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Cummard's big start helps BYU roll over Lamar

Dec 13, 2007 - 6:13 AM PROVO, Utah (Ticker) -- Lee Cummard had Brigham Young off and racing this time against Lamar.

Cummard scored 17 of his career-high 27 points in the first half as the No. 25 Cougars cruised to an 88-66 victory over the Cardinals on Wednesday.

The junior guard also had 10 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end, and eight assists without a turnover as BYU avenged an 86-77 overtime loss to the Southland Conference squad last December.

Cummard, who went 11-of-16 from the field, ended just two assists shy of the school's first triple-double since 1988.

"Lee (Cummard) was terrific tonight," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "He started well and had a solid game on both ends. He shared the ball well and stayed aggressive offensively. He had one of the better games we've seen in a while."

The Cougars also extended their home winning streak to 36 games - tying Memphis for the longest active mark in the nation.

"This is a tough place to play," Lamar coach Steve Roccaforte said. "We were playing a halfcourt game. Both teams walked the ball to midcourt and did what they wanted to. That's hard to play against. We tried to pick up the pace but didn't play well enough to give ourselves a chance."

Cummard had just eight points in that previous meeting - a total he needed just over seven minutes to eclipse.

Connecting on three of his first four shots, Cummard had seven points, including one of his five 3-pointers, as the Cougars jumped out to a 10-2 lead just over two minutes in.

Lamar (3-6) closed within 12-9 on a 3-pointer by Currye Todd with just over six minutes expired, but BYU answered back with a 12-0 run. Cummard hit a jumper and Jonathan Tavernari had six points during the spurt.

Leading comfortably for most of the first half, the Cougars saw the Cardinals close within 33-23 on a jumper by Lamar Sanders with 3:34 remaining before Cummard hit a pair of 3-pointers and Trent Plaisted added another down the stretch for a 42-30 advantage at the break.

"We've got some really good shooters on our team, and tonight we played our best team game," Cummard said. "Once we got a rhythm we started playing with each other."

Bouncing back from a 68-61 loss to No. 10 Michigan State on Saturday, the Cougars went on an 11-4 run midway through the second half to extend the lead to 60-43.

Plaisted also had a big game for BYU, finishing with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The junior forward-center ended up eclipsing 1,000 points for his career, becoming the 37th player in school history.

"One thousand points is really a tribute to a lot of people who helped me get here," Plaisted said. "Most of the credit goes to my teammates and the coaches. It's an honor to be a part of that club, but it's just a number."

Tavernari had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Cougars, who finished with a 50-34 advantage on the boards and turned 17 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points.

Sanders had 11 points to lead Lamar, which shot 38 percent (24-of-63), including 5-of-18 on 3-pointers.