Collinsworth’s 5th Triple Double Leads BYU over LMU

Jan 10, 2015; Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young Cougars guard Kyle Collinsworth (5) gets a rebound and slams the ball into the basket against the Loyola Marymount Lions during the second half at Marriott Center. Brigham Young Cougars won 85-72. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Collinsworth set the NCAA record for most triple doubles in one season as BYU cruised to a comfortable 87-68 victory on the road over LMU.  Collinsworth’s 5th triple double included 23 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, 3 steals, and only one turnover.  Tyler Haws had a similar performance as he did against Pepperdine, starting out hot and then cooling off in the second half, but he still finished with 22 points on 7/16 shooting.  Skyler Halford continues to play like the WCC 6th Man of the Year, finishing with 18 points on 5/8 shooting in 25 minutes.  Josh Sharp, who really hasn’t had a spot in the rotation this season, started over Dalton Nixon and had a very solid game with 7 rebounds and 3 assists, grabbing numerous key offensive rebounds.

Marin Mornar continued his strong play for Portland, finishing with 17 points and 5 rebounds.  BYU did a good job of limiting Evan Payne, who finished with 15 points on 5/12 shooting.  David Humphries might have been the Lions’ best all around player today, finishing with 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists.  LMU’s frontcourt of Okonji and Mornar were limited to 4 offensive rebounds today after grabbing 9 of them in the game at BYU, a big reason why the Cougars were able to get this comfortable victory.

At the beginning of the game, BYU couldn’t get anything to fall, especially Chase Fischer’s jump shots, so they established Collinsworth along the baseline.  By halftime, the Cougars had built a ten point lead coming from very balanced scoring among the backcourt players.  In the second half, it was really Skyler Halford’s shooting that allowed BYU to pull away, and the game was never really close in the final ten minutes.

News and Notes

• Anson Winder played through a groin strain, and finished with only 2 points on 0/2 shooting in 6 minutes.  I don’t think Dave Rose was planning to play him but some first half struggles forced him into brief action.
• Corbin Kaufusi played a season high 29 minutes, while Isaac Neilson added 8 productive minutes including a fantastic tip-in in the second half. For the first time all season, it seems as though Dave Rose essentially just played two players at the center spot.  Ryan Andrus and Luke Worthington both played very briefly.
• LMU Coach Mike Dunlap dug really deep into his bench with Ayodeji Egbeyemi injured.  Casey Norris and Joshua Spiers had combined for only 68 minutes coming into this game and combined for 22 minutes in today’s game.
• BYU outrebounded LMU 42-25, and the Cougars also finished with a very impressive team assist-turnover ratio of 2-1.
• Tyler Haws needs to average 23.3 PPG over the next 3 games to pass Jimmer Fredette for BYU’s all-time leading scorer at home on February 19th.

Moving Forward

BYU has a big game at home vs. 2nd place Saint Mary’s, while LMU has the difficult Gonzaga-Portland road trip.  The Zags are the #2 team in the nation while Portland is playing their best basketball of the season with a healthy Kevin Bailey.