SALT LAKE CITY — In his final game at the Huntsman Center, BYU's Jimmer Fredette put on an unforgettable show.
Displaying his vast shooting repertoire, the senior guard scored 47 points, including six 3-pointers, to lead the No. 11 Cougars to a 104-79 rout of Utah Tuesday night.
"I made my first couple of shots and I just kept being aggressive," said Fredette, who poured in 32 points in the first half alone. "The basket got a little bit bigger, especially in that first half. It was just one of those special nights that you have, that our team had, so it's one we'll never forget."
In the second half, BYU built its lead to as many as 29 points. With the outcome all but decided, the only question was: Will Fredette break his own single-game school record for scoring?
Last season, he set the school mark of 49 points against Arizona, and was just three points shy of 50 against the Utes. Now, three of the four best single-game scoring performances in BYU history belong to Fredette, who now leads the nation in scoring.
Coach Dave Rose pulled Fredette out of the game for good with 3:11 remaining.
Did Fredette want to reach the 50-point plateau? "Of course. I won't lie to you," he said. "But it was the coach's decision. It doesn't really matter all that much. The most important thing was that we won."
Fredette's 32-point first-half performance was punctuated by a 40-something footer at the buzzer.
"It was big," said Fredette, who hit 16-of-28 shots from the field and dished out a team-high six assists. "We had four seconds left, so I figured I might as well try to push it and see if I could get a good shot off. It wasn't a great shot, but it went in. Sometimes you get lucky."
Fredette not only hit NBA-distance 3's, he also scored on reverse layups, mid-range jumpers and off-balance shots. He also knocked down all nine of his free-throw attempts.
As brilliant as Fredette was, he had plenty of help. Four other Cougars scored in double-figures as Jackson Emery chipped in 20 (including five buckets from behind the arc); Brandon Davies and Noah Hartsock contributed 12 apiece, and Kyle Collinsworth had 11 more.
"My teammates did a great job of getting me involved and setting screens for me," Fredette said. "They made big shots as well. When (Utah) doubled me, I was able to get it to my teammates."
The Cougars (17-1, 3-0 MWC) won their seventh consecutive game overall and their fourth in a row over Utah (7-10, 0-3). BYU has won eight of the last nine meetings against the Utes, who are riding a seven-game losing streak.
Utah started out strong and led by four, 23-19, midway through the first half. But then Fredette took over. "When you're feeling it, you're feeling it," he explained. "There's nothing you can do about it."
Fredette hit all five of his first-half 3-pointers in the final nine minutes. Two of them, including the buzzer-beater from just inside half-court, came in the final 32 seconds.
Asked in jest about Fredette being a "ball hog," Emery replied, "If he's going to score 47 on a pretty good percentage, I'll let him be a ball hog all he wants. ... When Jimmer starts to shoot from 40 feet out, you know he's feeling something. You just want to keep giving him the ball."
With the BYU big guys in foul trouble and having a tough time establishing a presence inside against the Utes, particularly in the first half, the Cougars relied on their perimeter shooting.
"Jimmer started finding ways to get the ball in," Rose said. "Thank goodness, too, because we were having a really hard time getting (Utah) stopped in the first half."
Forward Will Clyburn scored a team-high 23 points for the Utes.
One of Fredette's few miscues of the night occurred when he missed a breakaway dunk with 8:40 remaining in the game, but it turned out alright for BYU, as Emery rebounded and scored.
"I just missed it," Fredette said. "Nothing you can do about it."
Obscured by Fredette's heroics was the fact Emery finally broke the school record for career steals. Emery eclipsed Danny Ainge in the first half — taking the ball away from Utah's J.J. O'Brien at the 12:47 mark. He now has 197 career steals, compared to 195 for Ainge.
The Cougars have a bye Saturday before returning to action next Tuesday (8 p.m., The mtn.) against TCU at the Marriott Center.
e-mail: jeffc@desnews.com