This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Tonight, Jimmer Fredette owns Las Vegas. Just when it appears BYU's superstar guard can't top himself, he does, scoring a school-record 52 points in the Cougars' 87-76 win over New Mexico in a MWC semifinal game. It was something to behold, as Fredette amazingly did it almost entirely from the field, making 22 of 37 shots from all over the court. He got just one free throw, which he made to hit 50 points. Fredette passed Danny Ainge as BYU's all-time leading scorer. It was the sixth time in his career he's passed the 40-point barrier, fourth time this season. It was quite a night. A few other milestones: * With five steals, Jackson Emery broke his own school record for steals in a season, 93. It is also the new MWC single-season record, breaking the mark of 91 shared by Emery in 2009-10 and UNLV's Marcus Banks. * BYU's bench recorded one point, by Logan Magnusson * Fredette's 52 points is the second-most in NCAA Division I basketball since 1989, behind the 54 that Kentucky's Jody Meeks scored against Tennessee in 2009. * By halftime, Fredette's 33 has surpassed the most points in a MWC semifinal entire game. * The 22 field goals and 37 attempts are also conference tournament records. * Fredette now has 2,417 career points. A few comments about the performance after the game: Coach Dave Rose: "Jimmer had one of those real special offensive nights that kind of kept a lot of energy with our team. But you watch it, it is amazing how you can have a team win, as big a team win as this is, with one player scoring 52 points. The steals by Jackson Emery, the rebounds by Kyle [Collinsworth], the toughness from Noah Hartsock, Charles Abouo, filling up the stat sheet like they did. It's a great team win." Fredette on whether he was watching the scoreboard: "You can kind of see the score, the [player] points, because it is right there next to the scoreboard. They put it up there for you. I don't know if it is correct or not. You can kind of tell where you're at. But I wasn't a hundred percent sure at all times, you know what I mean? But I did see some of the times when I looked up there and just saw the score. I knew I was having a good game. I saw it sometimes." Fredette on how satisfying it was to beat New Mexico: "You know, it was just a great night. It was a fun matchup to be against them. They've had our number for the past four games. Sometimes teams do that. We were just looking forward to playing them again. "We knew that we could play better than what we did in Provo. Our minds weren't quite right and everything [the last game]. But we felt that if we gave a good effort tonight, we would have a chance to win. That's kind of what happened. So it is very satisfying to win and to move forward."