BYU 63, Utah 50

Published Mar. 1, 2009 2:36 a.m. ET

foxsports

Jimmer Fredette scored 25 points to lead BYU past Utah 63-50 and tighten the race for first place in the Mountain West Conference. Fredette scored seven points to fuel a game-turning 14-2 run early in the second half and help BYU (22-6 overall, 10-4 MWC) recover from its worst first-half of shooting this year. Lawrence Borha scored 15 points and Luke Nevill added nine points and 16 rebounds for Utah (20-8, 11-3). The 6-foot-2 Fredette repeatedly drove the lane and lofted layups over and around the long arms of 7-foot-2 Nevill. He added a 3-pointer during BYU's decisive run. The Cougars entered the game leading the nation in shooting but shot just 26.7 percent in a first half dominated by Utah. BYU's defense stifled the Utes in the second half. Utah missed all nine of its 3-point attempts and made just 2 of its final 18 shots. Lee Cummard scored 16 points. Chris Miles added 13 points and eight rebounds and helped hold Nevill to 3-of-12 shooting. The Cougars forced 15 Ute turnovers while committing just five.