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Santa Clara, Calif. • After watching the BYU Cougars blitz San Francisco on Thursday night with 17 3-pointers, the Santa Clara Broncos seemed hell-bent Saturday on not allowing that to happen to them.
So the Cougars took the ball to the rim for easy baskets time and again in the matinee affair at Leavey Center and routed the Broncos 96-62 in front of a mostly pro-BYU crowd of 2,469 down the highway 30 miles or so from the site of that 114-91 win two days ago.
"The way we shot on Thursday, honestly, is what got us to the rim today," freshman guard Nick Emery said. "Coach told us that — to keep attacking. We got open. We just had to make layups."
The Cougars (19-8, 10-4 WCC) shot 70.4 percent in the first half, their best shooting half of the season, and ran out to a 51-32 halftime lead over the upset-minded Broncos (9-17, 5-9), who remain the only WCC team that has never defeated BYU since the Cougars joined the conference in 2011-12.
"The guys were really good," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "I think it was the determination of those three guards. … I think they were 26 for 30-something [39] from the field. We didn't settle for just any open shot. We were really good and attacking and spreading [the ball] around."
The coach was especially happy to see his team play well after falling short the past two Saturdays they've been on the road — at Portland and at Pepperdine — and last week at home when they lost an afternoon game to Pacific.
"After a couple of Saturdays shooting in the 30s, we were [58.5] percent today, and that made a big difference," Rose said. "We were good, and it was good."
And once again, Emery was fantastic. Having scored a BYU freshman-record 37 against San Francisco, Emery had 31 against the Broncos, including 18 in the first half, on 13-of-21 shooting. He cooled off at the 3-point line, if 3-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc could be called cooling off, but made up for it with an array of clever, creative shots near the rim.
"Another one of those games," Emery said. "It was a fun game."
Santa Clara, now 0-5 at Leavey Center against BYU, started reasonably well and had the game tied at 19-19 when leading scorer Jared Brownridge picked up his second foul. With Brownridge on the bench or playing just on the offensive end, the Cougars put together a 14-2 run and never let the home team get closer than eight the rest of the half. Brownridge finished with 16, the same total he had last month in the 97-61 loss in Provo.
"I think that those minutes early in the first half, when we had [Brownridge and KJ Feagin] on the bench, really helped us out," Rose said. "We had a hard time stopping them in man [defense]. … The zone helped us."
It was a 1-3-1 zone that BYU used effectively in road wins over San Francisco and Pacific, and the Broncos played like they'd never seen it before. Santa Clara shot 26.7 percent in the first half, 31.3 percent in the game.
"It is a really tough defense to go against because it makes you kind of indecisive. And the main thing was we rebounded really well out of it, which lets you get out and go. So it was really good for us," Fischer said.
Kyle Collinsworth appeared headed to his 11th triple-double, but spent the latter half of the second half on the bench with 15 points, seven rebounds and eight assists because the game had long since been decided. Kyle Davis was also efficient in 25 minutes, getting 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Cougars outscored the Broncos 56-22 in the paint and won the rebounding battle 44-33 as Corbin Kaufusi added nine points and seven boards in his second straight start.
"For the most part, these are really confident guys," Rose said. "But everyone has a game plan for us. Sometimes your will has to be stronger to not just settle for what they are going to give you, but actually attack and do what is good for us. I think we did that in both these games."
Having held on to third place in the WCC with the sweep, the Cougars head back out on the road on Thursday for a game at San Diego, their confidence seemingly restored after last week's home debacle against Pacific.
"We know we missed an opportunity, but we didn't lose confidence in ourselves," said Fischer, who also added five rebounds and six assists. "The basketball season is tough to keep your head in it. There are a lot of ups and downs and it is long, but I think this team, we have good leaders and a good group, so we stayed together after that tough loss."
Twitter: @drewjay —
Storylines
R The Cougars remain hot on the road, shooting 58 percent to bury Santa Clara and complete the Bay Area sweep.
• Nick Emery becomes the first BYU freshman to record back-to-back 30-point games, scoring 31 points on 13-of-21 shooting.
• Chase Fischer scores 22 points for the second straight game after suffering a shoulder injury that had threatened to keep him out.
BYU 96, Santa Clara 62
BYU (19-8)
Davis 5-10 0-1 10, Kaufusi 4-5 1-1 9, Fischer 6-9 7-8 22, Emery 13-21 2-2 31, Collinsworth 7-9 1-4 15, Seljaas 0-0 0-0 0, Guinn 0-2 0-0 0, Chatman 1-4 0-0 2, Shaw 1-1 0-0 2, Austin 0-0 1-2 1, Hartsock 0-1 0-0 0, Aytes 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 38-65 14-20 96.
SANTA CLARA (9-17)
Kratch 3-7 0-2 6, Ndumanya 0-2 0-0 0, Healy 2-14 4-4 8, Brownridge 5-12 4-5 16, Feagin 5-9 2-2 14, Jadersten 0-4 0-0 0, Taylor 0-2 0-0 0, Hauser 3-7 2-2 10, Hubbard 2-7 2-2 6, Nistler 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 20-64 16-19 62.
Halftime—BYU 51-32. 3-Point Goals—BYU 6-13 (Fischer 3-4, Emery 3-8, Hartsock 0-1), Santa Clara 6-28 (Hauser 2-4, Feagin 2-4, Brownridge 2-6, Taylor 0-2, Jadersten 0-2, Hubbard 0-3, Healy 0-7). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—BYU 44 (Davis 8), Santa Clara 33 (Ndumanya 10). Assists—BYU 21 (Collinsworth 8), Santa Clara 10 (Brownridge, Healy, Hubbard 2). Total Fouls—BYU 19, Santa Clara 17. A—2,469.
WCC Standings
Conference Overall
W L PCT W L PCT
Gonzaga 12 2 .857 20 5 .800
St. Mary's (CA) 10 3 .769 19 4 .826
BYU 10 4 .714 19 8 .704
Pepperdine 8 6 .571 15 10 .600
San Francisco 7 7 .500 14 11 .560
Pacific 5 8 .385 7 16 .304
Santa Clara 5 9 .357 9 17 .346
Portland 5 9 .357 11 16 .407
Loyola Mmt. 4 10 .286 11 14 .440
San Diego 3 11 .214 8 17 .320
Thursday's games
BYU 114, San Francisco 89
Santa Clara 74, San Diego 71
Loyola Marymount 77, Pacific 72
Gonzaga 92, Portland 66
Pepperdine 69, Saint Mary's (Cal) 63
Saturday's games
BYU 96, Santa Clara 62 San Francisco 68, San Diego 51 Gonzaga at SMU, late
Pepperdine at Pacific, late
Loyola at Saint Mary's (Cal), late