Kyle Collinsworth recorded his 11th career triple-double as the BYU men’s basketball team’s thrashed the Portland Pilots 99-81 on Thursday night. Collinsworth had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 16 assists.
Collinsworth, Chase Fischer and Nick Emery scored a combined 53 points in the victory.
The Cougars took a dominating 53-32 lead at halftime before scoring more than 90 points in the fourth of the last five games. The Cougars are averaging 93.8 points per game over that span.
Collinsworth broke the single-season assist record with 224 and tied the single-game assist record of 16. He also broke a tie with Randy Reid for second-most starts in BYU history at 124. He has now played in a total of 133 games and is tied with Jackson Emery for 7th most all-time.
BYU head coach Dave Rose said it was one of Collinsworth’s best games.
“He was terrific, he was really engaged in sharing the ball,” Rose said. “It was good offensively, good defensively (and in) rebounding.”
The Cougars played at a quick tempo and shared the ball well, assisting on 30 of their 36 field goals.
“When you do that, the ball comes back to you,” Collinsworth said.
Rose described his team as willing to share the ball when shots fall, but noted they become a completely different team offensively when the shots don’t. Fischer added sharing the ball was “easier said than done.”
“The key is we have to keep moving the ball, making the extra pass,” Fischer said.
The high scoring nature of the game was not unusual as both teams scored 81 points in their loss to the other team, splitting the season series 1-1.
Transition defense was something Rose stressed in practice. The Cougars responded by forcing 15 turnovers.
“I was pleased with our mindset coming out to start the game,” Rose said. “I thought that we, defensively, were really focused.”
Six BYU players scored double digits, led by Fischer’s 21 points. Emery and Collinsworth scored 18 and 14 points, respectively. Freshman guard Jordan Chatman contributed a career-high 13 points. Junior forward Kyle Davis added 11 points while freshman guard Zac Seljaas had 10 points on the night.
With the win, BYU improves to 22-8 overall and 13-4 in the West Coast Conference.
The win increases BYU’s confidence heading into Saturday’s game against Gonzaga and the seniors are looking forward to the contest. Fischer said the Portland win gives them “a lot of momentum” as they prepare to host the Zags.
“You want to savor every moment you have in the Marriott Center,” Fischer said.
The Cougars will recognize their seniors in the final home game of the season against Gonzaga University Saturday, February 27. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. (MST).
