PROVO — A lot has been said about the BYU basketball program in the 24 hours since it was announced that Utah had backed out of a scheduled meeting in Provo in 2016-17. BYU coach Dave Rose knows it, and his players know it, too.

"There's been a lot said about our program of the last 24 hours," Rose said. "But the bottom line is this is a good team, and a team that can continue to get better. I was impressed with how we handled the task tonight. The game plan was good, and they executed it well."

Kyle Collinsworth gave them something else to talk about Thursday night.

The senior from Provo, Utah recorded his NCAA-record-extending ninth triple-double with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to help the Cougars blow by Santa Clara, 97-61 in their first game at the Marriott Center since Dec. 18.

Collinsworth sealed the new NCAA record on a feed to Braiden Shaw with 3:37 left to give the Cougars (11-5, 2-1 West Coast Conference) an 88-56 advantage, as BYU cruised through much of the second half.

Collinsworth said he didn't lose sleep over what Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak and athletic director Chris Hill potentially thought about his BYU program — he said he didn't even give it a second thought. Instead, he went to work in holding Santa Clara leading scorer Jared Brownridge to 16 points on just 5-of-16 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers.

Brownridge was the only player from Santa Clara (5-12, 1-4 WCC) to finish in double figures. He ranked second in the WCC with 20.4 points per game entering Thursday, but didn't register a shot from the field for the better part of the game's first 10 minutes, while Collinsworth continued his run of box score-stuffing achievements.

"Just don't lose him. I remember one play, I turned my head, turned back and the ball was already shot and he made it," Collinsworth said. "I said that's the last one that is going to happen.

The night belonged to the Provo High alum.

"Sometimes it's hard to soak in what it means," said Collinsworth, who deferred credit to his teammates. "But from a team perspective, when I get triple-doubles, it means we are rebounding well and we're getting assists. My main focus going into a game is always rebounding, because when I'm rebounding, I get the ball in my hands and can find shooters like Chase, Nick and Zac. I focus on rebounding, and the rest seems to happen because I have great shooters."

Nick Emery scored a team-high 23 points, his best performance since dropping the same number Dec. 12 at Colorado. The former Lone Peak standout scored more than 20 points for the first time since Dec. 23 against New Mexico in the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. For the first two games of WCC play, Emery had just 11 and six points against Saint Mary's and Pacific, respectively.

But coming home treated him well.

"I think it was good. To finally knock down shots gets your confidence going, and you feel comfortable," Emery said. "When you get to league play, they are scouting our team great and know exactly what we do. You've got to overcome that."

Chase Fischer chipped in 13 points, and Zac Seljaas added 14 for BYU, while teammate Kyle Davis supplied 10 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Seljaas recorded a 3-pointer for the ninth straight game, finishing with four triples after converting on just two of his first eight attempts from deep.

"He doesn't think about it; if he's open, he just shoots his shots and keeps shooting," Collinsworth said of Seljaas. "That's what you have to do: keep doing what you do, even when what you do isn't working well. Basketball is so much mental. You just have to stay in tune with your body and your mind and keep pushing."

The Cougars out rebounded Santa Clara, 52-33 and turned the ball over a season-low six times while forcing seven steals and nine turnovers on defense. Nate Austin recorded seven rebounds, all on the defensive glass, for BYU, and Corbin Kaufusi supplied five points and seven boards off the bench.

Purcell notches career-high, double-double in BYU women's win at Santa Clara

BYU 68, Santa Clara 63 — At Santa Clara, Calif., Lexi Eaton Rydalch had 27 points, five rebounds and three assists to help the BYU women's basketball team rally by Santa Clara in its first game in the bay area of the weekend.

Rydalch pulled up for a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the third quarter as the Cougars took a 49-48 lead into the final period and held on for the win.

Kalani Purcell added a career-high 17 points to go along with 12 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks for BYU (11-4, 3-1 WCC), recording the sixth double-double of her career with the Cougars.

Kylie Maeda had a game-high five assists for the Cougars, and Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher added seven points and five rebounds.

Kyla Martin led Santa Clara (12-4, 3-2 WCC) with 14 points and five assists off the bench, and Marie Bertholdt added 11 points for the Broncos. Teammates Lori Parkinson and Dru Toleafoa chipped in 10 points apiece.

BYU will travel to San Francisco for a 3 p.m. MST tipoff Saturday.

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