BYU hits jackpot in Vegas

As I walked out of the Thomas & Mack Center and into the Las Vegas night after No. 15 BYU’s 89-77 victory over No. 25 UNLV, a bearded, scraggly haired Rebels fan accosted me.
I don’t know if he thought I was a therapist or something, but it was as if he wanted to talk about the game. He summed up the result pretty well, I thought. “BYU just hit so many threes,” he moaned. I nodded. Then he walked away, perhaps headed to the closest slot machine.
The guy was right. The Cougars knocked down 14-of-28 3′s, including 7-of-12 in the second half. On his way to a season-high 39 points, Fredette nailed 7-of-13 3′s for the game while Jackson Emery knocked down 6-of-9. UNLV had no answers for BYU’s pair of senior guards.
What was probably overlooked, though, was a key first-half 3-pointer by Noah Hartsock. Hartsock, after receiving a pass from Fredette, hit a 3 that gave the Cougars a 35-34 lead with with 1:18 left in the half. It was BYU’s first lead in about nine minutes and the Cougars never trailed again. Fredette then closed out the half with another 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining as BYU took a 38-35 edge into the locker room at intermission.
Then there was forward Brandon Davies, who played composed and confident. He recorded a double-double, 15 points, 10 rebounds, in just 29 minutes of action. He sat for much of the second half because of foul trouble.
What’s more, the Cougars gave up only 13 turnovers, far fewer than they usually do in Vegas.
BYU was able to finally exorcize some demons and get a gorilla off its back after eight straight losses in Las Vegas to the Rebels.
You can bet UNLV fans, like the one I talked to briefly Wednesday night, are looking forward to a rematch in the Mountain West Conference Tournament in March.