OCATELLO, Idaho -- Hard-luck Idaho State needed something close to perfection to have any chance against visiting Brigham Young.
The Bengals did give the effort. A swift, second-half tussle between BYU's Jonathan Tavernari and ISU's Donnie Carson proved that, as both benches cleared, sparking a wild second half.
However, the more physical and athletic Cougars (6-0) just had too much of everything else, pushing out to an 18-point first half lead and eventually leaving Holt Arena winners, 85-65.
"It reminded me of a tough league game," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "It was an emotional game. You have to play with a lot of passion, but you have to control your emotions."
Brigham Young controlled its emotions and eventually, following a slow start, the game. ISU opened a 12-6 lead, but BYU answered with scoring runs of 11 and 14 in the first half.
"I thought we played harder than we had all year," ISU coach Joe O'Brien said. "We made too many mistakes."
O'Brien lauded BYU's intensity on both ends of the floor.
The highlight was BYU guard Jimmer Fredette's twisting, underhanded arching shot while facing away from the hoop that floated through the net late in the second half. The basket had ISU fans gasping and the Cougar bench leaping, fists high.
"We have
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had a tough time with tough games on the road," said BYU's Lee Cummard, one of four Cougars in double figures with 17 points. "It had the good feel of a conference road game."
Fredette tied his career high of 19 points and six assists. A week after going 0-for-11 from the field, Jonathan Tavernari scored a game-high 23 points.
Idaho State (1-4), losers of three consecutive overtime games, had hoped take advantage of energy provided by the extra large attendance attracted by BYU. The 4,374 fans doubled the normal average gate, with about 20 percent with Cougar blue.
It didn't matter. The Cougars did what was needed to stay undefeated on the road - forcing more turnovers and winning the rebound battle. BYU grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and scored 20 points off of turnovers.
Idaho State also shot miserably from the foul line, wasting valuable points which prevented the Bengals from making a serious run.
Add into the equation Bengals leading scorer Amorrow Morgan's inability to escape Jackson Emery's suffocating defense and truly ISU had a near impossible task.
Morgan, averaging more than 22 points, had just two at the half and finished with seven.
"I knew I had a great assignment," Emery said. "I had four other players help me. We were trying to discourage him."
It worked, as Morgan began to take his frustrations out on his teammates.
Meanwhile, BYU effectively spread the floor, moved the ball quickly and found plenty of open looks.
"There was a stretch in the second half where everyone made the extra pass," Cummard said. "Everyone was sharing [the ball]."


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