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Provo • After BYU's Noah Hartsock missed a dunk, fell to the floor and didn't look real graceful doing either, a fan jokingly suggested that the 6-foot-8 junior forward should stick to shooting 3-pointers in the Cougars' 93-57 win over Fresno Pacific on Saturday night at the Marriott Center.
"That was a good one. … I thought it was kind of funny," the ever-smiling Hartsock said after the game, after chuckling at the remark during the blowout while Charles Abouo attempted free throws.
The No. 16-ranked Cougars could afford to laugh one last time this season, having finished nonconference play with a 14-1 record by blitzing the NAIA school from Central California in front of a more-than-respectable crowd of 12,762 fans who apparently don't mind going out in the cold or aren't big fans of football bowl games on television.
"I was a little nervous to see how we would come out and play tonight after all the travel and holidays, but I think we did a lot of things real well," said BYU coach Dave Rose. "Now we're ready to move on and start league play."
In other words, there will be no guffaws and knee slaps if Hartsock misses a dunk Wednesday at UNLV, as the Cougars open Mountain West Conference play at a place where they haven't defeated the Rebels since 2004. Then again, they can use Hartsock's 3-point shooting, a skill he has suddenly discovered after making just one (on four tries) his first two years in Provo.
He's now 8-for-11 from beyond the arc this year, following the 3-for-3 effort in Thursday's 90-82 win at Buffalo by making the only one he attempted on Saturday. The Cougars shot 50 percent (30-for-60), after a frosty start let the Sunbirds (10-3) stay in the game for the first 15 minutes.
"It was good to see players shooting well tonight," said Rose, noting that the Cougars have been traveling and/or away from home 25 of the past 37 days. "We need to share the ball, and I also thought we did that really well tonight."
With Jimmer Fredette playing only 22 minutes and tying his season low with 13 points, the Cougars needed help from their bench and got it in a big way. Junior college transfer Stephen Rogers led BYU with 16 points off the bench, Jackson Emery added 12 and Chris Collinsworth 11.
"As the season has progressed, I think our bench has progressed," Rogers said.
The Sunbirds, who took UC Santa Barbara to overtime before losing on Friday afternoon, trailed just 26-22 and had the ball with five and a half minutes remaining in the first half before an 18-2 BYU run ended their upset hopes.
FBU's 28-year-old coach, Chris Wright, said a lot would have had to happen for his team to pull off the upset.
"We played Fresno State, Santa Barbara and now BYU, and [BYU] is obviously the deepest and most talented. I would be shocked if they didn't make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament," he said.
drew@sltrib.comTwitter: @drewjay
Highlights
P As expected, the Cougars roll against an overmatched NAIA foe.
• The Cougars lead by just two with about seven minutes remaining in the first half before an 18-2 run.
• The nation's third-leading scorer, BYU's Jimmer Fredette, ties a season low with 13 points in just 22 minutes.