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Provo • After all the players got a chance to cut down a piece of the net — even suspended star Brandon Davies — to celebrate winning at least a piece of the Mountain West Conference basketball title for the fourth time in five years, the No. 3-ranked BYU Cougars said their mojo is back — and not a moment too soon.

Saturday's 102-78 win against a Wyoming team that put up a respectable fight despite having nothing to play for was just what the psychologist ordered for the Cougars and their 22,700 fans at the Marriott Center — sold out for the ninth time this season — said senior guard Jimmer Fredette after scoring 38 points in the final home game of his magnificent career.

"It was a great way to go out," Fredette said.

But was it enough to push the 28-3 Cougars forward, with the MWC tournament looming next week and the NCAA's big dance the week after that? Yes, said Jackson Emery, who was honored along with Fredette and fellow senior Logan Magnusson before the game.

The win felt good "because the nation wants to know how we are going to respond to this adversity," Emery said after overcoming first-half foul trouble to score 18 points. "We got our confidence back."

However, it took some time for the Cougars to completely bounce back from Wednesday's 82-64 loss to New Mexico, their first game without Davies, who was suspended for the remainder of the season for violating the school's honor code.

With Davies dressed in a white shirt and tie and watching from the bench, the Cougars were able to muster only a 38-35 halftime lead against the lowly Cowboys, who fell to 10-20 overall, 3-13 in the MWC, and will play the Cougars again in the tournament's first round if they can get past TCU in the play-in game.

"In the first half, we got a little tentative," said coach Dave Rose.

But it was vintage BYU basketball in the second half, with the Cougars running at every opportunity and scoring 64 points — 10 more than any other half this season.

Charles Abouo scored 21 of his career-high 25 points in the half — including eight straight early in the period to get the offense rolling — and Fredette added 16 straight during a six-minute stretch that put it away.

"We actually attacked in transition better," Rose said. "It was a terrific half, offensively."

And it showed that, when the Cougars make shots — with or without Davies — they can handle almost anything, something they didn't do in the big loss to the Lobos.

The Cougars won the rebounding battle 38-27, remarkable considering they were overmatched inside from a height standpoint, and their only player taller than 6-foot-7, James Anderson, played just seven minutes and didn't record a rebound.

And they outscored the Cowboys 46-26 in the paint, with freshman Kyle Collinsworth chipping in 11 points and eight rebounds in his first start at the power forward position since suffering a concussion a month ago against UNLV.

"Teams don't want to back down, they don't want to let you [win a championship], but we had a great home crowd," Fredette said. "Everyone was really energized, and in the second half, we really got it going."

Francisco Cruz led four Cowboys in double figures with 18 points, and Wyoming stayed in it until about 10 minutes remained, thanks to 9-of-14 shooting from 3-point range.

Rose began taking the seniors out of the game — to thunderous applause — with 1 minute, 51 seconds remaining (Magnusson), and at 1:34 (Emery and Fredette).

"We will talk about these [moments] when we are old men coming back for reunions," Fredette said after making a 3-pointer — four, actually — in his 23rd straight game, a school record.

drew@sltrib.comTwitter: @drewjay —

Storylines

R Key Moment • A 13-0 run fueled by Charles Abouo early in the second half squashes Wyoming's upset hopes.

Key Stat • Jimmer Fredette scores 38 points in his final game at the Marriott Center.