BYU basketball: No time to rest for Cougars

PROVO — Considering they played late Tuesday night at Pepperdine and took a late-night flight back home from Southern California, the BYU Cougars men's basketball team would probably like a little rest.

But also considering the Cougars are working three new faces into the starting lineup and trying to get a whole new reserve crew some experience, they might be better just to get back to work as quickly as possible. They're getting the latter — like it or not.

The 2-0 Cougars will get plenty of development time this weekend as they host three other teams in the three-day Basketball Travelers Invitational at the Marriott Center. Tonight at 7:30 p.m., they start the tournament against North Florida. On Friday at 8:30 p.m., they'll take on Rice. They finish up the weekend against Cal-Poly on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. The Cougars have won 48 straight at the Marriott Center.

"The toughest game in a tournament is always the first one," junior forward Jonathan Tavernari said. "So we need to concentrate on that first game, with our home crowd there supporting us, and take care of business."

Tavernari is coming off a solid all-around game in which he scored 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and snagged three steals. It was the third double-double of his career.

"Jonathan is becoming a terrific all-around player for us," coach Dave Rose said. "I give Jonathan a lot of praise. He is a solid defender, great rebounder, and is able to score in a variety of ways."

It's looking like it's going to be either senior Lee Cummard, who followed up his 36-point game with a solid 13-point effort, and Tavernari leading the way for BYU. In both wins, they've taken about a third of the team's shots.

"I don't think my game has changed a lot. I am still rushing my shots. But I feel like I am being more consistent. I'm doing nothing more than my job," Tavernari said.

Rose liked the aggressiveness Jimmer Fredette (16 points) displayed with a start at the point guard on Tuesday, and also the spark that Lamont Morgan Jr. added when he came off the bench.

"When Lamont's in there, I think we're going to be a lot quicker and faster and a transition type of team. When Jimmer is playing, we'll have more balanced scoring as far as all five players (are) concerned," Rose said.

Jackson Emery, with his second start, scored nine points and dished out a career-high nine assists.

"He will get even better as he gets more time on the floor," Rose said.