BYU vs. Saint Mary's Notes & Quotes

BYU vs. Saint Mary’s Game Story

BYU vs. Saint Mary’s Box Score

Player Notes

Nate Austin finished with season highs in points and rebounds with 6 points and 14 rebounds. Austin hadn’t grabbed nine rebounds in a game since Utah State last season and had that many in the first half. He hadn’t scored more than six points in a game since Purdue last season and had that in the first half as well.

Thursday was Austin's 130th game played which passed Russell Larson, Nathan Call and Anson Winder for 10th alone in career games started.

Austin caught Collinsworth for second in career offensive rebounds as he pulled down six total. Both Austin and Collinsworth trail Ken Roberts by 13 offensive rebounds for the top spot.

It was Chase Fischer's third straight 20-point game and 14th of his career as he used 16 second half points to finish with 21. Nick Emery scored in double figures for the 11th consecutive game as he totaled 11 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. His three 3-pointers were the sixth game he hit three in a game which passes Mark Bigelow, Robbie Reid, Mike Rose and Jimmer Fredette for the second most games with three 3-pointers by a freshman.

Kyle Collinsworth passed Marty Haws for 21st on the BYU career scoring list and passed Nathan Call for third on the career assists list as he finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

Kyle Davis scored in double figures as he has every game this season. He totaled 14 points, 3 rebounds, a block and a steal.

Team Notes

BYU opened West Coast Conference play with a loss for the third year in a row.

BYU closed December with a 5-3 record.

The Cougars started the second half on 10-0 run on a Collinsworth jumper, Davis lay-in and two Emery 3-pointers to take a 37-36 lead with 17:06 left in the game.

Collinsworth (14 season/108 career), Fischer (14/47), Emery (9/9), Davis (14/14) and Austin (3/56) started for the third straight game. BYU is now 2-1 with that starting five.

Quotes

BYU head coach Dave Rose

“They really execute well. I thought we played hard enough to win tonight. You get 72 shots and they get 55 shots, you’re really hustling. We’re just not playing as well as we needed to play. We just got out-executed tonight. 

“We were fortunate to only be down nine at half. We resolved to play better. We got a nice four to five possessions with execution defensively and got the lead. They came out and get two scores right at the rim then hit a 3 in the corner and that changed what we were in for the rest of the second half.

“We just did not execute as well as we needed to to beat a really good team at home.” 

On Austin:

“You take the 24 minutes that he played and the 14 rebounds and two or three baskets, hopefully those can become pretty consistent. His energy plays become infectious and spread throughout the team.”

Chase Fischer

On Saint Mary’s:

“They’re really well disciplined. They run their ball screens really well and it spreads you out. They’re really good at picking you apart. They’re also really tough on defense. I think they got us to play the way they wanted to play. We didn’t get in a rhythm, we didn’t get a lot of stops and didn’t get out in transition.”

On Jordan Chatman:

“He’s a really good player. He’s big and has length. He’s really athletic, so he can guard a lot of guys. He doesn’t take bad shots ever and he moves the ball really well. I think he’s just good for the offense.”

Shooting:

“It had a lot to do with their defense. They made us take bad shots…Some of the shots just didn’t fall and we didn’t get out in transition. That’s a killer for us and that’s where we thrive. We didn’t get out early in transition and that really would have changed the game for us.”