The BYU men’s basketball team beat the Pacific Tigers 93-80 Thursday night, led by Kyle Collinsworth’s fourth triple-double of the season, which tied an NCAA record.
“I just try to play my game when I’m on the floor and just play hard,” Collinsworth said. “Credit to my teammates, they hit shots, big shots. They spread the floor, and it’s easy to find them.”
The Cougars were playing without their second-leading scorer, Anson Winder, who suffered a knee injury during the week. Cougar big-man Nate Austin was also out, leaving head coach Dave Rose with only a few options in the front court.
“When you have a surprise and a guy doesn’t play, there’s going to be opportunities for guys, and that’s how we presented it to the team,” Rose said. “When we called upon them tonight they were just ready to go.”
BYU got out to a quick lead, but Pacific exploited its size mismatch to keep the game close throughout the first half. The Tigers scored 24 of their 34 first-half points in the paint and got BYU’s forwards in early foul trouble. A 6-0 run in the final 2 minutes of the half gave the Cougars a 14-point lead at the break.
Pacific again stayed with the Cougars in the second half, cutting the lead to as little as four before BYU went on a 10-0 run midway through the period. It was all BYU after that; the team didn’t allow the Tigers to come within 10 points of their lead.
Collinsworth finished the game with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, joining Michael Anderson, Brian Shaw, Jason Kidd and Stephen Lasme as the only college players to ever record 4 triple-doubles in one season. With 11 games left on BYU’s schedule, in addition to West Coast Conference and other postseason tournaments, chances are good for Collinsworth to get a fifth and stand alone in the record books.
The Cougars will face conference rival St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California Saturday Jan. 17.
