National Basketball Association
San Diego St. 72, Brigham Young 54
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 12, 2011
Where: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials:
# Randy McCall, # Larry Spaulding, # Scott Thornley
Attendance:
18500
By SportsDirect Inc.
Billy White had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 6 San Diego State avenged two regular-season losses to Brigham Young by cruising to a 72-54 victory over the No. 8 Cougars on Saturday in the Mountain West Conference tournament final in Las Vegas.
Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Chase Tapley scored 14 points as second-seeded San Diego State (32-2) claimed the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
National scoring leader Jimmer Fredette scored 30 points for top-seeded Brigham Young (30-4), which will receive an at-large bid as part of the 68-team NCAA field.
Fredette hit 10-of-25 shots one day after scoring a career-best 52 points in BYU’s semifinal victory over New Mexico.
San Diego State led by 23 with less than 11 minutes to play before the Cougars used a 15-2 run to pull within 62-52 with 4:58 remaining. But Leonard’s tip-in and White’s three-point play helped the Aztecs regain control with a 10-0 run.
White scored 16 first-half points as San Diego State took a 43-31 halftime advantage. The lead reached 20 points on two free throws by Tapley with 14:12 remaining.
The Aztecs dominated play inside with a 40-16 edge in points in the paint as the Cougars were again without leading rebounder Brandon Davies, who was suspended because of a school honor code violation.
The Cougars shot 32.2 percent from the field.
Top Game Performances
San Diego St. |
|
Brigham Young |
Billy White 21 |
Scoring |
Jimmer Fredette 30 |
Malcolm Thomas 3 |
Assists |
Kyle Collinsworth 3 |
Billy White 12 |
Rebounds |
Kyle Collinsworth 7 |
Billy White 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Jimmer Fredette 8 |
Billy White 5 |
Steals |
Kyle Collinsworth 1 |
Malcolm Thomas 2 |
Blocks |
James Anderson 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
San Diego St.
|
72 |
45.2 |
5-15 |
11-14 |
12 |
37 |
2 |
8 |
|
Brigham Young
|
54 |
32.2 |
6-24 |
10-13 |
7 |
32 |
4 |
2 |
|