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Tavernari, Plaisted lead BYU to upset of Louisville

Nov 24, 2007 - 5:46 AM LAS VEGAS (Ticker) -- Brigham Young shot its way past Louisville's usually stingy defense and held on for the upset.

Jonathan Tavernari scored 29 points as the hot-shooting Cougars upset No. 6 Louisville, 78-76, in the Las Vegas Invitational on Friday.

"I told our players in the locker room that it's a big win for us and it's something to be proud of," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "They should enjoy it for an hour or so, but this should not be the high point of this season. We cant let that distract us of our goals and what we want to do."

Trent Plaisted added 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Cougars, who shot 28-of-63 (44 percent) from the field for the game against the Cardinals, who had come into the game holding their previous three opponents to a combined 32 percent.

Louisville (3-1) had limited Nevada-Las Vegas to just 25 percent shooting (16-of-64) Wednesday, ending the Rebels' 19-game home winning streak.

Louisville is also the highest-ranked opponent that the Cougars have knocked off since December 21, 1965, when BYU knocked off No. 2 St. Joseph's.

"I just felt that we had great energy," Tavernari said. "It was a team effort and I just happened to have the most points. All the little things are what counted."

BYU (5-0) led by as many as eight points with five minutes to play before Louisville cut the deficit to three with 15 seconds to play. Earl Clark had a 3-point attempt to tie the game but missed it with two seconds remaining.

"BYU, without question, deserved the victory," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "We turned it over way too much. Unforced turnovers and very poor fundamentals hurt us.

"Give BYU credit, they made tough shots and played extremely well."

Derrick Caracter scored 24 points and had 11 rebounds for the Cardinals, who shot 67 percent (14-of-20) in the first half, but were just 15-of-25 from the free throw line for the game.

BYU led by as many as 10 in the first half before Louisville went on an 8-2 run to cut the Cougars' lead to 41-37 at the break.

The Cardinals went on an 8-0 run to take their biggest lead of the second half at 51-48 lead with 14:35 to play.

BYU will play the winner of North Carolina-Old Dominion on Saturday.