Jimmer Fredette scored a career-high 52 points and became Brigham Young’s all-time leading scorer as the No. 8 Cougars defeated New Mexico 87-76 on Friday to advance to the Mountain West Conference championship game in Las Vegas.

Fredette made 22 of 37 shots and had seven 3-pointers en route to a Mountain West tournament single-game scoring record. The National Player of the Year candidate passed Danny Ainge as the school’s career leading scorer as the top-seeded Cougars (30-3) defeated the Lobos (21-12) for the first time in three meetings this season.

BYU will play San Diego State in Saturday’s title game.

Fredette set a school record for points and has 2,471 career points, four more than the legendary Ainge scored from 1977-81.

Drew Gordon had 17 points and 15 rebounds for fifth-seeded New Mexico.

The Lobos were within 62-61 after Kendall Williams’ 3-pointer with 8:29 remaining, but Fredette scored 11 points during a 12-4 run that gave BYU a nine-point lead with 4:25 to play.

Fredette had 33 points on 14-of-20 shooting in the first half. He scored BYU’s first 10 points and later scored 12 consecutive points over a 2 1/2-minute span in which BYU took a 34-33 lead with 5:16 left in the half.

The Lobos played most of the second half without first-team all-conference point guard Dairese Gary, who injured his right knee.