Slick-shooting Cougars cruise past TCU

FORT WORTH — For the third straight game, the BYU Cougars shot lights out in storming past the TCU Horned Frogs 79-63 at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum Saturday night.

The victory allows BYU (19-5, 7-3) to stay within a game of first-place Utah in the Mountain West Conference race with a stretch of four straight tough games ahead for the Cougars. New Mexico comes to Provo on Tuesday, after which the Cougars travel to UNLV and San Diego State for two crucial road games in a four-day span. They finish up the stretch with a home game against Utah on Feb. 28 at the Marriott Center.

Despite struggling in the early minutes Saturday against the Horned Frogs, the Cougars heated up quickly and hit 11 of their first 14 shots. They finished the first half leading 40-26 by shooting 69 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range. Lee Cummard, Jonathan Tavernari and Jimmer Fredette continued to burn the nets. Cummard poured in 24 points to lead all scorers, followed by 19 from Tavernari and 16 from Fredette.

The Cougars' led by as many as 22 points in the second half, and finished the game making 60 percent of their shots. The Cougars entered the game as the nation's No. 1 ranked team in shooting percentage. They also outrebounded the Horned Frogs by one, but gave up 11 offensive boards and turned the ball over nine times in the first half. The Cougars have now defeated the Horned Frogs 10 consecutive times, and in all nine meetings since TCU joined the MWC.

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