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Fredette leads No. 16 BYU rout of Colorado State

Feb 18, 2010 - 4:27 AM FORT COLLINS, Colo.(AP) -- Jimmer Fredette's role changes with each game for No. 16 BYU.

On Wednesday night, the Cougars guard was a scorer again.

Fredette had 36 points as BYU continued its domination of Colorado State with a 92-70 victory over the Rams on Wednesday night.

"Some games, I am going to have to score," said Fredette, who had just nine points in BYU's last game against UNLV. "Some games, I don't have to score because when teams key on me, my teammates are making great shots."

Fredette, who came in averaging 21 points a game, was the go-to guy for BYU against Colorado State.

"That's the way he is," teammate Noah Hartsock said. "One game he will pass up a shot to find the wide-open shooter, and the next game he will score in the 30s."

The conference's leading scorer was 12 for 22 shooting, including 6 of 10 on 3-pointers. Jackson Emery added for 16 points for BYU (24-3, 9-2 Mountain West).

"It was feeling good from the beginning of both halves," said Fredrette, who had scored 145 points in the five games before his nine-point outing. "My first shots go in, I know I'm going to be in a pretty good zone."

The Cougars hold an 87-45 advantage over the Rams and have beaten them eight straight times while sweeping the last three season series.

"Jimmer was really good tonight," BYU coach Dave Rose. "He was really good keeping us in the game when we were having a hard time scoring."

Travis Franklin led Colorado State (15-10, 6-5) with 14 points. Andy Ogide had 13 points for the Rams, who had their three-game winning streak snapped and never led after early in the first half.

"Fredette is a special player," Colorado State coach Tim Miles said. "His numbers are better than the player of the year candidates.

Fredette made 3-pointers on his first two shots of the second half to extend BYU's lead to 46-33. Dorian Green's 3-pointer kept the Rams close, 52-40, but Jonathan Tavernari had seven points, including a 3-pointer, over a three-minute stretch to put the Cougars up 61-44 with 12:51 left.

It was 72-51 after another 3-pointer by Fredette with a defender draped all over him at the 10:05 mark. Travis Busch got Colorado State within 76-57 with a pair of short jumpers with 6:09 remaining.

BYU got it to 81-57 when Fredette sank two free throws and Tavernari made a 3, and the Rams never got closer than 18 the rest of the way.

"They happen to have our number," Ogide said. "They are tough because they have to play 40 minutes of intensity against them."

Fredette had 17 points by halftime as BYU was up 23-13 after his 3-pointer with 7:14 left. The Rams got as close as 25-19 after two free throws by Greg Smith, but Fredette hit a layup and free throw.

Franklin, 8 for 14 from the line in the first half, managed only one free throw in four attempts on his team's next two possessions. Tavernari and Fredette made the Rams pay with 3-pointers to push the lead back to 34-20. Fredette made his last shot as time was winding down in the half to keep it a 10-point game.

"We had a real problem in the first half of guarding them without fouling them," Rose said. "Our post players were in foul trouble and we went to a zone in the second half which helped us."