Jason Franchuk - DAILY HERALD | Posted: Saturday, January 3, 2009 11:00 pm
The two-time defending Mountain West Conference champions will start another run Saturday at Colorado State.
But BYU basketball players have been upset to let some non-league opportunities get away. Another one, like at Arizona State on Dec. 20, came with an 94-87 loss against Wake Forest on Saturday at the Marriott Center.
"Once this team or this program starts making plays when it counts is when we'll win games," Lee Cummard said. "That was the difference tonight and in the Arizona State game. We didn't make plays down the stretch."
BYU is 11-2, its only losses coming to Top 25 teams. That bodes well for the future. It'll play Tuesday against Western Oregon before getting into MWC play which began yesterday for the rest of the teams.
There may be some lessons for the Cougars that won't get to be repeated until a tough league game, though head coach Dave Rose vowed that Monday -- when he next sees his team -- some kinks from the late-game failures against the sixth-ranked Demon Deacons will be scrutinized.
"There are certain things that we needed to do that we did well. And there are other things that we didn't do very well," Rose said. "Our defensive transition that we worked on for a couple of days wasn't as good as it needs to be. I think our offensive and defensive rebounding was something we controlled. To take a team that averages 17 or 18 offensive rebounds and hold them to nine, that's good. We'll focus in on the things that we thought were really important, give credit for the areas where we did well, and try and work on the areas that we need to get better."
A pleasant addition has been the play of reserve guard-forward Charles Abouo, who had a collegiate-best 10 points. He had six in the first half, including a rare 3-pointer.
Rose likes how the 6-foot-5 Abouo is blending into the rotation, especially when standout Cummard gets in foul trouble.
• Good signs: Some BYU students were camped out a couple of nights before the game, hoping to get the best seats. With that extra time, they sure used some good creativity. There were a bunch of signs to poke fun at Wake Forest.
"Don't expect a good night's sleep at this Marriott," "Deforestation is an inconvenient truth," and "A Demon is no match for a Mormon" were some of the prize ones.
Wake coach Dino Gaudio saw the tents lined up as his team got to the arena. He applauded the interest.
"That's a testimony to the student body. When we come in for our shoot-around and we see all those kids lined up, that's tremendous," Gaudio said. "What (Rose) has done here with the program, the student involvement, that's what college athletics is all about."
• Fredette surprised: Sophomore point guard Jimmer Fredette was thrilled -- and surprised -- to have his family in town from New York. It surprised him that his parents and brother made the journey. He finished with a team-high 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting. He had another acrobatic layup that turned into a three-point play, then a rare five-point play as fouler Chas McFarland was also called for a technical foul for arguing with 30 seconds left in the first half. Cummard made both free throws, then Fredette nailed his attempt for a 48-45 lead at intermission.
Jonathan Tavernari's family was also in town from Brazil, though he knew about it. He pinpointed this game as one they should travel to see.
• Last word: Rose was asked if losing finally (first time at home in 54 games), and having such a good environment would attract more marquee opponents to the MC.
"That's a good question. We'll find out here in the next couple of months when we go after it. But maybe we can get Dino (Gaudio) to tell everyone it's a fun place to play," Rose said.
• Tips-ins: Fredette scored 18 points in the first half -- a season high -- and tied his career high with 23 points overall. He also led the Cougars in a assists with nine. After posting five turnovers in the first half, Fredette didn't have any in the second. ... Abouo, forced into early action because of Cummard's foul trouble, scored a career-high 10 points and had five rebounds. ... Jackson Emery had his 11th straight game with a 3-pointer and finished with 13 points. ... For the seventh time this season BYU had more than 40 points at the half. The 48 points was the most in the first half for the Cougars this season. ... BYU had five players in double figures for the third time this season. ... the 23,096 in attendance on Saturday was just 10 shy of the Marriott Center record of 23,106, set against Utah on March 7, 1981. Saturday's crowd surpassed the 23,084 that saw the BYU-Utah game on Jan. 12, 1980.
• Jason Franchuk can be reached at jfranchuk@heraldextra.com.