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Fredette, No. 3 BYU handle Wyoming

Mar 6, 2011 - 5:21 AM Provo, UT (Sports Network) - Jimmer Fredette scored 38 points to help No. 3 BYU take a 102-78 win over Wyoming and clinch a share of the Mountain West Conference regular-season title.

It was the second game BYU has played since dismissing Brandon Davies due to a breach of the school's honor code. The first game saw the team get dominated in New Mexico by a score of 82-64.

However, the Cougars (28-3, 14-2 MWC) prevailed in the final regular season game thanks to Fredette's game along with Charles Abouo's 25 points and seven boards.

BYU gets the top seed in the upcoming conference tourney by virtue of having beaten San Diego State twice this year. Both teams finished with identical 14-2 conference records after the Aztecs topped Colorado State later Saturday.

The Cougars are off until Thursday, when they face the winner of Wednesday's Wyoming-TCU tilt.

"We were as committed to winning as a group as I have seen us in a long time," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "We weren't offensively having a lot of success in the first half but we were going after every lose ball, getting rebounds and diving on the floor. I think that energy spread throughout the team and we showed everyone how committed we are to getting this done."

Francisco Cruz had 18 points while Amath M'Baye added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Cowboys (10-20, 3-13) who dropped their final three games of the season and will be the eighth seed in the upcoming tournament.

Wyoming held the lead in the early stages of the game, but Fredette scored eight straight points on two three-pointers and two free throws for an 18-13 advantage with 14 1/2 minutes left in the first half.

The Cowboys later tied the game on a Daylen Harrison jumper, but Jackson Emery's three-ball just before the buzzer gave BYU a 38-35 lead after 20 minutes.

A 13-0 run in the early part of the second half gave BYU a 53-39 lead on a Kyle Collinsworth three-point play just over three minutes in.

Wyoming got it back to within nine points on several occasions with the last coming on a Cruz three-pointer that made it a 67-58 game with 10 minutes to play.

Fredette, though, countered with a layup and three free throws for a 72-58 advantage with just under 10 minutes to play and Wyoming never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Fredette set a BYU record with his 23rd straight game with a three- pointer...BYU leads the series, 105-69...The Cougars shot a blistering 54.7 percent in the game, including 9-of-23 from three-point range...Wyoming was 9- of-14 from beyond the arc and 28-of-58 overall.