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LAS VEGAS — In front of a Monday-night crowd at the Orleans Arena on Monday night, Kyle Collinsworth did something that no other college basketball before him had done.
With just over seven minutes remaining in the Cougars’ rout of Portland in a West Coast Conference tournament semifinal, Collinsworth stepped up to the free-throw line and dropped in a freebie. The crowd of 8,546 erupted, but not because of the extra point.
That free throw earned Collinsworth his sixth triple-double of the season, and the junior from Provo celebrated in style with a step-back fist pump directed toward the traveling BYU students in the corner of the arena.
“That was the biggest free throw I’ve ever felt,” said Collinsworth. “Everyone was yelling while I was shooting, and most of them were BYU fans. But I have to give credit to my teammates. We have a lot of good shooters. Our team and our pace, it makes it easy to get a triple-double. They are such good shooters, and I just have to find them for the assist.”
Collinsworth finished with 13 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists as BYU rolled by Portland 84-70 on Saturday night and advanced to the Cougars’ second-straight WCC championship game, in which they will face No. 7 Gonzaga at 7 p.m. MT Tuesday.
The mark tied the NCAA record for most triple-doubles in a career with former Drexel guard Michael Anderson and LSU big man Shaquille O’Neal. Now, the junior from Provo sits tied with two of college basketball’s most prolific players.
Just as impressive for BYU coach Dave Rose was how Collinsworth’s game fueled his teammates — both on the offensive and defensive ends.
“Kyle’s game was good,” Rose said, a bit understatedly. “He was tremendous defensively, really active, and his ability to find players in their spots is pretty unique. It was a special night for us.”
Collinsworth completed the feat almost exactly one year after suffering a season-ending knee injury. The Provo High alum tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the semifinals of the 2014 tournament, and he was done for the season — even as his team pushed into the championship game against Gonzaga and into the NCAA Tournament.
It was just another moment to motivate Collinsworth in the offseason, prompting him to complete hours of rehabilitation and control his workout and diet routines — capped by his return to the court last fall, barely six months after surgery.
“Looking back at a year ago, I just remember sitting on the couch, raising my leg up a thousand times a day,” Collinsworth said. “I just tried to take it day-by-day to get to this point, progressing and getting my speed back. Everything is slowly coming back, and I’m just grateful that I am able to play again.
“I’m grateful to be playing again, because I love this game.”
The game was hardly in doubt, even when Alec Wintering marched down the court for a layup following the Pilots’ opening tip 26 seconds into the game, a move that would give Portland a 2-0 lead — its largest of the game.
But the throng of BYU supporters in the arena — and even more watching ESPN’s broadcast across the nation — held their collective breath as Collinsworth stepped up to the foul line with 6 minutes, 47 seconds remaining on the clock. A wave of “Shhhhh” swept through the Orleans Arena, and the free throw was taken in so much silence that the setting briefly resembled a church service rather than a college basketball game.
When the two foul shots went through the net, giving Collinsworth 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, the cheers were enormous.
His teammates were hardly surprised, though.
“I see how hard he works, how he does his rehab; it’s no joke when he says he did 1,000 leg raises,” said BYU guard Chase Fischer, who had a game-high 24 points. “It’s a large injury to come back from, but I see how hard he works every single day. The dedication of shooting and basketball stuff helps how hard he recovers, even down to what he eats. It’s not surprising at all; he’s a special person. It’s great to see this happen to anyone on our team, and what he’s doing is amazing.”
After the momentous occasion, Collinsworth exited to a raucous applause as BYU coach Dave Rose began pulling his starters in the final two minutes and change. But he wasn’t the only one who had a big night.
Fischer also made news Monday night by missing two 3-pointers in the first half of Monday’s semifinal. Two of them, even.
In a half when just about everything else seemed to go BYU’s way, that was the headline at the break.
Fischer finished 20 first-half points, including six 3-pointers, to help the Cougars surge to a 42-24 halftime lead on the Pilots and never look back.
“I thought our guys were really, really good in the first half,” Rose said. “We were active defensively, got our hands on a lot of balls, and then they led to some breakouts for us. Chase was, for us, terrific.”
Fischer’s feat was so remarkable that his name was the No. 5 trending topic on Twitter by 10:13 p.m. MT — less than 45 minutes after the Cougars tipped against their conference foe.
The junior from Ripley, W. Va. drained his first 3-pointer with only one minute, 17 seconds into the half, and didn’t let up from there.
“I think when we make shots, it’s easy for everyone to get open and hit (more) shots,” said Fischer, who knocked down six 3-pointers game’s first 15 minutes. “But even when we aren’t hitting a lot of shots, we’re confident we can hit anything. I think this group is special; we’ve been through so much, the ups and downs and the contrasts of these two seasons. Our chemistry and closeness makes our confidence go up a lot.”
The Cougars were playing without guard Anson Winder, who suffered a leg injury in the first half of BYU’s quarterfinal win over Santa Clara on Saturday. The senior from Las Vegas was just the latest casualty in a long string for BYU, including Nate Austin’s season-ending hamstring tear at the start of conference play and the loss of UNLV transfer Jamal Aytes around Christmas — when he would’ve been eligible to suit up for the Cougars.
“But we’ve been through a lot of these experiences, where guys have missed a game or two or three,” Rose said. “I think tonight is the first time that we allowed our players to play for each other and to play for the guys who couldn’t play tonight.”
But Fischer’s hot shooting streak was nearly forgotten by the time he left the game for good with 1:59 remaining on the clock.
The night, it would seem, belonged to Collinsworth — for good reason. Even so, the Cougars have one more game tomorrow, and a chance to clinch their first conference tournament championship in Rose’s tenure as head coach, coming against a top-10 Zags squad whose lone in-conference loss came 10 days ago at home to BYU.
“We’ve got a huge challenge in front of us with tomorrow,” Rose said.
GONZAGA 79, PEPPERDINE 61 — At Orleans Arena, the Bulldogs used a 10-0 run in the beginning of the second half to pull away from the Waves and clinch a spot in their 18th-straight WCC championship game Tuesday.
Kyle Wiltjer scored two of his 17 points with 18:58 left, followed by back-to-back 3-pointers by him and Gary Bell, Jr. as the Zags turned a 37-35 halftime lead into a rout.
Wiltjer then slammed home a dunk 27 seconds after Przemek Karnowski threw down a monstrous jam to put the Zags up 60-45 with 11:02 left in the game. Karnowski finished with 13 points and six rebounds, and Wiltjer added nine boards.
Byron Wesley scored two of his game-high 25 points with 10:31 remaining to push Gonzaga’s lead to 20 at 65-45, and the Zags rolled. Kevin Pangos chipped in six assists despite sitting for much of the game with foul trouble.
Stacy Davis led Pepperdine with 15 points and seven rebounds, and teammate Jeremy Major added 12 points, three rebounds and three assists.
