Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LAS VEGAS -- Some would argue defense is the key to winning games. The BYU men's basketball team disproved that argument Tuesday afternoon, outlasting the Nevada Wolf Pack 110-104.
In a game of career highs for the Cougars, three players finished with at least 20 points, all career highs, including Jimmer Fredette (33), Jackson Emery (25) and Tyler Haws (20).
The Cougars' 110 points were the most points scored by a BYU team during Head Coach Dave Rose's tenure.
Defense took a backseat in Tuesday's game for both teams as BYU (11-1) shot 63 percent and Nevada (6-5) finished the game at 59 percent from the field.
Jimmer Fredette, who became the 41st player in BYU history to score 1,000 points in his career Tuesday, did not score in the first nine minutes of the game before erupting to lead his team with 33 points, six assists, three steals and a rebound.
Fredette said he enjoyed playing in this type of game.
Fredette, Emery, Haws and Noah Hartsock combined to score 90 points in the win.
The game featured 18 lead changes and six ties, with BYU finally putting the Wolf Pack away by making all of its late free throws, and finished the game making 27 of its 28 free throw attempts.
Fatigue from the fast tempo of Tuesday's game could cause problems for the Cougars, as they are set to face either Tulsa or Nebraska Wednesday to cap the HoopTV Las Vegas Classic. Fredette said he doesn't expect fatigue to be a problem.
"It was a tiring game for sure, but that's how we like to play and that's how we like to practice," Fredette said. "Tomorrow, I think we'll come out and play, and won't be tired at all."
Rose said one of the reasons for the Wolf Pack's scoring success against BYU was a backfire in his team's original game plan. He planned to double-team Nevada star Luke Babbit in the first half, and force his teammates to beat the Cougars.
Rose said that's exactly what ended up happening.
"(Armon) Johnson was terrific and (Brandon) Fields was terrific," Rose said. "We made some adjustments in the second half. I thought Jackson (Emery) in the second half for us, defensively, really gave us a lift and made it tough on them."
Despite the high scoring, Rose said offense wasn't what made the difference for the Cougars.
"Defense won this game for us," Rose said. "We got about four or five steals we converted into easy layups our defense gave us those few extra baskets which turned out to be the difference.
Tipoff for Wednesday contest is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. against either Nebraska or Tulsa.
