Healthy Fredette lifts BYU

PROVO, Utah -- Jimmer Fredette is finally starting to look like the guy who scored a school-record 49 points against Arizona last month.

Well, except for those long sleeves.

Fredette scored 21 points, and No. 18 Brigham Young matched the best start in school history through 19 games with a 91-47 whipping of Colorado State on Saturday. Fredette's long jumper and defensive play was part of a decisive 17-2 run at the end of the first half that made it look easy.

"You can see he's got some rust on him and he's trying to play through it," said BYU coach Dave Rose, whose team has won 13 straight games.

Fredette missed two of the previous four games and played sparingly in others because of strep throat and mononucleosis. This was the first time he scored more than eight points since that big game against the Wildcats on Dec. 28.

"I'm now able to go through my daily routine," Fredette said. "I felt pretty winded -- I think the winded part had to do with not playing much the last four games. You have to get back in game shape."

Fredette wore a long-sleeved white shirt under his white jersey, a look he adopted after he got sick and had an allergic reaction to medicine.

"I think the sleeves will come off for the next game," he said. "They helped keep me warm on the bench and helped keep me energized."

Four players led the Cougars (18-1, 3-0 MWC) in scoring while Fredette was out. Along with the lockdown defense that beat Colorado State, Rose is confident his group can deal with just about anything that happens during the course of a game.

"This group here, we've won in so many different ways," Rose said. "That's the sign of a team that can overcome a lot of things."

Colorado State was averaging 76 points through two conference games but was held to 38 percent and 1 of 13 from beyond the 3-point arc. The Cougars shot 54 percent from the field and forced 23 turnovers.

Greg Smith scored 13 points to lead Colorado State (11-6, 2-1).

BYU started the 1987-88 season 20-1, climbing to No. 3 in The Associated Press poll, and will have a chance to match that start this week. The Cougars play Wyoming on Wednesdsay before heading to San Diego State on Saturday.

• New Mexico 70, Wyoming 68 -- At Laramie, Wyo., A.J. Hardeman scored a career-high 18 points as the Lobos held off the Cowboys.

New Mexico (16-3, 2-2 MWC) took advantage of three straight Wyoming turnovers after the score was tied at 58, scoring six straight points, and never trailed again. Until that point, there were four ties and seven lead changes in the second half.

Afam Muojeke led the Cowboys (8-10, 1-3) with 16 points. Adam Waddell and Djibril Thiam scored 11 each.

Phillip McDonald and Darrington Hobson both scored 15 points for New Mexico.

• San Diego State 67, Texas Christian 62 -- At San Diego, Billy White scored 16 points, including eight down the stretch, to lead the Aztecs past the Horned Frogs.

San Diego State (13-5, 2-2 MWC) overcame an 11-point deficit early in the second half and outscored the Horned Frogs 36-23 in the final 18 minutes after an altercation between TCU's Ronnie Moss and White.

Edvinas Ruzgas had 16 points and Zvonko Buljan 13 for TCU (9-9, 2-2).