Fischer, Davis lead BYU to win over UVU in season opener

PROVO, Utah – Chase Fischer scored a game-high 20 points and Kyle Davis posted 17 points and 20 boards to lead BYU men’s basketball to an 85-54 win over Utah Valley in the season opener Friday night at the Marriott Center.

"I think that just the whole atmosphere and gym tonight was tremendous for our home opener," BYU basketball coach Dave Rose said. "We had a great crowd. I think we anticipated that there would be a lot of energy and excitement when we got started, and there was. It was a well-played game and a hard-fought game. I'm obviously happy about the win."

Fischer shooting 7 of 13 from the field and hit three 3s, while Davis set a school record for rebounds in a BYU season opener with 20. Triple-double threat Kyle Collinsworth had 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

BYU finished with a 40.5 percent shooting percentage, 28.0 percent from deep and 66.7 percent from the free-throw line. The Cougars held the Wolverines to 26.4 percent shooting from the field and 17.2 percent from three. BYU led UVU the entire game with their largest lead of 33 points coming with 2:30 left in the game, 85-52.

After a slow start, BYU began the game with a 4-0 run from Collinsworth and Davis. In the first seven minutes the Cougars would lead the Wolverines 12-2 with Fischer leading with six points and Davis with nine rebounds. The Cougars would continue to a 22-2 lead with 10 minutes to go in the half, keeping the Wolverines to only one basket and extending their run to 18-0.

UVU would finally score with 9:52 to go and bring the score to 22-5, but BYU wouldn’t let it slide. The Cougars returned with another Collinsworth basket, assisted by Davis. The Wolverines hit their first three, but the Cougars answered with a basket from Davis and then another bucket from Collinsworth to score bringing the Cougars on another 4-0 run.

The Cougars and Wolverines would go back in the forth in the next few minutes to bring the score to 32-16. A foul shot from UVU and an out of bounds ball would allow UVU to get within 13 at 32-19. With another 7-0 run the Cougars led the Wolverines 39-19 after baskets from Fischer, Davis and Collinsworth.

UVU ended BYU’s run with a 3-pointer, but Fischer and Corbin Kaufusi rallied back to put the Cougars up 43-22 with 1:42 to go in the half. In the last minute Nick Emery hit a three and UVU scored right before the buzzer to make the half time score 46-26.

UVU began the second half with a free throw to cut the decifit to 19, but Davis answered with a basket of his own to make it 48-27 in favor of the Cougars. With BYU leading 50-31, a Jake Toolson three started a 7-0 run that also included two Davis free throws and a bucket from Collinsworth.

With 10:39 to go, Collinsworth stole the ball and he dropped it off to Fischer for a three to bring the Cougars up 32, 67-35. A 3-pointer from the Wolverines ended an 8-0 run by the Cougars. The Wolverines began a run of their own going 4-0, but Kaufusi and Zac Seljaas quickly shut it down with Seljaas’ first 3-pointer of the game, putting the Cougars up 72-42 with 7:05 to go in the game.

BYU's final points of the game came on a jumper by Cory Calvert to put the Cougars ahead 85-52. UVU hit two more free throws to round out the scoring for an 85-54 final score.

The Cougars hit the road on Monday, Nov. 16, for their first road game against Long Beach State in Long Beach, California. Tipoff will be at 10:45 p.m. PST and will be televised on ESPN2 and broadcast on Cougar IMG Sports Network on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/ and BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143.

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