Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO — The BYU men’s basketball team picked up a 62-47 road win over Pacific Saturday afternoon, though it came without starting guard Nick Emery much of the second half.
Emery suffered an injury to his left knee in the second half of the contest, and did not return as Eric Mika totaled 17 points and 12 rebounds en route to the 15-point win.
Emery’s status remains day-to-day as the Cougars prepare for Thursday’s road game at Santa Clara. But head coach Dave Rose gave a welcome update after Tuesday’s workout: Emery’s injury has been diagnosed as a contusion, or a deep bruise, with no structural damage.
“It’s just pretty sore,” said Rose, who mentioned Emery returned to practice Tuesday after therapy during Monday’s workout.
“It’s improved a little bit. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. I think that he would be considered day-to-day.”
Rose has known Emery, the younger brother of former BYU star Jackson Emery who averages 14.5 points per game as a sophomore, since the former’s days at Lone Peak High School. The BYU coach was quick to mention his player’s chances at playing against the Broncos this week.
“I’ve been around Nick a long time, and he wants to play,” Rose said. “If he can, he will.”
Contusions are the second-leading cause of sports injuries, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. The minor ailment heals quickly, unless deep tissue damage has been done, which can lead to month-long complications.
Common symptoms of the injury are swelling, pain and limited range of motion to the affected joints.
Emery played a key role Dec. 29 in the Cougars’ 89-59 win over Santa Clara as the primary defender, holding leading scorer Jared Brownridge to eight points on 25 percent shooting. But BYU point guard L.J. Rose is confident his team can overcome any shortcomings Emery’s injury may bring this week.
“I think it impacts us tremendously,” L.J. Rose said. “But we have other guys who are capable as well, with Eli (Bryant), Davin (Guinn), TJ (Haws) and myself. We’ll have to have a team effort, rather than just relying on Nick.”
The simple addition of Bryant, who is averaging 9.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in 11 games since returning from a knee injury, will be a key factor in replacing any lost production from Emery, coach Rose said.
“We’ll give Elijah a nice look at him, and TJ (Haws) at times, depending on the situation," he added. "We’ll use a few more guys, as opposed to Nick being totally dedicated to him.”
SECOND GO-AROUND — The Broncos shot just 30.1 percent from the field in the 30-point loss at BYU a month ago, but the Cougars expect a different team when traveling to the Leavey Center on Thursday.
For starters, K.J. Feagin is healthy and averaging 13.6 points and 5.6 assists per game. The first time Santa Clara faced BYU, Feagin had just eight points on 3-of-12 shooting in his second game of the season following an injury.
“We caught them on a bad night,” L.J. Rose said. “They’re a good team, and they’ve been playing pretty well when we played them. As you saw with Pacific, the second time around is hard to beat them.”
COMMITMENT TO DEFENSE — A key component to BYU’s second conference road win of the season Saturday was defense.
The Cougars forced Pacific into 11 turnovers, including nine steals, and scored eight points off turnovers in the 62-47 win.
“It all comes down to practice. That’s been one of the focuses we’ve had lately: being able to play fast but still do what we can do on defense,” Davin Guinn said. “We’ve been trying to do everything at pace, but still crisp.”
