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Fredette reaches milestone as BYU downs UNLV

Feb 6, 2011 - 3:02 AM Provo, UT (Sports Network) - Jimmer Fredette poured in 29 points to become the Mountain West Conference's all-time leading scorer, and led No. 8 BYU to a 78-64 victory over UNLV.

Fredette's performance gave him 2,194 career points and put him past Brandon Heath, who scored 2,189 points for San Diego State from 2003-07.

Fredette did most of his scoring at the foul line Saturday, going 16-for-16 while shooting 6-for-14 from the field. Jackson Emery added 15 points, while Stephen Rogers totaled 12 points and eight rebounds for the Cougars (22-2, 8-1 MWC), who have won two in a row since losing to New Mexico last Saturday.

Anthony Marshall ended with 16 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Rebels (17-6, 5-4), who had won their last three. Tre'Von Willis added 15 points, while Chace Stanback provided 14 points and 10 boards.

While UNLV sank 22-of-26 free throws, it made only 30 percent (18-of-60) of its shots from the field.

After a back-and-forth start marked by missed shots, BYU grabbed the game's first substantial lead. With the score tied about six minutes in, a scramble for the ball resulted in a scrum on the floor and, eventually, a technical foul on UNLV's Carlos Lopez.

That sent Fredette to the line for his first pair of free throws, which continued an 11-0 run. After an Emery layup, more Rebel fouls led to free throws from Fredette and Kyle Collinsworth. Several possessions later, Fredette finished a transition opportunity with a layup, giving the Cougars an 18-8 advantage.

Willis, Stanback, and Marshall all made a three-pointer over the next several minutes to pull UNLV within three, but BYU used a counter-run to stretch its lead.

Charles Abouo ended the seven-point burst with a layup, which had the Cougars up 27-17 with six minutes to play. Fredette made five more free throws in the final minutes to help BYU go into halftime with a 38-27 lead.

"Early on we started to pay a little too much attention to the calls being made," said UNLV head coach Lon Kruger. "I think it distracted us a bit and, after the technicals, it took us a bit to get our head back in the game."

Poor shooting didn't help the Rebels at the start of the second half. BYU's offense struggled over the first two minutes, leaving the door open for UNLV to get back in the game. But the Rebels missed their first five shots, while Abouo and Fredette sank layups to expand the Cougars' advantage to 15.

That forced the Rebels to play catch-up from even further behind, and while BYU never turned the game into a blowout, it didn't let its lead fall dangerously low and led by double-digits down the stretch.

"This team is made up of competitive guys. They rely on each other and trust each other, so when it's time to make a play, they feel responsible to figure out a way to make that play," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "They did that on both ends of the floor today in critical times."

With the Cougars in control, the focus shifted to Fredette, who surpassed Heath's record with 3:24 remaining. He sank a layup as he was fouled to tie Heath, then made the free throw to move in front.

Game Notes

BYU swept the regular season series against UNLV, having earned an 89-77 victory on January 5 in Las Vegas...Fredette added seven assists for BYU, which made 24-of-25 free throws overall. Abouo ended with 10 points.