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LAS VEGAS – Kyle Collinsworth’s career highs of 23 points and 16 rebounds led BYU to an 85-74 win over Loyola Marymount at the Orleans Arena on Saturday to advance to the semifinals of the WCC tournament.
In addition to Collinsworth's career highs, Tyler Haws added 22 points and six rebounds in the win. Anson Winder finished with 16 points, hit 8 of 8 from the free-throw line and totaled a career-high six steals and three assists.
Nate Austin grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a shot before fouling out with two minutes remaining, while Matt Carlino finished with 11 points on the night. Eric Mika came off the bench to contribute seven points and four rebounds.
Collinsworth’s putback for the first BYU points started an 8-0 run after LMU scored the first bucket of the game. Collinsworth followed the putback with a tip-in on the next possession and Austin added a putback dunk for a 6-2 lead at the 17:45 mark.
The Lions reeled off a 6-0 run to cut BYU’s lead to two, but the Cougars answered with a 14-0 BYU run that saw Collinsworth score eight points in two minutes. Winder capped the run with a steal and a layup in transition to extend the lead to 16 at 26-10 at the 11:15 mark.
BYU went on an 8-0 run with six points coming from Haws on two jumpers and a dish from Skyler Halford for the layup in transition to lead 39-21 with under six minutes left. The Lions ended the half on a 15-4 run to cut BYU’s 18-point lead to seven, 43-36, at the break.
Collinsworth led all players with 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting to go along with eight rebounds at the half, while Haws added 12 points and three rebounds.
The Cougars opened the second half with a Winder assist to Luke Worthington for the layup at the 19:08 mark. One minute later, Haws completed a three-point play to extend the lead back to 12. Another jumper by Haws and a Winder steal and layup on the break at the 12:52 mark kept BYU’s lead at 12 at 55-43.
Haws made the next two field goals for BYU on a layup and a jumper from an inbound pass to extend the lead to 59-46 with 11:34 remaining. Both teams traded buckets that included a Carlino bounce pass to Winder for the layup and Collinsworth’s jumper and layup at the 5:31 mark to keep the Cougar lead in double figures at 70-59.
Collinsworth scored his 22nd point for the career high on a baseline drive with 4:12 remaining and a 73-61 lead. Carlino’s jumper increased BYU’s lead to 15 with less than three minutes remaining and the Cougars hit 8 of 10 from the free-throw line down the stretch to seal the victory.
The Cougars outshot LMU 46.2 percent to 37.1 percent from the field and forced the Lions to 16 miscues to score 21 points off turnovers.
BYU advances to the semifinals of the WCC tournament to take on San Francisco on Monday. The game time and television plans will be determined following tonight's quarterfinals games. The game will be broadcast on the Cougar IMG Sports Network on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM.