PROVO – Kyle Collinsworth recorded his ninth career triple-double and BYU outran the Santa Clara Broncos to a 97-61 win at the Marriott Center on Thursday.
Collinsworth posted 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to build on his own NCAA career record. The feat was the third time the senior has accomplished it this season.
“I like it when Kyle is really engaged and aggressive,” BYU head coach Dave Rose said. “I think that that was a good combination tonight. He was engaged at both ends of the floor.”
BYU shot 47.3 percent for the game and had five scorers in double figures including Collinsworth. Nick Emery led all scorers with 23 points while freshman Zac Seljaas added 14 points and seven rebounds. Chase Fischer chipped in 13 points and Kyle Davis added 10.
The Cougars held Santa Clara to just 34.4 percent and only 6 of 24 (25.0 percent) from behind the arc. BYU dropped 13 triples, including Emery going 5 of 6 to tie a career high for makes.
Collinsworth grabbed his own rebound and put it back to push BYU’s early lead to 12-5 in the opening five minutes. He led with five quick points to pace the Cougars.
BYU built a 13-point lead but then suffered a scoring drought of over two minutes before Fischer took the lid off the basket again with a deep triple to make it 26-15 with 7:30 to go until halftime. Emery added another trey from a few feet behind the arc to give BYU a 30-18 edge.
Both teams went on a scoring spree in the final six minutes and BYU took a 48-34 lead into the break. The Cougars had three players already in double figures at halftime with Collinsworth at 14, Emery with 12 and Fischer with 11. Collinsworth also added eight rebounds and four assists.
Emery hit his third trey of the game and followed it up with a dish down low to Kyle Davis to make the Cougar lead 21 points at 59-38 with 17:33 left in the game.
Seljaas drained his second 3-pointer of the night to put BYU up 77-49 with 8:16 to go. Later on Jordan Chatman hit a trey of his own to make it 81-51. Collinsworth assisted on both to bring his total to eight on the night, giving the crowd hope of seeing another triple-double with the senior sitting on a double-double already.
Emery knocked down another 3-pointer assisted by Collinsworth to ignite the crowd for his ninth assist on the night with 3:51 to go.
On the next possession, Collinsworth found Braiden Shaw under the basket for a spin-around layup that went giving him his 10th assist, building on his NCAA record and bringing BYU’s lead to 88-53.
The Cougars host San Francisco Saturday at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on BYUtv. It will also be broadcast on the Cougar IMG Sports Network.
Stats: scu-byu-box_5
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