Cougars fly by Air Force

AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Trent Plaisted thought he was on his death bed Monday, the day he threw up 10 times and went through eight IV bags before stumbling around in most of BYU's 69-53 win over Air Force in Clune Arena Wednesday night.

"But if we keep winning, I'll be the sacrificial lamb and keep getting sick every game," Plaisted said.

Plaisted knocked down back-to-back spin moves during crunch time, and teammates Lee Cummard and Jonathan Tavernari combined for 43 points in leading BYU to a key road victory over the Falcons.

The win lifted the Cougars to 16-5 and 5-1 in the Mountain West heading to Saturday's game at Wyoming. Key in the aftermath of BYU's win is the fact co-league leader UNLV suffered its only league loss here.

That could loom large for Dave Rose's Cougars in weeks to come.

Since the inception of the MWC, the Cougars have four wins at AFA and each led to a regular-season title. This is the fourth win against the Falcons in five tries and the largest loss (16 points) AFA has suffered on their home court since Tennessee Tech in 2001 and its largest league loss since 2000 against UNLV.

The key?

Defense, rebounding and an army of outside shooters to convert throughout the game.

When Cummard wasn't nailing a trey to beat the shot clock, Tavernari stepped up and buried his patented high-arcing bomb.

Freshman Jimmer Fredette added a pair of treys as the Cougars made 10 of 27 from that range, which deflated the Falcons.

"They are a very talented offensive team," said AFA coach Jeff Reynolds. "We did a good job in the first half. In the second half, we had four really big breakdowns and they hit threes on three of them."

The Cougars shot 50 percent from the field and trey line in the second half, a pace AFA found insurmountable.

"When we shoot great and with confidence, it can open up the game quickly," Cummard said. "It really can take the wind out of a team."

Cummard scored 21 points and Tavernari added 22.

Tavernari, who started the game 4 of 11, made his next four shots in the second half — a barrage for which the Falcons had no answer.

"I just have to take my time and when I do, I have a pretty high jump shot and it's hard to block," Tavernari said.

"The key to the game was getting stops and we couldn't do that tonight," said AFA's Tim Anderson, who had 22 points. "Give BYU credit. They have a lot of weapons and it's tough to stop them."

Plaisted didn't go through warm-ups before tipoff and sat on the bench in jeans. Rose asked him if he could go and he answered, "Yeah, I can go."