Friday, Feb. 2, 2007 | 7:11 a.m.
What: UNLV at BYU men's basketball
When: 2:30 p.m. Saturday
TV: The mtn, Cox cable channel 334
Radio: KBAD 920-AM
Brigham Young freshman forward Jonathan Tavernari returned to Las Vegas earlier this season with mixed emotions. "I love Las Vegas," he said. "As soon as I'm done with everything (basketball), I'll live here. I love the place."
The Brazil native acknowledged that maybe not everyone here was happy to see him, or happy he left a high school in Provo to play at Bishop Gorman last season. Visa regulations meant the Gaels could use a player that their public school rivals couldn't.
Tavernari had a pair of 18-point performances for BYU, and he had 17 in a victory at Utah on Wednesday. He averages 6.8 points and 10.9 minutes a game.
He misses Las Vegas. "I have a lot of friends here ... a lot of haters, too ... a lot of people don't like me, because of what happened last year.
"I don't lose sleep at night. Things like that happen in life."
1. Transition game Finding his Division-I niche has tested Tavernari. He'll play nine minutes one game, 20 the next. Every second on the bench, though, he supports fellow Cougars. "It's most important not being a cheerleader, but being a teammate," he said. "Coach (Dave Rose) might go off on me in practice, but he says to keep going, that I'm a big-time freshman and my time will come."
2. Long distance After sinking six of seven 3-point attempts against Texas Christian University, Tavernari sank two more in the first half against UNLV three weeks ago. He's hitting 41.9 percent from long range. "It's a matter of feeling it," he said. "When I have my feet set and I'm ready to shoot, I can't miss. When I rush the shot ... "
3. Nearly a Panther He said Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon came a close second in getting him. That Tavernari is Mormon, though, played a major role in him picking BYU, he said. Panthers center "Aaron Gray is my guy," Tavernari said. "I know him. But I love Coach Rose and I don't want to play for anyone else."
4. Who's your mommy? Tavernari's mother, Thelma, coached the game at the youth level in Sao Bernardo, Brazil, for 15 years and tutored her son. "Every day," he said. Thelma, he knew, had listened to the defeat to UNLV on the radio at home in Brazil, via an Internet connection to a Utah radio station. "As soon as I talk to her," he said, "she'll curse me out for some stuff I did."
5. Emeril II Tavernari enjoys cooking. Spaghetti is a specialty. Pressed for a piece de resistance, he said he'd whip up lasagna, chicken with a spicy alfredo limon sauce, raspberry or strawberry lemonade, and cheesecake. Jonathan, got a reservation for two for Saturday night?
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