BYU basketball: Rose takes 100th at BYU in 83-65 win over Hawaii

HONOLULU — The BYU men's basketball team didn't travel 3,000 miles to simply visit Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, or to take in the spectacle that is a Hawaiian luau. The Cougars came here to Honolulu to take care of business against an athletic Hawaii team and to walk away with a good road victory.

Done and done.

With Friday night's 83-65 win at the Stan Sheriff Center, with coach Dave Rose winning his 100th career game and with senior Jonathan Tavernari shooting himself out of the schneid that has plagued him through this young season, the Cougars (3-0) thoroughly enjoyed their trek to the island paradise.

"It was good that we were able to get out here early to get some of that stuff out of the way, to enjoy the beach, to enjoy Hawaii for what it is," said junior guard Jimmer Fredette, who led all players with 20 points and eight assists. "... But when you're on the court, you need to focus. I think we did a pretty good job of that."

A "pretty good job" is shooting 34-for-61 (.557) from the field, forcing 20 Hawaii turnovers, limiting the Rainbows' top two scorers to a combined 12 points on 5-for-17 shooting, and leading by double figures for the final 17 minutes of the game.

Oh, and don't forget handing Rose his 100th win in his 134th game, making him the fastest BYU coach to ever reach that milestone.

"I'm very, very happy that we were able to get this win and get it over with and now move on to hopefully 101," he said with a big smile.

Tavernari is on the cusp of his own milestone. Thanks to 3-for-7 3-point shooting (7-of-14 overall), the forward moved to within six 3-pointers of tying BYU career leader Mark Bigelow for the school's all-time mark. Tavernari's early-season struggles — he shot just 7-for-30 from the field and 3-for-14 from 3 in the first two games — were a distant memory as he nailed his first 3, a wide-open look on the left wing, less than four minutes into the game. He seemed to stay in that zone the entire game.

"I was able to get in a rhythm," he said. "I haven't been in a rhythm for quite a while, but I was able to get in here and get open looks and get comfortable."

Though the team was all smiles after the game, Rose still found fault with the Cougars' effort on the boards, as they were outrebounded 37-27 and gave up 19 offensive rebounds.

"We've got to get better," Rose said. "That's two games in a row where we've had issues with offensive rebounds from the other team."

And BYU struggled to contain Hawaii guard Hiram Thompson, a junior who served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2006-08 and who Rose recruited out of high school. Thompson entered Friday's game averaging just 4.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the team's first three games, but he hustled his way to a team-high 15 points, six rebounds and five assists.

But for the most part, as BYU milked a double-digit, second-half lead that expanded to as many as 22 points, Rose was satisfied his team was able to put aside the luaus and the leis long enough to focus on the game.

"I'm really pleased with our maturity," he said. "We executed. I don't think we played our best game, but we executed our game plan really well. Anytime you go on the road and shoot over 50 percent, your focus is pretty good."