BYU basketball: Cougars cruise past Colorado State

FORT COLLINS — Behind another big game from guard Jimmer Fredette, the No. 16/14 BYU Cougars cruised past the Colorado State Rams 92-70 Wednesday night at Moby Arena to win their 24th game of the season, and improve to 9-2 in Mountain West Conference play.

The Cougars plowed through a turnover- and foul-plagued first half to lead 38-28 at halftime. The Rams made only two field goals in the first 13 minutes and only seven in the first half, but stayed in the game by going to the line 21 times in the first 20 minutes.

In the second half, however, the Cougars were able to get the tempo more in their favor. They opened up the game with a 24-11 run to take a 76-53 lead and coasted from there.

Fredette led all scorers with 36 points, scoring 17 in the first half and 19 after the break. Noah Hartsock had a double-double for the Cougars, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Jackson Emery added 16 and Chris Miles chipped in eight.

After committing 10 turnovers in the first half, the Cougars turned the ball over only four times in the second half. The big stat was BYU's 11 baskets from 3-point range. The Rams, on the other hand, made only one of their first 11 attempts from 3-point range.

The Cougars play next at Wyoming at Saturday at 4 p.m.

e-mail: jimr@desnews.com