Newcomers shine in BYU Blue's comeback win at Cougar Tipoff


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PROVO — There weren't any name tags on the front of each BYU men's basketball players' jerseys Wednesday night at the Marriott Center, but there were plenty of new faces as the Cougars tipped off the first exhibition of 2015-16.

And the new faces showed they can play, too.

Nick Emery scored 13 of his team-high 19 points in the second half to help BYU's Blue squad erase a 23-point halftime deficit and rally to a 66-60 win over the White team in an intrasquad scrimmage Wednesday night at the Marriott Center.

"College ball is a lot different from what we are used to in high school," said Emery, who returned from a two-year LDS Church mission in the spring. "It was fun to get out in front of these guys under the lights and to get that first game underneath us. I think we proved how good we are. It was exciting and fun."

True freshman Zac Seljaas also scored 19 points to lead the White team, and the newcomer from Bountiful also had two assists, two blocked shots and a steal for the White squad.

"We've been practicing all summer and into the fall, and we just went out and showed what we could do," Seljaas said. "We just tried to do what we did in practice, run and get the feel of it all."

Jake Toolson added 10 points and three assists for the Blue team, and Jamal Aytes had six points, six rebounds in 30 minutes of play.

For the White squad, Cory Calvert finished with 10 points, three assists and two rebounds, and Elijah Bryant added 14 points, four assists and two rebounds. White's Jakob Hartsock supplied eight points and four rebounds.

BYU star Kyle Collinsworth and post Corbin Kaufusi did not play for the Cougars Wednesday night. Chase Fischer picked up a right quad contusion when he came down on teammate Braiden Shaw's knee in the second half, and Jordan Chatman sprained an ankle that kept him out for the second half.


College ball is a lot different from what we are used to in high school. It was fun to get out in front of these guys under the lights and to get that first game underneath us. I think we proved how good we are. It was exciting and fun.

–BYU guard Nick Emery


BYU coach Dave Rose indicated after the game that Fischer's injury may sideline him for a few weeks, but he expects each of his injured players to be back by the beginning of the season.

"It's really painful," Rose said of Fischer's ailment, "but whenever he gets ready to come back to play, I'm sure he'll have a big pad on there. He had a direct collision from Braiden's knee."

Emery led the veteran-laden Blue team in the second half, draining a 3-pointer with 12:30 left to pull his team within 42-36 on four scoring drives in five trips down the court. The trey gave Emery his third three of the night and put the returned missionary freshman at the top of the scoring column with 12 points.

"I think in the first half, we were just a bit too excited to get out in front of a crowd," Emery said. "But that comeback just shows how much heart this team has, and how much trust we have in this team. It was fun. The way we played in the second half was fun basketball."

Seljaas nailed a 3-pointer with 5:17 left to put the White team up 54-53, but Emery's jumper 20 seconds later gave the Blue team a 55-54 edge with 4:57 left to play, and the Blue team lead the rest of the way.

"To play for Coach Rose you have to be able to shoot it," Seljaas said. "That's what I came in like, and that's what Nick comes in like. We've just got to be able to come in and do what he expects us to do."

Emery finished the first half with just six points, but ended the night with an efficient 6-of-9 field goals, including three 3-pointers to go along with two assists, two steals and four rebounds.

Even in the first half, though, the newcomers shined. Recently returned missionary Calvert led all scorers with 10 points in the first 20 minutes for the White team, and Seljaas scored nine before the break. Elon transfer Bryant had seven of his 14 points before the break for the White team, which took a 37-19 lead into the locker room of the newly renovated Marriott Center.

The White team exploded to a 10-1 lead, capped by a 3-pointer from Calvert with about 15 minutes left in the half to take the early advantage. Seljaas then nailed back-to-back 3-pointers with 11:24 remaining to push the lead to 17-4 in favor of the White squad.

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Seljaas' three early treys highlighted a 12-0 run over 2:49 for the White squad, pushing the lead to 23-4, and the shooters never looked back in the first-half rout.

"I like the way both teams competed, especially in the second half when the game was tight," Rose said. "We've got a lot of things to work on, especially the empty possessions in the second half. Defensively, we were pretty good. All in all, we'll try to learn from it."

Calvert led all scorers in the first half with 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting. Seljaas was 3-for-3 from 3-point range for nine points, and Bryant added seven points and three assists for the White squad, which shot 52.4 percent from the field in the first half and made 7-of-12 attempts (58.3 percent) from 3-point range.

"I think you see that in freshmen," said Rose, noting the Blue team was made up of five players who didn't play competitively for the past two years. "These two kids have flashes of really good play on some days. The next couple of days, they could struggle a bit, so the key for us will be to find the consistent young guys that can help us."

Emery went 2-for-3 for six points with two assists for BYU Blue in the first half, and Fischer added four points and a steal for the Blue squad. The duo were the only BYU players to play all 20 minutes of the first half, though Chatman played 19 minutes for BYU White and finished the half with two points, one assist and one steal.

The Cougars host Arizona Christian in an exhibition game Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Marriott Center.

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Sean Walker

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