Cougars celebrate Collinsworth's record on first Rose Show


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PROVO — When Shaquille O'Neal won the NBA MVP award during the '99-'00 season he quoted the Greek philosopher, Aristotle saying, "Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do."

Shaq was right. Or maybe Aristotle was right. err.. Shaqistotle?

Whoever you want to attribute for the sentiment, excellence is a habit for BYU senior Kyle Collinsworth.

Collinsworth was key in a 95-81 BYU win over Belmont last Saturday night. The Provo native scored 26 points, contributed 10 assists and had 10 rebounds. It was his 7th career triple-double.

In recording his 7th triple-double, Collinsworth broke the NCAA record. The record was previously held by Shaquille O'Neal, for most triple doubles in a career.

"For me the triple doubles, it's not something I think about, it's something the system allows me to do." Collinsworth explained Tuesday's first coach's show at Malawi's Pizza. "Coach (Dave Rose) allows me to crash the offensive boards, (he) allows me to have the ball in my hands to make plays."

The Cougars' head coach, Rose, had praise for his senior guard's ability to help his team in a variety of ways. "You realize his skill level, his ability, his basketball IQ, he's a pass first guy and he just continues to improve," he said.

Collingsworth's record-breaking triple-double was not celebrated following the Cougars win at the Marriott Center as it first appeared that Collinsworth was one rebound short of the record.

Photo: Ravell Call, Deseret News
Photo: Ravell Call, Deseret News

"I had about 30 texts of random people saying I'm sure you had 10 rebounds," Collinsworth said about his stat line on Saturday night. "I just thought there wasn't anything I could do about it, but coach took care of me."

Thinking that Collinsworth had potentially broken the record, Rose and the team statisticians took a closer look at the game and submitted two instances where they believed Collinsworth might have had a rebound that was not recorded.

Upon further review, the NCAA ruled that one was absolutely a rebound and the adjusted stats lead way to a rush of congratulations for Collinsworth.

Congrats for his big accomplishment began pouring in from BYU fans, family, former teammates and others. On the national stage, Collinsworth's achievement was recognized as the CBS Sports College Basketball Player of the Week.

Despite national recognition and expectations to be a leader on the court for the Cougars, Collinsworth doesn't allow himself to be worn down emotionally.

"(I) take it day by day," he said about the pending schedule featuring three in-state games in a row. "In practice today, I gave everything I had mentally and then after I relaxed and took a step back; and tomorrow I'll do the same."

BYU plays Utah at the Huntsman Center on Wednesday. That contest is followed by a Saturday game at Vivint Arena against Weber State. The Cougars then return to the Marriott Center against Utah State on Dec. 9.

As BYU starts to get more into the swing of things, Rose learns more about his team.

Nick Emery's early-season offensive prowess has landed him a spot as a starter on this BYU squad. Rose has been pleasantly surprised by Emery's efforts, which included a team-high 27 points against Belmont.

Rose also made remarks saying he's been surprised by Chase Fischer's slow start to the season but was very pleased with his 5 for 10 effort from 3-point range on Saturday.

Jake Toolson also contributed 6 points on 2-of-2 shooting in BYU's win Saturday. Toolson's efforts resulted in him being named the ServePRO of Provo sub of the game.

Rose took time to pay tribute to his former college coach, Guy Lewis. Rose played for Lewis at the University of Houston from 1980-1983, including in the 1983 national championship game with "Phi Slamma Jamma."

"As a coach the most impressive thing to me was his competitive spirit and his passion for the game," Rose said of Lewis. He was such a fair honest person, just a good guy," he said. "Everybody that you ever ran into over the years would talk about how good of a person he was."


David Boyle is a student at Brigham Young University studying journalism. He is from Monticello, Utah, and is thrilled to be covering BYU football and basketball for fall 2015. Follow David on twitter @dboyle119.

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