BYU basketball: Cougars uses depth to beat ASU as stars struggle at home

PROVO — Share the ball, make the extra pass and hit the open shots.

Coach Dave Rose has been preaching those words to his BYU Cougars all season, but even more so in the past couple of weeks. In BYU's 81-68 win Tuesday night at the Marriott Center over Arizona State, those were definitely the ingredients to getting revenge on the same Pac-10 team that spoiled the Cougars' upset bid a year ago in the Valley of the Sun when officials ruled a put-back basket at the horn came late.

"We played at the right pace, with the right energy, and were on attack most of the night . . . that's a really, really good team win, especially for this time of year," Rose said.

The Sun Devils (6-3) were giving up only 56 points per game, and the Cougars (7-1) hit 44 percent of their shots against a team that came into the game holding opponents to 37 percent shooting. But most importantly, of BYU's 25 baskets, 19 came from an assist. In the first half alone, when BYU took a 16-point lead into the break, 10 of the Cougars 13 baskets came from an assist.

"I thought several times guys were open, but there we guys that were more open," junior guard Jackson Emery said. "And that right there is the key to winning, is playing as a team and not playing for yourself, and when it's your turn to hit the shot, hit it."

Those impressive offensive numbers came despite an uncharacteristically cold shooting night from leading scorer Jimmer Fredette, who missed his first eight shots and finished the game making only 1-of-13. Jonathan Tavernari also missed his first six shots and finished hitting 2-of-8.

But everyone else combined to shoot 22-of-36.

"I was pleased with how we got so much contribution from so many people," Rose said. "We've kind of talked about the depth of our team, and tonight it really showed."

Emery, who hit 5-of-9 shots from 3-point range, and freshman Tyler Haws finished with a team-high 17 points each. Noah Hartsock added 13 and Fredette finished with 10. Haws also grabbed a team high 11 rebounds, five on the offensive glass.

"I believe we have a full team that can step up from any position and I feel like we did that tonight," Emery said.