Emery scores 20 as BYU defeats Adams State 97-56

BYU vs. Adams State Box Score

BYU vs. Adams State Highlights

BYU vs. Adams State Facebook Photo Gallery

Emery and Aytes Postgame Press Conference

Rose Postgame Press Conference

PROVO, Utah – Five Cougars scored in double figures, including freshman Nick Emery’s career-high 20 points, as the Cougars defeated Adams State 97-56 Friday night in the Marriott Center.

"I thought our execution was better," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "We got the ball in the post a lot tonight and for the most part, we were pretty good with it. We had a pretty good shooting percentage too, which is important for it.

Emery added six assists and three steals to his 20 point game and Kyle Collinsworth had 12 points to go with six rebounds and four assists on the night. Sophomore Corbin Kaufusi added 14 points and seven rebounds while Kyle Davis had his second double-double in three games with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jamal Aytes was the fifth Cougar in double figures with a career-high 11 points.

The Cougars ended the night shooting 59 percent from the floor, 32 percent from beyond the arc and 53 percent from the free-throw line. They held Adams State to just 27 percent shooting from the floor and out-rebounded the Grizzlies 48-36.

A Collinsworth dunk started the scoring off for the Cougars in the first half. They led 4-0 before Adams State’s Shakir Smith and Joe Bell Austin each drained 3-pointers to make the score 6-4. The teams traded points back and forth for the next seven minutes until the Grizzlies took a 21-18 lead with 10 minutes to play.

Emery rebounded the ball and went coast-to-coast for a layup to make it 21-20 for Adams State with 8:13 to play. Strong defense by BYU led to an Emery steal and fast break bucket for a 22-21 lead.

The Grizzlies and the Cougars traded points again for another three minutes before Collinsworth coverted a big three-point play that put BYU ahead 29-25 with five minutes to play. 

Chase Fischer’s layup and Kaufusi’s dunk extended the Cougars’ lead to 36-29 with 1:30 to play in the first half. Emery’s back-to-back 3s sent BYU into the half with a 42-29 lead. He ended the first half with 16 points.

Jordan Chatman’s 3-pointer opened up the second half for the Cougars, extending their lead to 45-29. Kaufusi added six points in two minutes to give BYU a 20-point lead with 15 minutes to go. The Cougars then went on an 8-0 run to take a 66-33 lead. In all, BYU opened the second half on a 24-4 run in the first nine minutes.

Adams State’s offense mounted an attack behind back-to-back 3s from DJ Hubbard and a layup from Kendyl Grover to narrow the lead to 32 at 77-45 for the Cougars with 7:35 to play, but the BYU offense never let up. Aytes put up seven points in two minutes to extend the BYU lead to 85-46 with five minutes to go.

Freshman Zac Seljaas provided two 3-pointers off the bench and the Cougar defense stayed strong for the last five minutes to close out the game.

The Cougars will continue their home stand by playing Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday, Nov. 25, at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on BYUtv and the live radio broadcast can be heard on the Cougar IMG Sports Network, KSL 102.7 FM and 1160 AM and BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143.