Second-half comeback leads BYU past No. 25 Saint Mary's


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PROVO — It's good to be home, especially for BYU coach Dave Rose and the BYU men's basketball team.

Kyle Collinsworth scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, and BYU used a series of transition plays to rally back and hand No. 25 Saint Mary's just its third loss of the season, 70-59, Thursday night at the Marriott Center.

"If you play a team that has only lost twice by February, you have to beat them," Rose said. "They aren't going to beat themselves. We continued to battle, got some big rebounds late, and we probably could shoot free throws a little better. But we were able to hang on and win."

Collinsworth, who also had nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals, paced a furious comeback that saw the Cougars maintain a steady 48 percent in the second half while the Gaels (18-2, 9-1 West Coast Conference) shot just 23.3 percent from the field after the locker room break.

Chase Fischer scored a game-high 19 points, including four 3-pointers, for the Cougars (17-7, 8-3 WCC). Nick Emery and Kyle Davis each added eight points for BYU, and teammate Corbin Kaufusi supplied seven points and eight rebounds.

"The past couple of years I've been here, the Marriott Center has been a place where we can come in a rough stretch and get a win," Fischer said. "It's good to be back here. Our fans are amazing, and it gives us a big advantage. We play really well here. I think it helps that teams have to come to altitude here, too."

Collinsworth gave BYU its first lead since early in the first half on back-to-back makes with 13:51 left to play. Collinsworth's second jumper came with an and-one free throw, giving BYU a 44-41 lead on the Provo native's personal 5-0 run.

Saint Mary's opened the second half making just one of its first 10 shots from the field as BYU went to a 1-3-1 zone defense. The Cougars used an 8-0 run capped by Fischer's 3-pointer to build a 52-43 lead with 11:37 to go.

BYU men's basketball coach Dave Rose patrols the sidelines during the second half of action against West Coast Conference rival Saint Mary's at the Marriott Center in Provo, Feb. 4, 2016. BYU won 70-59. (Photo: Luke Franke, Deseret News)
BYU men's basketball coach Dave Rose patrols the sidelines during the second half of action against West Coast Conference rival Saint Mary's at the Marriott Center in Provo, Feb. 4, 2016. BYU won 70-59. (Photo: Luke Franke, Deseret News)

Collinsworth finished off a steal with a dunk in transition to send the Cougars up 54-48 with 9:37 left, and send the Marriott Center crowd into a frenzy on a school night. The senior career leader in assists and rebounds finished off another dunk in transition two minutes later to go up 60-48 before the Gaels started clawing back.

BYU opened the game playing a tepid pace, taking its first lead of the game as Nick Emery broke away for a failed dunk attempt, but recovered with a put-back basket less than four minutes into the game for a 7-6 lead. Jakob Hartsock's 3-pointer gave BYU a 10-6 lead, and the Cougars maintained the average through Zac Seljaas' trey with 12:35 remaining in the half to go up 18-15.

"At halftime, the coaches wanted us to play with a lot more energy," Kaufusi said. "In the first half, it's easy to get down on yourself. To come out in the second half with that boost helped a lot."

Fischer knocked down his third 3-pointer with 9:03 left in the first half to give BYU the advantage in a track-meet-like game that saw both teams open making nearly 50 percent of their shots.

But BYU ended the half converting on just two of its final eight field goals, and Saint Mary's put together a 9-0 run over two minutes that was snapped by Kyle Davis' jumper with 42 seconds remaining in the half.

Still, the damage was done and the Gaels took a 37-33 lead into the break behind nine points from Rahon and seven points apiece from Naar and Landale.

"I think I would categorize it as somber," Fischer said in summing up the halftime mood. "We left a lot out there in the first half, a lot of shots we could've made. But it was also determined. We knew we were going to come out in the second half and make some plays.

NOTES — Freshman forward Hartsock earned his first start of his career Thursday night. The youngster from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, averaged 16 points and 4.5 rebounds in back-to-back wins over LMU and Pepperdine a week ago.

Seljaas played just a few days after going down with a shoulder injury. But the freshman from Bountiful came off the bench and scored a big 3-pointer in the first half. Rose called Seljaas a game-time decision, but one that paid off.

"He went through shoot-around, but didn't look really crisp," Rose said. "The one thing about Zac is if you put him out there, they have to guard him. That gives you space."

Young BYU fan Spencer, who became an Internet celebrity after the University of Utah tweeted photos of him refusing to flash the U sign amongst a crowd of Ute fan classmates, was on the front row of the BYU student section.

Also in attendance were Utah Jazz players Dante Exum and Joe Ingles. The duo, who are both from Australia, sat behind the bench of Saint Mary's, which has seven players from Australia in this year's lineup.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

BYU 67, PACIFIC 57 — Lexi Eaton Rydalch scored a career-high 38 points to help the BYU women pull away for their 11th-straight win in WCC play.

Rydalch also had seven rebounds and four assists for the Cougars, who extended a one-point halftime lead with a 23-10 third quarter. Rydalch moved to No. 2 on BYU's all-time scoring list, passing Tresa Spaulding Hamson's 2,309 career mark from 1983-87.

Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher added 16 points and three assists for BYU, which got four points, 10 rebounds and six assists from Kalani Purcell.

Desire Finnie led the Tigers with 14 points and five rebounds, and teammate Emily Simons added 12 points and nine boards.

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