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No. 24 BYU Downs Colorado State, 89-62
Lee Cummard led five Cougars in double figures with 18 points.
March 13, 2008
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Colorado State's David Cohen got the style points for his hook shot from behind the backboard at the halftime buzzer. No. 24 BYU simply piled up the points. The top-seeded Cougars shot 65 percent in their 89-62 rout of the Rams in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament Thursday. The Cougars (26-6) had five sharpshooters reach double figures, led by Lee Cummard, the conference co-player of the year. Cummard scored 18 points, while Sam Burgess had 13, Jonathan Tavernari and Chris Collinsworth each scored 12 and Trent Plaisted had 11. Jimmer Fredette would have given the Cougars a half dozen scorers in double figures if not for a missed free throw that rattled out just before he took a seat in the closing minutes. The Rams (7-25), who snapped a school record 17-game skid with a win over Wyoming in the play-in game, didn't have any players in double figures. Andre McFarland, Marcus Walker, Adam Nigon and Willis Gardner scored nine each. The Rams led for much of the first half and trailed just 40-34 at the break following Cohen's let's-see-that-again basket as the buzzer went off. But the Cougars shot 74 percent in the second half, sinking 17-of-23 shots to bury the Rams, who went winless in conference play before beating Wyoming on Tuesday. Things started to go BYU's way when Collinsworth and Burgess sank back-to-back 3-pointers for a 31-27 lead. The Rams seemed to take the emotional momentum into the locker room after Cohen's big basket, but the Cougars made quick work of Colorado State in the second half. In the opening minute, Plaisted scored his first basket of the game and Ben Murdock followed with a 3-pointer that gave the Cougars their first double-digit lead at 45-34. Cummard had a jumper, a fadeaway and a 3-pointer in a 21-2 run the Cougars used to take a 70-42 lead and erase any notion of another upset for Colorado State.
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