Hot Second Half Propels BYU over Arkansas-Little Rock
By James Pigott
Nov 14, 2014; Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young Cougars guard Chase Fischer (1) is fouled by Long Beach State 49ers guard Branford Jones (14) during the second half at Marriott Center. Brigham Young Cougars won the game 95-90. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
Chase Fischer scored 19 points on 4/7 three point shooting and Tyler Haws added 18 points and 5 assists as BYU got a comfortable win over Arkansas-Little Rock on Tuesday night at the Marriott Center. The Cougars only led by only 9 at halftime but got out in transition and found cutters underneath the basket to get a lot of easy baskets in the second half. Nate Austin had another solid game with 8 points on 4/4 shooting to go with 11 rebounds. Anson Winder was once again a big spark off the bench with 9 points and 5 rebounds, while fellow member of BYU’s 2010 recruiting class Kyle Collinsworth added 5 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. His performance wasn’t too different from the first game, as he still had too many turnovers and got in early foul trouble after a couple of charging calls on the fast break. He is clearly still easing his way back from the ACL injury.
Arkansas-Little Rock was led by Roger Woods with 19 points and 9 rebounds, J.T. Thomas added 6 assists, and James Reid scored 10 points in the losing effort. Key player Ben Dillard was held without a field goal, and only finished with 4 points and 3 assists. Despite a strong first half, the Trojans were unable to keep up with BYU’s high powered offense in the second half.
Stat of the Night
BYU had 22 assists and 11 turnovers, compared to UALR’s 10 assists and 14 turnovers. A 2 to 1 assists to turnover is impressive for a college point guard, but even more amazing for an entire team, where forwards and centers tend to commit more turnovers than dish out assists. The Cougars will have to take care of the ball like this against San Diego State’s defense on Monday. In the ESPN 24 Hour Tip-Off Marathon today, Utah committed so many turnovers that they had no real chance to beat San Diego State. BYU doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes Utah made.
Moving Forward
While going up against lesser competition than the first game, I was impressed with BYU’s ability to pass the ball and stay composed when things weren’t going too well during the first half. Tyler Haws and Chase Fischer have formed a good 1-2 scoring punch, and they will only benefit as Kyle Collinsworth continues to improve. The Cougars host Southern Virginia tomorrow night at 7:00 PM MT at the Marriott Center on BYUtv and on http://www.byutv.org/ in their final tuneup before heading off to Maui.