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Chase Fischer scored 24 points, leading the BYU Cougars to an 80-68 victory over Utah State in a final margin that doesn't illustrate how lopsided the game was until the final few minutes. Kyle Davis added 14 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists against his former team, while Nick Emery returned from his one-game suspension to score 17 points and haul in 6 rebounds. Collinsworth missed his final five shots of the game, but still finished with 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 11 assists. Corbin Kaufusi was the other BYU player to reach double figures, putting up 10 points and 5 rebounds despite picking up two quick fouls in the first half.
Jalen Moore led Utah State with 15 points on 17 shot attempts, while Shane Rector and Chris Smith added 12 apiece. BYU limited the Aggies to just 35.4% shooting tonight, as they did an excellent job contesting the Utah State shots at the rim, blocking 8 Aggie shots.
Utah State came out shooting the ball well, and trailed BYU just 18-16 at the under-12 media timeout. But Nick Emery and Chase Fischer proceeded to hit some three pointers, Nate Austin played excellent post defense on Utah State's Lew Evans, and the Cougars pushed the halftime lead to 39-24.
In the second half, Corbin Kaufusi asserted himself in the post and got great position on an excellent high-low pass from Kyle Davis for a slam dunk. BYU never led by fewer than 12 points the entire half, stretched the lead to as large as 22, and held on comfortably for the victory despite a few Utah State baskets in garbage time.
It was nice to see so many players play well on offense for BYU, especially Nick Emery, who had a poor shooting night at Utah before his altercation with Brandon Taylor at the end of that game. The Cougars had been averaging 15 turnovers per game coming in, but committed just 11 tonight. It will be crucial that they limit the turnovers on Saturday when they play at Colorado.
The Buffaloes are 7-1 on the season and have a star forward in Josh Scott who will give Corbin Kaufusi challenges similar to Jakob Poeltl. Both teams will be coming into that game with solid momentum, so it will be interesting if BYU can put two halves together like they did against Utah State.