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The BYU Cougars overcame a sluggish start to defeat the Loyola Marymount Lions by a score of 87-62. Kyle Davis led BYU in scoring with 19 points on 9/13 shooting, while Chase Fischer got hot in the second half and finished with 17 points on 4/8 from beyond the arc to go with 6 rebounds and 4 assists (0 turnovers). Kyle Collinsworth had another well rounded game with 11 points on 3/5 shooting, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals. The big surprise performance came from Corbin Kaufusi, who came out of his winter hibernation to score 12 points on 5/5 shooting to go with 2 blocks. Nick Emery scored 10 points on just 4/12 shooting, but also contributed 4 assists without a single turnover.
Adom Jocko once again had BYU's number, finishing with 20 points on 9/16 shooting, including a number of highlight dunks against the normally strong defender Nate Austin. Marin Mornar joined Jocko in the slam dunk club with 13 points and a couple of spectacular dunks himself. Brandon Brown rounded out the LMU double figure scorers with 10 points.
After LMU started the game on an 8-0 run, BYU buckled down and played better defense, but they greatly benefitted from the Lions going 2/22 from beyond the arc after seemingly never missing from distance last week. The Cougars' 1-3-1 defense with Kyle Collinsworth at the point once again proved effective at slowing down the LMU team that put up 80 points on BYU just seven days ago. Once the Cougars went on their mid-first half run, LMU looked deflated, and never really made the game close at all in the second half.
Zac Seljaas did leave the game in the second half with a right shoulder sprain, and his status is in question for Saturday's game. If he can't play, expect more playing time for Jordan Chatman.
Next up for BYU is the rematch against Pepperdine, who has won 4 out of the last 5 meetings against the Cougars including a win in Provo last season. BYU will need to sure up their post defense in preparation for facing Stacy Davis and Jett Raines if they want to change their recent losing trend against the Waves. But if they can get out in transition at all, which they usually do at home, they should have a good chance at finally knocking off Pepperdine.