Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO — Other BYU teams would’ve folded.
When Alabama-Birmingham senior Robert Brown cut the Cougars’ 21-point halftime lead to four points in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament, a lot of teams — even BYU’s own team in certain games this season — would’ve folded at the weight of the Blazers’ impressive comeback.
But BYU didn’t — and that was perhaps the most important thing the Cougars learned following the 97-79 win over UAB that set up a potential home game-laden path to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden.
“We’ve played games where they made runs, and we’ve lost games,” said Collinsworth, who had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his 12th career triple-double. “It was good to see that we could weather the storm.”
After Wagner's stunning upset of top-seeded St. Bonaventure earlier Wednesday, the second-seeded Cougars are the top seed in their region — which means a potential home game through the first three rounds until the tournament semifinals in New York City.
But the Cougars (24-10) will need more of that resiliency if they want to make the same deep NIT run as in 2013.
As early as last year, BYU was one of those teams that didn’t respond to those comeback bids well. Head coach Dave Rose said Wednesday night’s win reminded him of another comeback — the one Ole Miss used against his team in the NCAA’s First Four a year ago in Dayton, Ohio, which the Rebels won 94-90 behind a 17-point halftime comeback.
“We’ve had that a few times. We’ve had some of these games where we weren’t able to respond to that second rush,” Rose said. “We got off to a great start, and then a player who made it really hard on us in the second half. As much as we tried, we had a hard time getting enough stops.”
On Wednesday, the stops came — and so did the shooting. BYU shot 55 percent from the field, including 56 percent in the first half, and knocked down 13 of 30 from deep range with critical treys from Chase Fischer, Nick Emery and Zac Seljaas to pull away.
It all led up to BYU weathering a massive comeback involving a Herculean effort from Brown. The Virginia Tech transfer who scored 13 points the last time the Hokies played BYU forced a timeout from his team’s bench down the stretch, and bent over with his hands on his knees in gut-wrenching agony.
He was exhausted — and he played on. But BYU hit a pair of triples from Emery and Seljaas on the ensuing possessions, and the Blazers never seriously threatened again.
“I think we reminded each other that they are more tired than we are,” Collinsworth said. “(Brown) was on me, so I kept attacking and made him guard me to get in the middle or find guys. Eventually they wore out, and we were able to make a big run.”
The lower bowl-sellout crowd of 8,420 gave BYU the shot of energy it needed — both early and down the stretch. When Collinsworth rose above the rim and slammed home an alley-oop from Emery midway through the first half, the fans packing the blue chairs at the Marriott Center stood on their feet.
As Brown rallied the Blazers late, they were on their feet again — and louder than the half-sold arena might suggest on paper.
“That’s why playing at home is nice: you make plays like that, and it gives us momentum,” Collinsworth said. We can feed off the crowd.”
The crowd will be even more important if the Cougars are to make a run in the NIT, much like they did in 2013.
“Tonight, we had a really good crowd, and I’m sure it will only get better,” Fischer said. “One of the most underrated aspects of college basketball is traveling. Getting used to a new gym can really take its toll on your body, and mentally. To be here, sleeping in your own bed and staying in the same routine means a lot."
As of Thursday afternoon, BYU had sold out the lower bowl, and tickets in the upper benches were being gobbled up for the Cougars’ second-round game against Virginia Tech on Friday night.
For what many consider a second-tier tournament, the Cougars-Hokies clash will be a tough ticket in Provo before the weekend. Rose encouraged the early gate by paying the entry fee for every pass-holding member of the BYU student section.
“I think it added a great feel to the gym, and a great atmosphere, and our guys responded well to it,” Rose said of Wednesday night’s crowd. “I’m really appreciative to the fans who showed up and I hope they show up again Friday night.
“It’s not very often that we get an ACC team to come to Provo. … If we keep winning, hopefully we can end up back in New York. But it’s a big one on Friday first.”
