BYU basketball: Cougars cruise to another victory

PROVO — A quick glance at the stat sheet and it's hard to see how the BYU Cougars were able to defeat the TCU Horned Frogs by 20 points Tuesday night at the Marriott Center.

But a fast start, good defense, hustle, persistence and playing scrappy do not always show up in numbers — other than the final 76-56 score.

"You have to be consistent enough to win all types of games," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "This team has proven that they can get up for really big games, and this was a game where we had to guard against not being ready to play. But I thought we were ready to play and I thought we defended well."

The No. 12 Cougars, now 22-2 and 7-1 in the Mountain West Conference, had their third-worst shooting game from the field this season — at 38.7 percent. However, they also held TCU (10-13, 2-6) to only 35 percent shooting, 3-of-16 from 3-point range, and they outrebounded the Horned Frogs 45-36. Most importantly, when TCU missed 18 shots in the first half, BYU allowed the Frogs only two offensive rebounds and only two second-chance points.

"I was pleased with how we were able to defend them, challenge shots, and I thought we rebounded the ball pretty well, especially in the first half," Rose said.

Regardless, it was a game that had a sluggish feel most of the way. Perhaps it was the quick turnaround from Saturday's emotional win over Utah, or just a game that was lacking some in importance. For whatever reason, the atmosphere in the Marriott Center was far from electric.

"You have to win games that are played like this. That's just a fact," Rose said.

The Cougars even admitted that they struggled to keep their energy level up.

"Sometimes that happens after an emotional game like Utah," guard Jimmer Fredette said.

But, as the star Cougar point guard pointed out, the important part was that BYU's effort still added up to another win.

"That's the biggest thing, that we keep winning and that we keep rolling," said Fredette, who scored a game-high 26 points, including 20 in the second half.

Obviously, the Cougars couldn't have prevailed by such a comfortable margin without doing a lot of things well. They hit 11-of-25 shots from 3-point range and had 19 assists on the 24 BYU baskets.

They also jumped out to a 10-0 lead, pushed that up to a 14-point margin at the break. Jackson Emery was a big part of the first half by hitting 4-of-6 treys.