Cougars cruise past CMU for fourth-straight win

PROVO, Utah- Six players scored in double figures to lead the BYU men’s basketball team to its fourth-straight victory against Colorado Mesa in a 84-60 win on Saturday.

"We found ways to find energy," BYU basketball head coach Dave Rose said. "We had two or three different times during the game where we got spurts where we were able to get three or four stops put back together and then go down and score. That was enough to carry us through the game tonight."

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The Cougars’ defense held the Mavericks to 34.7 percent shooting, while outrebounding them 44-34 and scoring 23 points off turnovers. BYU dominated in the paint, 42-12, and outscored CMU 21-4 on second-chance points.

Junior guard Matt Carlino led the team with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block, while Kyle Collinsworth finished with 15 points, six rebounds, six assists and tied a career-high with four steals. Nate Austin added four points and a career-high 12 rebounds of his own.

Anson Winder, who started in place of an injured Tyler Haws for the second-straight night, added 14 points and five rebounds. Freshman Eric Mika contributed 11 points and Frank Bartley IV finished with 10 points, three rebounds and two steals off the bench. Skyler Halford also scored in double digits with 12 points.

The first four points came on a Mika layup on an inbound pass from Collinsworth and a Carlino steal that led to a Winder layup in transition. CMU tied it at 8-8, but the Cougars went on a 9-0 run that included six points by Bartley to extend the lead to 17-8. Soon after entering the game, Bartley completed a three-point play and got a steal for a layup at the 11:09 mark. With 8:25 remaining in the half, Bartley drew a charge to hold a seven-point lead.

BYU answered with another 9-0 run, including a spin through the lane to complete a three-point play by Collinsworth after CMU tied it at 23 apiece. Carlino ended the half with a layup at the buzzer to give the Cougars a 36-28 lead. Carlino led the team with eight points, while Winder and Bartley finished with six points each at the half.

"During that run coming out of halftime, our guys were really good at getting to the basket and finishing at the rim and getting to the free-throw line," Rose said. "I think there are a lot of lessons to really be learned from this game."

The Cougars ran away with it to start the second half after going on a 21-1 run and holding CMU without a field goal for the first eight minutes to extend their lead to 57-29. Mika and Halford both converted three-point plays during the run with Austin getting a block at the 13:45 mark.

With 9:27 remaining, Collinsworth hit BYU’s only 3-pointer of the game to make it a 61-40 lead and end CMU’s 11-1 run. Halford later completed his second three-point play to take the 73-54 lead with 4:13 left in the game.

"I think that every game is a new challenge," Rose said. "What we have to do is respond to each challenge and each style of how everyone will play."

BYU will stay at home to play Iowa State on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. MST. The game will be televised live on ESPNU and broadcast on the Cougar IMG Sports Network on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM.

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