BYU basketball recap: Hot shooting Cougars dominate Chaminade

It came before the 10-minute mark in the first half. BYU had not missed a shot from behind the arch in the game up to that point, and yet they only carried a 40-33 lead. Coach Rose spent a timeout and gave his team an earful concerning their defensive effort. Chaminade never got closer than seven points. Coach Rose figured out a way to slow the Silverswords down, while maintaining massive offensive production. The final score of 121-85 was the fourth highest scoring output in BYU history, and the highest in the Rose era.

We all hoped Chase Fischer would be the outside shooting presence that BYU lacked last year. He has had several productive games up to now, but this afternoon in Hawaii was his coming out party. He hit his first eight three pointers to start the game and ended going 10/13 from beyond the arch for a total of 30 points. This broke the BYU single game three pointers record held by Jimmer Fredette when he made nine against Arizona in 2010. He was absolutely on fire, and has silenced all doubters as to whether he could provide an effective counterweight to Tyler Haws in the offense. It was not only Fischer that made it rain. As a team, BYU broke the team three pointers made in a game record with 17. Nielsen, Halford, Winder, and Toolson also contributed for a team three-point percentage of 59%.

Haws only had two minutes of playing time in the first half due to early foul trouble, but finished with a total of 19 points on 6/7 shooting and going a perfect 6/6 from the stripe. Collinsworth put forth a great all around effort by contributing 14 points (including 6/7 from the line), 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals.

The Cougars will take on Purdue tomorrow in their last Maui invitational game. Although the SDSU loss really stings, taking a 2-1 record away from Maui must be seen as a success especially if one of those victories comes over a tough Big-10 team.