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LAS VEGAS — Based on the last-minute shot of a year ago in the postseason against the same team, BYU men's basketball had to know its West Coast Conference tournament quarterfinal against Santa Clara wasn't going to be as easy as the 8-2 start indicated.
Sure enough, it wasn't.
But each time the Broncos tried to come back, a BYU player stood in their way — and more often than not, it was one of the young guys.
Nick Emery scored a team-high 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and fellow freshman Zac Seljaas added 12 points and four rebounds to lift the Cougars to a 72-60 win Saturday over Santa Clara at the Orleans Arena.
The win moved BYU to 3-1 in WCC Tourney openers since joining the conference four years ago.
Kyle Collinsworth added 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Cougars (23-9), who advanced to face the winner of Gonzaga and Portland in Monday's semifinals. Chase Fischer scored 14 points and Kyle Davis supplied 11 points and seven rebounds for BYU.
"Nick and Zac have been great for us," said Collinsworth, who won his 100th game with BYU. "They've made big plays down the stretch, defensive and offensively. Zac hit some big threes for us to stretch the floor. But they've done that all year; this isn't any surprise to me or coach or Kyle (Davis). We've seen this all year, and that's why coach has them in at the end of the game."
Jared Brownridge scored a game-high 30 points and added five rebounds for the Broncos (11-20). But that's going to happen when facing the second-highest scorer in the WCC, and Collinsworth said the Cougars just tried to contest each of Brownridge's 29 shot attempts.
"We just tried to make him a volume shooter," said Collinsworth, who drew the unenviable task of guarding Brownridge full-time. "He's going to score. I had some lows on the effort, but he's a terrific player, and all we wanted to do was make him hit tough shots. That's what we did."
Brownridge saw a sign of respect as the NCAA's leader in career triple-doubles was guarding him throughout the contest.
"I love a challenge. To have him on me is a great task," Brownridge said of the longer, taller Collinsworth. "He's had a great season, and I wish the best for him.
"If they put their best player on me, it's great. I like to be competitive out there, and I think we did a great job of competing, and they did, too."
It was defense that won the game, according to BYU head coach Dave Rose.
"I'm happy for my guys, and really proud," said Rose, whose team held SCU to 36.2 percent shooting. "I thought it came to be a tight game late, but we executed really well. Defensively, we were solid late, and that allowed us to win the game."
Santa Clara pulled within 10-7 after BYU's hot start, and that's when the freshmen came in. Emery nailed a 3-pointer while falling down, then swished another with 10:48 left in the half to push BYU's lead to 16-7.
Seljaas' trey gave BYU a 19-7 advantage midway through the first half, and the Cougars' capped an 11-0 run with Davis' tip-in with 9:16 left in the half to go up 23-9.
Seljaas beat the buzzer to give the Cougars' back-to-back treys in the final minute, and a 35-25 halftime lead.
"They both have so much confidence; they play so fast and so hard," Davis said of the freshmen. "It's no surprise to us. They've made big shots for us — they did it before they got here, and they'll continue to do it."
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Brownridge pulled the Broncos within one, 42-41, on a 3-pointer with 14:27 left to play. But BYU scored five straight to keep its margin, finding buckets from the foul line and off the deep shots of Seljaas and Emery — who combined for six of BYU's eight 3-pointers — to stay in front.
Still, Santa Clara would not go away. Matt Hauser brought the Broncos back to within two, 53-51, with a triple with 7:45 left in the half. BYU could not hold off the charging Broncos, in part because of a 10-of-18 free-throw conversion rate to that point.
But Fischer responded, scoring five during an 8-0 run to put BYU up 63-54 with 3:05 on the clock, and the Cougars held on from there. Emery fouled out in the final minute, but BYU made its free throws to hold on for the win.
"It showed his mental toughness," Collinsworth said of Fischer. "Chase and I didn't think we played well in the first half, with sluggish times with the ball. But Chase came down the stretch and made big plays for us. That just shows his senior leadership. When we needed him down the stretch, he showed up."
In the end, BYU's mentality to survive and advance — likely the only way the nine-loss Cougars have of qualifying for the NCAA tournament — held up, despite Brownridge's high-octane offensive effort.
"All that matters is that we came out with a win," Collinsworth said. "If he had scored 60 and we won, I would've been happy with the win. That's all that matters at this point: to win."
