Collinsworth leads BYU to first conference road win

BYU vs. San Francisco Notes and Quotes

BYU vs. San Francisco Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO – Five players scored in double figures to lead the BYU men’s basketball team to its first conference road win in an 83-76 victory against San Francisco on Thursday in War Memorial Gymnasium.

"That second half is a good way for us to play," BYU basketball coach Dave Rose said. "We guarded well, I thought we executed well in the half court, we shot free throws well and we rebounded the ball very well."

Kyle Collinsworth led the way with a team-high 19 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field. Skyler Halford was right behind with 18 points as he hit 11 of 12 from the charity stripe.

Matt Carlino finished with 17 points off the bench, while Tyler Haws ended with 15 points. Mika scored 11 points before fouling out and Nate Austin led the team with eight rebounds.

The Cougars (12-7, 4-2 WCC) and Dons (11-8, 4-3 WCC) traded baskets early with Haws scoring the first BYU points on a 3-pointer less than a minute into the game. After being tied 9-9, USF grabbed a 17-13 lead with under 11 minutes left to play in the first half. Josh Sharp recorded a block at the 12:45 mark and Collinsworth answered back with a two-hand dunk to cut the deficit to two. With 9:33 remaining, Carlino hit a 3-pointer to give BYU the 18-17 lead followed by a Sharp bucket for the three-point lead with just over nine minutes left.

Carlino continued his spark off the bench with an assist to Haws for the layup and another 3-pointer to put BYU up 25-23 with 7:13 remaining in the first half. Carlino and Haws made jumpers to regain a three-point lead, but the Dons took back a 33-31 lead with under two minutes to play. Halford made his first field goal from beyond the arc to give back BYU a one-point lead until USF ended the half on a 4-0 run to lead 37-34 at the half.

A 5-2 start in the second half that included a Mika layup and a baseline jumper by Collinsworth tied it at 39 a piece. USF retook a three-point lead, but Carlino responded back with another 3-pointer to tie it at 46, which was followed by Mika in the post for the 48-46 lead. With 13:14 remaining, Carlino’s steal and assist to Haws led to a slam and a free throw for a three-point play for a 51-47 BYU lead.

Halford later drained three free throws after getting fouled on a three, Collinsworth completed a three-point play to extend the Cougars’ lead to 59-52. Another jumper from Halford gave BYU a nine-point lead with 6:02 left in the game. Despite cutting BYU’s lead to five, the Dons never came back from BYU’s second-half run.

The Cougars shot 55 percent in the second half, while keeping the Dons to a 42.9 shooting percentage to win their fourth game in a row. 

BYU will stay on the road to take on Santa Clara on Saturday at 7 p.m. PST. The game will be televised on Root Sports and broadcast on the Cougar IMG Sports Network on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM.