PROVO — The BYU Cougars haven't been too shy in taking 3-point shots this season.

Prior to this week's Basketball Travelers Invitational, however, they've been a little shy in making them. But kind of like the weather outside right now, things are a little warmer as well inside the Marriott Center these days.

In BYU's 83-52 bombing Friday night of Rice, the Cougars (4-0) put on a long-distance display that had the faithful crowd in awe from the opening basket.

"We obviously got off to a great start shooting the ball and sharing it, and it brought energy into the building and the crowd was great," coach Dave Rose said of BYU's 50th straight win at home.

By shooting a blistering 60 percent from 3-point range in the opening half the Cougars rolled out to a quick 10-point lead and soon stretched the margin to 24. The Cougars' first two baskets were 3-point shots and they finished the half making 9-of-15 from trey territory. For the game BYU hit 12-of-22 3-point shots.

Leading 20-12, a 16-0 run by the Cougars put the game in blowout status in a hurry. In that stretch the Cougars made five 3-pointers and a free throw. Lamont Morgan Jr. got it started with a bomb from the right corner, Jackson Emery drilled one from up top, Lee Cummard then knocked one home from NBA range, and Jonathan Tavernari and Emery followed with one from each corner to give BYU a 36-12 lead.

"We shared the ball," Cummard said. "We got to the rim and kicked it out, and we gave up a shot for a better shot."

In previous games the Cougars have come out from the break a little sluggish and complacent - but not Friday. Within four minutes they had widened the lead to 33. Fredette scored nine points in that stretch. Eventually the Cougars extended the margin to as many as 37.

"It was the best four minutes of the second half that we played all year," Rose said. "We executed defensively and we shared the ball on offense, and we did it with a lot of energy and intensity."

In BYU's first game the Cougars made only 26 percent of their 3-points shots. In Game 2 they hit 29 percent. They upped it to 36 percent on Thursday and finished the Rice game connecting on 55 percent of their threes.

Rose felt his team's shots were much more in rhythm and at their pace, and were taken at times so not to surprise the other players. In the first half alone the Cougars had 13 assists and finished with 22.

"When the shot is taken and everyone knows that that's the shot that is coming, then we're so much better," he said.

But shooting wasn't the only thing BYU did well Friday. The Cougars outrebounded Rice 31-28, but had seven more boards at the break and didn't allow an offensive rebound until the final seconds of the first half.

The Cougars' defense also played a big role in the blowout, holding the Owls to only 17 percent shooting in the first half and only 39 percent for the game. Rice also turned the ball over 18 times. In fact, Rose was more praiseworthy of his team's defensive effort than anything else.

"We played focused, we played intense, and we played that way in longer stretches," he said.

For the second straight game the Cougars were led in scoring by Tavernari, who totaled 18 on 7-of-16 shooting. Cummard and Fredette finished with 13 each. Emery scored eight and dished out five assists. Morgan had his best game as a Cougar with 10 points, four assists and two steals