POCATELLO, Idaho -- The atmosphere at Holt Arena on Saturday, aggression of teams and fans alike, resembled what BYU will face during the Mountain West Conference schedule about five weeks from now.

Hot shooting and cool composure scored the Cougars an 85-65 win at Idaho State in front of the largest Bengals crowd to see a game in more than a decade.

BYU (6-0) handled the attention better than ISU (1-4).

"Both teams had a mentality to win out there. There was a very competitive spirit," said BYU's Jackson Emery, whose defensive presence on the guard line changed the game's course. "It was physical. We wanted to win, they wanted to come back. We wanted to kick them out of the game. We just kept playing, kept our heads the best we could. It's hard because you're so excited and you want to play so hard. But I think we found out what our limits were and we kept our head in it."

Yes, noise was prevalent. There was some smack talk to go with some hard fouls. There was a near brawl early in the second half, and another moment when a BYU player, Jonathan Tavernari, screamed so the whole arena could hear as a timeout started.

Not that noisy or physical emotion totally indicate how BYU kept record-perfect.

It was Emery's quiet, steady, Saran-wrap defense that really made the Bengals more growl than bite.

With help in the rare times he was beaten, the sophomore shut down ISU's Amorrow Morgan to 15 points below his season average -- seven points on 3-of-10 shooting -- as his team was nowhere near competitive enough without him to try its luck at losing a fourth consecutive overtime game. Matt Stucki had 19 points, but it was Morgan who mattered.

"We knew he was the guy who motivated the team, kept them going when the times were rough," Emery said. "We were just trying to keep him discouraged."

Emery also did that with the ball in his hands. He had a career-high 15 points, one of four double-digit BYU scorers.

Tavernari, rebounding from an 0-for-11 showing a week ago, had a game-high 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting. He had some tough times defensively, and missed some rebounds, but made up for it by nailing key shots.

Jimmer Fredette tied career highs in points and assists, the sophomore going for 19 and six.

Lee Cummard added 17. With his wife and small son in attendance, the husband/dad took some crowd abuse.

That came after he picked up his third foul with 13:28 left and showed his frustration with the call, while going for an offensive rebound, as he knocked the ball from an opponent's grasp after the whistle.

The largest crowd to see an ISU home game since 1997 -- 4,374 -- brought the energy to a climax right around then.

But couldn't cajole its team to more baskets.

Prior to Cummard's momentary tantrum, Tavernari became Pocatello enemy No. 1 when he had a brief scuffle with Donnie Carson following a foul call that neither was involved in.

There was pushing, shoving, both head coaches screaming on the floor. Referees reviewed television footage to check for physical contact and bench personnel who may have unnecessarily been on the playing floor.

Ultimately, not even one technical foul was called -- a surprise to the majority of court-side game crew.

Tavernari was knocked into Carson, who thought the contact was deliberate and shoved the Cougar junior. No other action was taken than Fredette shooting a couple of free throws with 15:51 left.

For as hotly contested as the game seemed at that point, BYU still led, 53-36, after the fracas.

BYU really needed more grit than Cougar fans might think, considering the final spread and even that the Cougars went on runs of 11-0 and 14-0 in the first half to lead by 12 at intermission.

BYU fell behind, 12-8, and at the first media timeout BYU head coach Dave Rose chewed into his players for giving ISU unnecessary reasons to feel confident about being in the game.

The help defense needed to be picked up, and so did the rebounding effort.

Ultimately, BYU did both and kept its cool.

Rose called it a "conference game in November."

His counterpart, fiery Joe O'Brien, was hostile at times with referees and even a BYU assistant coach who annoyed him during a late timeout. O'Brien left his own huddle a few times to offer some choice words as both were around mid-court.

Ultimately, O'Brien said no hard feelings. He knows Rose vaguely. They worked a clinic together at a Final Four a few years ago. O'Brien told the Daily Herald earlier this week that he's even borrowed a few offensive sets BYU runs.

O'Brien felt like his players were working the hardest they have all season but didn't keep their heads in it as well as the visitors, pointing out missed free throws (12-of-26) and early turnovers when the energy burst was a bad thing.

And the only physical beating on the floor was a simple figure of speech.

"When we missed they were running, and that's what they do best," O'Brien said. "They kicked our butt in transition."

BYU shot 56 percent from the field, compared to ISU's 41, and had a 20-2 scoring advantage on fast breaks.

BYU 85, IDAHO STATE 65

BYU (6-0)

Player M FG FT R PF A TP

Tavernari 39 10-17 1-2 6 2 4 23

Miles 25 1-1 2-2 5 4 2 4

Emery 31 6-9 1-1 4 5 2 15

Cummard 35 6-11 4-6 4 4 3 17

Fredette 32 6-12 4-4 4 1 6 19

Abouo 9 0-0 3-4 3 0 0 3

Morgan Jr. 14 0-0 2-4 3 3 1 2

Anderson 7 0-1 0-0 1 2 0 0

Pinegar 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

MacGregor 7 1-1 0-0 2 0 0 2

Team 1

Totals 30-53 17-23 33 21 18 85

IDAHO STATE (1-4)

Player M FG FT R PF A TP

Monroe 31 3-5 2-2 3 0 1 8

Busma 16 2-6 2-2 3 0 1 6

Morgan 35 3-10 1-3 1 3 4 7

Carson 27 3-8 0-1 5 2 3 7

Stucki 30 6-12 4-6 4 4 5 19

Bay 12 2-4 2-2 2 3 0 7

Taylor 2 0-1 0-0 1 0 0 0

Steijn 19 3-5 2-4 4 2 0 8

Baldwin 3 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 0

Kilpatrick 11 0-3 0-0 1 1 1 0

Caspari 14 1-2 1-4 5 3 0 3

Team 2

Totals 23-56 14-26 31 18 15 65

BYU 40 45 -- 85

Idaho State 28 37 -- 65

3-point goals: BYU 8-21 (Tavernari 2-7, Emery 2-4, Cummard 1-3, Fredette 3-6, Pinegar 0-1), ISU 5-14 (Morgan 0-1, Carson 1-2, Stucki 3-5, Bay 1-2, Taylor 0-1, Kilpatrick 0-3). Turnovers: BYU 11 (Tavernari, Miles, Emery 2, Cummard, Fredette 4, Abouo, Morgan), ISU 13 (Monroe, Busma 2, Morgan 2, Stucki 4, Bay 2, Baldwin, Team). Blocks: BYU 2 (Miles, Cummard), ISU 0. Steals: BYU 11 (Tavernari 2, Miles 2, Emery 3, Cummard 3, Fredette), ISU 4 (Carson 3, Kilpatrick). Officials: Haskins, Irving, Holland. Technicals: None. A-4,374.