tavernari also had 11 rebounds.
Lee Cummard had 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but the real story was Air Force’s Anwar Johnson.
After averaging only 11 points in the regular season, Johnson scored a game-high 24 points and kept the Falcons in the game right to the end.
Andrew Henke added 18 points, five assists and four rebounds for Air Force.
Falcons win over the crowd
In conference tournament play, crowds often have no real allegiance to one team or the other throughout the course of the day.
A fan may be there to see their team play one game, but watch the three other games without a true rooting interest.
Usually, that fan gets behind the underdog.
That was certainly the case in this game as the arena, with the exception of the BYU fans, was clearly in support of the Falcons.
The support really started to grow when Air Force had a lead late in the first half.
Many of those rooting were UNLV fans that were here early. Now, BYU fans will get their revenge.
They booed loudly as the Rebels took the floor to warm up for their game.
Decisive stretch
A 3-point play by Sammy Schafer got Air Force within three points with less than four minutes to play, but the Cougars responded with a pair of jump shots from their leading scorers.
Jonathan Tavernari made a 3-pointer and Lee Cummard followed it up with a contested jumper from the right wing to stretch the lead back to eight.
Air Force was never able to get back in the contest in the closing minutes.
Jimmer Time
BYU point guard Jimmer Fredette scored nine points in the first two minutes of the second half as the Cougars turned a 3-point deficit into a 47-42 lead.
The Cougars added the next four points to make it a 13-1 run to open the half. The 51-42 advantage didn’t hold up for very long, however.
Air Force reclaimed the lead with a 12-2 run that was capped by a pair of Anwar Johnson free throws with just less than 12 minutes to play.
From there, the game remained close.
White in lineup for San Diego State
Billy White is listed with the Aztecs’ starters as they prepare for the day’s second quarterfinal against host UNLV at 2:30.
White has been working his way back from an ankle injury.
He played just 16 minutes in a victory over the Rebels on Saturday.
What advantage?
Because of an early start and the presence of so many BYU fans in the building, the crowd appears almost neutral for the UNLV game.
Even though San Diego State travels poorly, the Cougar fans should more than make up for the lack of support for the Aztecs.
Most, if not all, BYU fans will be squarely on the side of San Diego State for this game.
In fact, when UNLV took the floor for warm-ups, the boos far outweighed the cheers.
