PROVO, Utah — BYU star Jimmer Fredette didn’t hear the pregame trash talk ripping him as a one-man show who won’t pass the ball.
Afterward, he didn’t care.
With plenty of help from his teammates, Fredette and the No. 9 Cougars shut down TreVon Willis and UNLV with a 78-64 victory Saturday that gave BYU a regular- season sweep of the Rebels.
“At this point, it doesn’t matter what he says. I was just worried about getting the victory,” said Fredette, who became the Mountain West Conference’s career scoring leader, breaking the record of 2,189 points set by San Diego State’s Brandon Heath in 2007. Fredette, a senior guard, has 2,194 points.
Despite battling a head cold that left him struggling to breathe, and double- and triple-team defenses that forced him to give up the ball and turn it over five times, Fredette still scored 29 points. He was 16-of-16 at the free-throw line, but just 6-of-14 from the field.
“He earned his points,” BYU coach Dave Rose said of Fredette.
BYU stopped a three-game winning streak by UNLV.
No. 7 San Diego St. 60, TCU 53
SAN DIEGO — Billy White scored 19 points for the Aztecs, who have won three straight since their only loss, 71-58 at BYU on Jan. 26.
