Tigers hand Cougars first home loss of the season

PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball suffered its first home loss of the season in a 77-72 setback to Pacific Saturday afternoon in the Marriott Center.

“We got off to a good start and shared the ball well, but defensively we were a step slow,” BYU head coach Dave Rose said. “We’ve watched this team over the last three or four weeks and they play everybody really close. We know it’s a team that has really talented individuals that are tough matchups for us. They guard us really well and they’re very physical.”

The Cougars (17-8, 8-4 West Coast Conference) shot just 33.9 percent in the game and 23.3 percent in the second half while the Tigers (7-15, 5-7 WCC) came away with their second road win of the season. The game was close throughout as it featured 17 lead changes and 12 ties.

Chase Fischer led all scorers with 23 points, including three 3-pointers and 14 of 14 shooting from the free-throw line. Kyle Davis shot a team-best 8 of 11 from the floor for 21 points to go along with five rebounds, while Kyle Collinsworth added nine points, 12 boards and four assists.

BYU held a 34-32 lead at halftime as Davis scored 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting and Chase Fischer hit 3 of 6 from 3-point range.

Despite struggling from the field in the beginning of the second half, BYU led 43-40 at the 14:21 mark.

Pacific, which held the upper hand in second-half shooting at 40 percent, moved ahead for the first time in the second half on a pair of DJ Ursery free throws for a 49-48 advantage at the 10:45 mark.

Down 59-56 BYU tied it up with 4:33 left in the game as Emery was fouled on a 3-pointer attempt and converted all three free throws.

The Cougars took a 1-point lead on a Collinsworth free throw, but the Tigers pushed back in front, breaking an 0-for-5 streak on a T.J. Wallace 3-pointer for the 62-60 advantage with 3:30 left in the game.

With 1:38 to play Pacific extended the lead to its largest of the game, 68-62 on a pair of Alec Kobre free throws. BYU cut the deficit to three points with 10 seconds left, but the Tigers kept the Cougars at bay with two more free throws for the eventual 77-72 final tally.

The Cougars hit the road next week for two games in the Bay Area starting with a matchup at San Francisco Thursday at 7 p.m. PST. The game will be televised live on BYUtv and broadcast live on the Cougar IMG Sports Network, KSL NewsRadio 102.7 FM/1160 AM and BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143. Live streaming video will be available on BYUtv.org.

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