Fredette leads Cougars into semis
Jimmer Fredette scored a tournament-record 45 points to lead second-seeded BYU to a 95-85 victory over No. 7 TCU in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“They just told me that when I was getting interviewed,” Fredette said of the record. “It’s a great accomplishment, but I’m just ready to get back out there and get after it tomorrow.”
Fredette also broke the record for free throws made and attempted by going 23-for-24 from the line.
It was the one that he missed that Fredette was thinking about after the game.
“I’m still upset with that to be honest with you,” he said. “I’ll think about that tonight and try to figure out what I did wrong and try to correct it.”
Former UNLV star Lou Kelly had the old scoring record with 35 points in 2002, while the free throw records were both held by former Rebel Ricky Morgan (18 of 19 in 2007).
The Cougars led by just one point after TCU’s Greg Hill converted a 4-point play with about 12:00 remaining in the game, but BYU answered with a 12-2 run to stretch the lead back to 71-60.
Jackson Emery added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Cougars.
Ronnie Moss led TCU with 22 points.
Fredette’s efforts were part of a 33-for-37 performance at the line for BYU.
It was enough to overcome a 52 percent shooting night from the floor by TCU, which included 10 of 19 from 3-point range.
Looking ahead
BYU will next play UNLV if the Rebels are able to win tonight.
UNLV jumped out of the gates and blew out the Cougars in the regular season meeting at the Thomas & Mack.
BYU guard Jackson Emery said the team knows how good the Rebels can be in this building.
“I think UNLV’s a terrific team. They have a terrific crowd and they play very well here,“ Emery said. “We learned that last time.”
Title sponsorship
In case you are wondering, Werner is the official ladder of NCAA basketball.
One would assume the tie-in would be that ladders are used to cut down the net at the end of a tournament, but is there an official scissor of NCAA basketball?
Does anybody even pay attention to the brand of ladder they are buying?
Don’t you just buy the one that seems the sturdiest and has the right amount of steps?
Up next
The host school will hit the floor in the final quarterfinal at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Third-seeded UNLV will play No. 6 Utah at approximately 8:30 p.m.
The Utes swept the season series, but two key players are suffering with ankle injuries that have them listed as questionable.
David Foster and Kim Tillie are both in uniform and warming up in pregame. Foster will indeed start.
Foster is particularly vital to the Utes on the defensive end. The 7-foot-3 center gave UNLV fits in the regular season.
He is the conference defensive player of the year.
The Rebels have injury questions of their own.
Derrick Jasper is very questionable with a knee injury. He has been out since the end of January and is practicing, but it’s unclear how much time, if any, he will see.
