BYU defeats Albacete Basket, improves to 2-0 in Spain

BYU vs. Albacete Basket Box Score

ALBACETE, Spain – BYU improved to 2-0 on its tour of Spain with a 75-52 win over Albacete Basket Thursday. Kyle Collinsworth was dominant for the Cougars, totaling 15 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, five steals and three blocks.

“I’m really proud of the way our guys competed together today in a tough game against a very well coached team,” BYU coach Dave Rose said. “We spent three hours on the bus, the gym was hot and we were down a couple guys. Our leadership from Kyle (Collinsworth) and Chase (Fischer) was terrific.”

Kyle Davis and Chase Fischer also scored in double figures, totaling 12 and 10 points, respectively. Corbin Kaufusi helped BYU win the rebound battle (45-27) with a game-high 12 boards to go with four points and three blocks.

Several of BYU’s freshmen guards also got in on the action as Jordan Chatman had nine points, Nick Emery scored eight and Cooper Ainge had seven.

As a team, BYU hit 10 3s for the second-straight game and assisted on 18 of 29 made shots. The Cougars were especially strong on the defensive end of the floor, holding Albacete Basket to 29.0 percent (18-62) shooting and forcing 22 turnovers.

The Cougars trailed 18-17 after the first quarter and the score was tied at 34-all at the half. BYU pulled ahead 54-44 at the end of the third quarter and outscored Albacete 21-8 in the fourth to secure the 21-point victory.

Albacete was one of the top teams in the Spain-EBA league in 2014-15, finishing with a record of 21-8 and was one of 16 out of 80 teams to advance to the EBA Final Stage playoff.

BYU will play its third of four games in Spain on Monday against the European Basketball Academy in Barcelona. The game is scheduled to tip at 12 p.m. MT (8 p.m. in Barcelona).