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PROVO, Utah – Four Cougars scored in double figures as BYU surged past Saint Mary’s 82-60 at the Marriott Center Thursday night.
"I thought that was a great effort from our guys," BYU basketball coach Dave Rose said. "I think we were dialed in on what we needed to do to be successful. That was a great crowd, and a good atmosphere, and I think our guys responded to it really well."
Kyle Collinsworth finished with a near double-double with 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists, while Skyler Halford added 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting, five assists and two steals on the night. Tyler Haws contributed 15 points and four rebounds with Chase Fischer following with 14 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Josh Sharp added eight points, six rebounds and a career-high five assists, and Frank Bartley IV finished with nine points, three rebounds, three assists and a block. Freshman Corbin Kaufusi recorded a career-high four blocks on the night.
Haws and Fischer opened the game with three 3-pointers followed by Collinsworth’s jumper as the Cougars got out to an 11-4 start at the 16:40 mark. The Gaels cut their deficit to 11-8, but was answered by BYU's 9-2 run to extend as the lead grew to double figures at 20-10 with 13:02 left in the half. The run included Fischer’s 3-pointer and two layups resulting from steals by Halford and Fischer.
A big 15-2 run over 5:42 included three buckets and a dunk by Collinsworth to push BYU’s (19-8, 9-5 WCC) lead up 35-16 with under five minutes on the clock. With 3:14 remaining, Fischer connected on his fourth shot from beyond the arc for another 19-point lead.
The Gaels (18-6, 10-3 WCC) scored the last four points of the half, but BYU still held onto a 42-30 lead at the break. Collinsworth led all players with 14 points and five rebounds with Fischer adding 12 of his own, going 4 of 5 from deep.
Sharp ignited a 6-0 run to start the second half with a putback dunk while extending BYU’s lead to 48-30. Haws scored the next seven Cougar points, which included a three-point play, to put them up 56-33. With 9:19 left on the clock, Halford’s steal led to his own shot from deep and gave BYU the 70-41 lead.
Bartley connected on his second triple of the half for the Cougars’ 30-point lead at 75-45 with 6:32 remaining in the game. BYU continued to maintain its lead to take the game 82-60.
BYU shot 50 percent from the field, outrebounded the Gaels 37-26 and scored 21 points off SMC’s 15 turnovers.
The Cougars stay at home to host Pacific on Saturday at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be televised live on BYUtv and broadcast on the Cougar IMG Sports Network on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM.