BYU wins on points, not style

Each March, one phrase sneaks back into the nation's vocabulary when college basketball teams try to explain mediocre postseason victories.

Survive and advance.

The cliché is the simple truth of college tournaments, and Brigham Young exemplified it in the Mountain West Conference quarterfinals against Texas Christian on Thursday.

The top-seeded Cougars, ranked No. 8, escaped the Thomas & Mack Center with a 64-58 victory over a team that won only one conference game during the regular season.

"I was really pleased with how we competed," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "To be able to finish the game like we did, hit a few free throws, win the game, we're excited to move forward."

The Cougars (29-3) advanced to today's 6 p.m. semifinal against New Mexico (21-11), a team BYU lost to both times during the regular season.

But advancing wasn't especially easy. The Cougars trailed 34-33 at halftime, and even though they opened the second half with a 7-0 run, they never could shake TCU (11-22).

The game was in doubt until senior guard Jimmer Fredette made two free throws to put BYU up 62-58 with 12 seconds to play. He scored 24 points on 7-for-21 shooting and committed five turnovers.

"This game's done now. We got the win. That's really what matters. Keep moving forward. It's one and done," Fredette said. "I'm just proud how we battled. We found a way to win, even though we didn't play very well."

Playing their third game without suspended forward Brandon Davies, the Cougars found a way to score 17 points off 11 offensive rebounds.

Noah Hartsock, a 6-foot-8-inch forward known more for his deft touch behind the 3-point line, converted back-to-back put-backs, including a three-point play with 9:34 left to give BYU a significant boost while Fredette was struggling.

The 6-2 Fredette, a national player of the year candidate, scored eight quick points early in the game, but scored only three during a 24-minute span in the middle of the game.

Hartsock's baskets came after a 3-pointer by Jackson Emery with 12:44 to play put the Cougars ahead for good.

It wasn't the kind of performance that will impress the NCAA Tournament committee, which must decide the Cougars' seed in Davies' absence.

The Cougars got 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists from Hartsock and 14 points and eight rebounds from Charles Abouo.

TCU beat Wyoming in Wednesday's play-in game to stop a 13-game skid, but the key plays went BYU's way. Greg Hill and Valley High product Hank Thorns scored 15 points each for the Horned Frogs.

"I can't be more proud of the effort our players," coach Jim Christian said. "We have seven players. We had a lot of guys that played 40 minutes, and it came down to a couple plays."

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.