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Provo • It probably isn't yet time to hit the panic button with this BYU basketball team, but the Cougars couldn't be blamed for having it within reach.
Barely avoiding what would have been one of the most embarrassing losses in program history, BYU edged Mississippi Valley State 75-68 on Wednesday night in front of 15,467 uneasy fans at the Marriott Center.
"We won, and that's all that matters," said senior guard Kyle Collinsworth, but there wasn't much conviction on his face.
Coach Dave Rose was somber in his postgame interview after the Cougars struggled against a team with one of the worst RPIs in Division I. MVSU lost 97-51 at Nebraska, 65-64 at Air Force, 85-46 at New Mexico State and 96-60 at Grand Canyon before giving the Cougars (3-1) all they wanted.
"It is pretty obvious that we are a work in progress, still trying to find ourselves," said Rose.
Freshman Nick Emery led the Cougars with 18 points, the second straight game he's been the team's leading scorer, and Kyle Davis added 13. Corbin Kaufusi (12) and Collinsworth (11) also reached double figures. Collinsworth went out briefly in the first half after a full-court drive, wincing in pain.
"My knee just buckled," Collinsworth said. "I'm good."
That's more than can be said of the Cougars, who are struggling to replace the scoring of Tyler Haws.
"We need to find an identity to this team right now," Rose said.
Emery was making his first career start, and was the catalyst early as the Cougars built a 17-point lead in the first half.
Rose began substituting liberally at about that time, and later said it was an "error in judgment" on his part.
"We lost momentum with that group," he said.
Damian Young led the Delta Devils with a game-high 24 points on 6-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc as the visitors shot 45 percent (9-for-20) from 3-point range.
MVSU (1-4) got within five of BYU several times in the final few minutes, and trailed 71-66 with 1:35 left after Isaac Williams nailed a 3-pointer.
But Davis broke free for a dunk after a long pass from Emery with 43 seconds left to give BYU a 73-66 lead, and the Cougars escaped. That was BYU's only field goal in the game's final eight minutes.
"They hit a couple shots and got some momentum going," Emery said. "We will learn from this and keep pushing forward."
The Cougars again struggled from the free-throw line, going 16 of 26 from the stripe. They won the rebounding battle 41-31 against the shorter Delta Devils, but committed 14 turnovers. Several times, the visitors beat the Cougars to loose balls.
"We didn't have a real urgent mindset tonight," Rose said. "… I think we are a better group than we played tonight. We didn't play all 40 minutes."
The Cougars started better offensively than in their three previous games, hitting their first four shots and moving the ball crisply and cleanly to take a quick 10-2 lead.
They led 30-13 after a pair of Jake Toolson free throws with 9:03 remaining in the first half, then had five straight empty possessions. The Delta Devils went on a 14-5 run to get back in it.
A dunk from Kaufusi and layup from Emery before halftime sent the Cougars into the break with a 44-32 lead and the ship had seemingly been righted.
But Young opened the second half with three straight 3-pointers for MVSU, and BYU could never pull away.
The Cougars return to the Marriott Center at 7 p.m. Saturday night to host Belmont (4-2).
Twitter: @drewjay