BYU had to work hard for its latest victory. The Cougars are likely to have an easier time in their next contest.
In a final tune-up before beginning Mountain West Conference play, the No. 16 Cougars look for a fourth straight win when they host NAIA member Fresno Pacific on Saturday night.
Playing at home for the second time in a little more than a month, BYU (13-1) is not expected to have a difficult time in what will be an exhibition game for Fresno Pacific (10-3). The Sunbirds are facing their second straight Division I opponent. They fell 75-67 in overtime to UC Santa Barbara Friday in another exhibition contest.
The Cougars, winners of three in a row since losing 86-79 to UCLA in Anaheim on Dec. 18, have won 43 straight home games against unranked non-conference opponents.
With their conference opener at previously-ranked UNLV looming Wednesday, the Cougars could use Saturday's game as a chance to fine-tune some things after grinding out a 90-82 win at Buffalo on Thursday.
"It will be great to get back home and hopefully get a win Saturday," said star senior Jimmer Fredette, who scored 28 of his season-high 34 points in the second half.
Fredette (24.9 points per game) missed eight of nine shots as the Cougars took a two-point lead into the locker room Thursday but made 10 of 15 in the final 20 minutes, including 3 of 6 3-pointers.
"I've had games like that'' said Fredette, averaging 28.5 points over the last six games. "You're not going to shoot the ball great every single night. The main thing is you have to have short-term memory loss. You have to go out there and know that you're a good player and you still have to shoot shots because you know your team needs that.''
In four seasons, BYU is 10-1 when Fredette scores 30 or more points.
"He's a bad dude,'' Buffalo coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "If you do a bad job on him, he gets 50. He just pulls and fires.''
It's uncertain how much Fredette will play in this contest as coach Dave Rose is likely to use his full roster.
Noah Hartsock scored 19 points and Brandon Davies added 18 on Thursday for the Cougars. Senior Jackson Emery had four steals to move within four of Danny Ainge's school-record 195.
Fresno Pacific forward Jordan Wild averages a team-leading 12.8 points but was held to seven at UC-Santa Barbara. Deshaun Legree had a game-high 21 points for the Sunbirds, while fellow starting guard Matt Christman added 17.
