BYU vs. Santa Clara Notes & Quotes

Player Notes

Kyle Collinsworth recorded his third triple-double and sixth double-double of the season with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. He added 2 steals.
It was Collinsworth’s 28th double-double of his career passing Russell Larson and tying Brett Applegate for seventh in BYU history. It was also his ninth career triple-double (adding to his NCAA career record) and he’s halfway to his season record of six from last year.
Collinsworth passed Trent Plaisted for 20th on the career scoring list and now has 1,381 career points. He passed Danny Ainge for the second most assists in BYU history with 548. Collinsworth only trails Matt Montague by 22 assists for the program record. He passed teammate Nate Austin to take back second place in career offensive rebounds by one. His 10-assist game was the 13th of his career and most in program history.
Chase Fischer didn’t score 20 or more points for the first time in five games as he finished with 13 points and 3 rebounds. His two 3-pointers tied Lee Cummard for the 8th most made 3-pointers in BYU history.
Nate Austin played in his 132nd career game passing Lee Cummard and Chris Miles and tying Jonathan Tavernari for seventh most in BYU history.
Nick Emery led all scorers with 23 points to go with 2 assists, a rebound and a steal. He tied a career-high with five makes from downtown.
Emery tied Matt Carlino for the most games with three or more 3-pointers by a freshman in BYU history with his seventh of the season. Emery also tied Mekeli Wesley and Devin Durrant and passed Tyler Haws for the 5th most 20-point games for a freshman with his fifth of the season. Emery passed Robbie Reid for the fifth most 3-pointers made by a freshman with 39.
Zac Seljaas scored 14 points on 4 of 10 shooting from 3-point range. He passed Mike Rose and Jonathan Tavernari for 3-pointers made by freshmen and now has 32, the seventh most by a freshman in BYU history.
Kyle Davis returned to double digits in points after snapping his streak of 14 games to begin the season against Pacific. He finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.

Team Notes

The 97-61victory is BYU’s 25th all-time over Santa Clara.
The win is also the 13th-straight home win and seventh-straight home conference win.
BYU is 2-0 in January and is now 2-1 in WCC play.
For the fifth straight game, Fischer (16 season/49 career), Emery (11/11), Collinsworth (16/110), Davis (16/16) and Austin (5/58) started for the Cougars. BYU is 4-1 with those starters.
BYU had three players score in double figures in the first half as Collinsworth put in 14, Emery 12 and Fischer 11. Collinsworth led BYU in the first half with 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
A 7-0 run gave BYU a 21-9 lead with 12:29 left in the first half. Collinsworth scored two from the line and after three misses by Santa Clara, an Emery layup and a Seljaas 3-pointer put the Cougars up double digits for the first time.

Quotes

BYU head coach Dave Rose

“It was really good to be back in the Marriott Center. Great student section, good crowd and I felt like our guys could feel the energy and we got off to a good start and it got better as the game went on. Guys did a good job executing and we did a nice job contesting Brownridge's shot and for the most part we protected the rim pretty well and challenged shots, rebounded well and we didn't turn the ball over. Take that combination and usually you're going to have a pretty good night and we did.”

On Kyle Collinsworth's triple double performance:

“The score was at a point where it felt doable. This sort of thing can get really awkward if you get those late in the game. Execution is a huge issue but it’s quite amazing what we're seeing because it’s hard to have an effect like that on a college basketball game no matter where you're playing or who you're playing because it takes a really rare talent to be able to rebound at that clip, assist at that clip and score at that clip. I like it when Kyle is really engaged and aggressive and I think that that was a good combination tonight. He was engaged at both ends of the floor. You watch the film and made it really tough on Brownridge with his size and his athleticism. He got a foul early which is a little kind of scary because there was a lot of game to play but he adjusted well.”

“Getting him the ball on the block is a big part of our plan and getting him to be aggressive and score from there. He's always been a really good passer from there but I think that his confidence to be able to score from either block, either side has really improved.”

On Nick Emery's performance:

“He was another guy that was really aggressive and really engaged. He's really competitive and he's a gamer and it was good to see him bounce back tonight.”

“Nick always feels like he can do a little bit more and play a little bit better and I think tonight you could see the potential that he really has to affect the college game and he was good. He was really good tonight.”

On facing San Francisco:

“They're really aggressive on the dribble and that's something that we have to work to prepare for. We have to keep guys out of the paint and away from the basket and as you do that if you help to much they're good at spreading it out to hurt you and defensively they do a great job trapping, so it'll be a whole different game on Saturday.”

Kyle Collinsworth

On his triple double performance:

“From a team perspective, when I do get triple-doubles it means that we're rebounding well and getting assists well. For me as an individual, the main focus in the game is rebounding because when I can rebound and get the ball in my hands and push it up the floor and find shooters like Nick and Chase and Zac and those guys it creates a whole new game for us. I just focus on rebounding and the rest just seems to happen for us because we've got great shooters.”

On Zac Seljaas' performance:

“That's what makes him a good shooter, he doesn't think I'm 1 for 7 or I'm this and that. When he's open he just shoots his shot and that's what you have to do. You have to keep doing what you do and even when it’s not going the way you want you have to stick with it. Basketball is so much of a mental sport, no matter what happens you have to stay in tune with your body and your mind and you'll get back on it and that's what he did. Props to him, he can shoot.”

Nick Emery

On having one of his best performances of the season:

“I think you just learn. Every game is new and you just learn to focus on what we're good at as a basketball team. I think college basketball is up and down, some games you play really well and some games you don't play as well. Consistent effort is how we're going to win games.”

“The trust that these guys have in me to hit shots when I need to, I have all the confidence in the world that that's my play and I just need to make it.”

On playing at home:

“â€‹I think it feels good, playing at home and knocking down some shots it helps your confidence. Going into league play, they're scouting us great and they know our weaknesses and that's what they play it to and you have to overcome that.”

Santa Clara head coach Kerry Keating

What led to the rebounding discrepancy:

"We didn't shoot the ball well is the one thing that stands out to me. We had our chances to make some shots early there. They didn't go down and it kind of steamrolled on us. We had a chance to cut it down to four possessions and we fell asleep on the last inbound and it made it five. It's tough to do when you give the ball back to them to start the half. When you dig a hole, it's tough to get out of especially with a young team."

On the importance of Brownridge to his team:

"Everything. He had good looks early and they just didn't go down. He's the catalyst and other guys feed off him. Unfortunately, he had some good looks and he wasn't able to make them tonight."

On why Collinsworth is so tough to defend:

"He's 25 years old. He's a man. Our starting point guard turned 18 in October and he's 25. It's tough to deal with when he's that strong and he's good. He's a talented kid and he rebounds his own misses a lot, so it puts you in a tough spot if you let him catch it too deep in the hole. He takes advantage of a lot of opportunities. He's a good player."

Why does it seem that the WCC has more parity this year:

"Good coaches and good players. I think the league is going to continue to get better as the years pass. Everyone is trying their best to be competitive in a lot of different ways. None is more important than getting better players in the league which I think has happened over the last decade. I think it will be a great season by the time we get to the Orleans Arena. There will be a lot of things up for grabs on the table."