BYU basketball: Cougars heat up for big win over San Francisco

After a one-game hiatus, the BYU Cougars' shooting touch returned to form Saturday night in a 69-43 romp over San Francisco in a game played at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City.

In BYU's lone loss of the season on Wednesday at Utah State, the Cougars shot 39 percent from the floor and only 31 percent in the second half. Against the Dons, however, the Cougars were hot early and never cooled down as they steadily pulled away — shooting 54 percent from the floor in the first half and finishing at a clip of 51 percent.

"I was happy with how we shared the ball, and we had a lot of guys score, which is a good thing and it's just nice to get a win and get back on a positive note," BYU coach Dave Rose said.

Perhaps the most important numbers in BYU's offensive stats were the 15 assists on 25 baskets. The Cougars also hit 7-of-17 from 3-point range.

"We know we have guys on this team that can make plays and that are good shooters, we just need to get it to them when they're open," said guard Jimmer Fredette, who finished with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting, and dished out a game-high six assists.

Jackson Emery, still not 100 percent with a sprained foot and battered right cheek, led the Cougars with 14 points, and made 3-of-5 shots from deep and also added four steals. Freshman Tyler Haws chipped in 12 on 5-of-8 shooting and Jonathan Tavernari, in a rare bench role, added 10. The Cougars' guard line combined to score 44 of the team's 69 points.

Defensively, the Cougars held the Dons to only 26 percent shooting in the second half, and only 35 percent for the game. San Francisco also made only 2-of-11 shots from 3-point range, made only 9-of-19 free throws and turned the ball over 19 times.

"We missed at least 10 layups and 10 free throws," Dons coach Rex Walters said. "Combine that with 14 turnovers and that's a game of mistakes."

The Cougars finished with 10 steals, and showed great defensive patience in San Francisco's deliberate and slow-paced offense.

"I believe right now that defensively this team is, in the coaches' eyes, probably better than we are offensively," Rose said.

In fact, not all of BYU's statistics were positive. The Cougars gave up 10 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over 14 times.

"Offensively we're still trying to find that combination between sharing the ball and having everybody touch it on possessions, and then not wanting to take quick shots," Rose said. "We want to play at a quick pace, but we don't want to run it down there and fire up bad shots either."