Emery and Toolson lead Cougars to win vs. ACU

BYU vs. Arizona Christian notes and quotes

PROVO, Utah – Jake Toolson and Nick Emery led BYU in a 103-75 exhibition win over Arizona Christian Friday night at the Marriott Center.

An 18-0 run early in the second half put the Cougars out in front for good. The Cougars shot 50 percent from deep as a team in the win, hitting 18 shots from behind the arc and assisted on 29 of 39 makes in the game.

"I'm really pleased with how we competed as a team," head coach Dave Rose said. "I think the first half was so different than the second half. A lot of that was our guys settled down a little bit defensively."

Toolson led all scorers with 23 points on 8 of 11 shooting, including six made three-pointers. Emery also added 20 points, going 7 of 13 from the field while hitting 4 of 6 from deep. Cory Calvert and Jakob Hartsock both added 12 points in the game. Jamal Aytes led the Cougars in rebounds, grabbing seven on the night. Toolson, Kyle Davis and Braiden Shaw each added six boards of their own. Cooper Ainge posted seven assists for the Cougars, with Calvert adding five of his own.

BYU jumped out to an early 9-5 lead as Emery hit a quick three-pointer followed by a jumper to start a 7-0 run three minutes into the half.

After two scores from ACU, Calvert and Emery hit back-to-back shots from deep followed by a Nate Austin putback to push the BYU lead to 17-10 with 15 minutes left in the half.

The Firestorm took the lead on an 8-0 run, but a Hartsock jumper put the Cougars up 26-25 with eight minutes left to play. BYU and ACU traded the lead on three sets of three-point baskets, bringing the score to 38-37 for the Firestorm with four minutes remaining in the half.

Austin came up with a big putback at 1:54 to put BYU up 41-40. With a minute left, Kyle Davis blocked a Firestorm shot that Emery quickly pushed up the court to Davis for the dunk and BYU and ACU went into the lockerroom tied 44-44.

Emery finished the half with 15 points while shooting 60 percent from deep. Toolson shot 4 for 6 from the field to contribute 11 points for the Cougars.

Toolson converted an and-one 3-point play to put the Cougars up 47-46 with two minutes gone in the second half.

After exchanging baskets with the Firestorm, BYU took a 54-48 lead as Emery hit his fourth three on the night with 16 minutes left to play.

Hartsock hit a shot from deep as part of the 18-0 BYU run at the 14 minute mark that put the Cougars up 67-48. Toolson capped the run with his fifth 3-pointer of the night.

Both teams traded a couple quick scores before BYU went up 80-61 on back-to-back three pointers from Calvert and Zac Seljaas at the eight minute mark.

Toolson hit a highly-contested corner three as the shot clock expired with four minutes to go, bringing the score to 90-67 for BYU.

Braiden Shaw came up with the big putback dunk off a missed shot at the two minute mark to give the Cougars a 96-67 lead. Alan Hamson was the last BYU player to score and the Cougars finished off the Firestorm 103-75.

BYU returns to the Marriott Center next Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. MST to face Alaska in another exhibition contest. The game will be broadcast on BYUtv and can be streamed on byutv.org. Cougar fans can also listen to the game on the Cougar IMG Sports Network (KSL 1160 AM or 102.7 FM) or on BYU Radio and Sirius XM 143.

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