Fredette scores 26 as No. 12 BYU beats TCU 76-56

Fredette leads No. 12 BYU over TCU

PROVO, Utah — Jimmer Fredette scored 26 points and Jackson Emery had 12 points and six assists as No. 12 BYU beat TCU 76-56 on Tuesday night.

BYU (22-2, 7-1 Mountain West) scored the game’s first 10 points and held a double-digit lead for most of the game while remaining unbeaten against TCU since the Horned Frogs joined the conference.

Noah Hartsock added 14 points and Chris Miles pulled down 11 rebounds for the Cougars, who have won 17 of 18.

Greg Hill and Garlon Green led TCU (10-13, 2-6) with 11 points apiece.

TCU is 0-10 against BYU in Mountain West regular season and tournament games.

The Frogs finished 21 of 60 from the field and made just 3 of 16 3-pointers. They also hurt themselves with several layups that bounced off the rim and into the hands of the Cougars, who outrebounded TCU 45-36.

After Saturday’s frenzied win over in-state rival Utah, there was little drama in the Marriott Center on Tuesday. The arena was barely half-full and noticeably more quiet, but the smaller crowd didn’t seem to discourage the Cougars as they closed the game on a 17-6 run.

BYU held TCU scoreless for the first 4:21 and opened the game with a 15-4 run, including three 3-pointers by Emery.

The Horned Frogs scored five straight points to open the second half and get within 35-26, but the Cougars answered with a 10-2 run. Fredette’s 3-pointer with about 13:30 left gave BYU a 45-28 lead and the Frogs didn’t help themselves inside, continuing to have layups bounce off the rim.

TCU opened the second half just 2 of 12 from the field.

Hill’s 3-pointer with about 7:45 left cut BYU’s lead to 59-49 and the Frogs got within nine again, but Fredette stopped the run with another 3-pointer to put BYU up 62-50 and start a 12-4 run that clinched it.