BOX SCORE

Provo, UT – Tyler Haws scored 18 points and Jonathan Tavernari added 14 points off the bench to lead BYU to a 77-61 victory over Wagner in the first round of the HoopTV Las Vegas Classic.

With the loss, the Seahawks fall to 1-8 on the season while the Cougars improve to 9-1.

With Wagner trailing 8-7 following a put-back by senior center Michael Orock (Hoboken, NJ/ Hoboken), the Cougars embarked on a 15-0 run capped by a Charles Abouo jump shot that staked BYU to a 22-7 lead with 10:21 to play in the first half. The Cougars went into halftime with a 41-23 advantage.

Wagner outscored BYU in the second half 38-36 but could never recover from the early deficit. Freshman guard Ryan Conrad (Charlotte, NC/Providence Day) paced Wagner with a gutsy 14-point outing , sophomore guard Tyler Murray (Eastern Commerce/Toronto, CA) added 10 points for the Seahawks while Orock chipped in with an eight-point outing.

Once again, Wagner's achilles heel was its three-point shooting as the Seahawks were just 5-of-24 from beyond the arc. For the game, Wagner shot 22-of-70 (31%).

The Cougars shot 48% from the floor overall and were just 2-of-12 from three-point range while the rebounding totals were even at 45-45. The Seahawks held BYU's leading scorer Jimmer Fredette to nine points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field. The 6-2 junior guard entered the contest averaging 18.7 points per game.

The Seahawks are next in action on Saturday, Dec. 19 when Wagner travels to Reno to take on the University of Nevada in the second round of the HoopTV Las Vegas Classic. Game time is set for 10:05 pm EST. Nevada defeated Eastern Washington 73-70 in its first round match-up.