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Provo • With a layup with 56 seconds remaining in the first half, San Diego's Duda Sanadze kept the Toreros from setting an unwanted record at the Marriott Center on Saturday night.
Sanadze's shot gave San Diego its 10th and 11th points and ensured that the 10 points Mississippi Valley State scored in a first half in 2010 and the 10 points Air Force scored in a first half in 2003 would still be the lowest scoring halves in arena history.
Yes, it was a miserable first half for the visitors, who trailed 39-11 at the break. It was BYU's biggest halftime lead since it was ahead of San Francisco 57-29 on Jan. 3, 2015.
The Cougars led 13-0 before Sanadze got USD on the board with 13:24 remaining in the half, and it was 20-2 with 10:28 left before the Toreros would score again — this time on a dunk by Jito Kok.
San Diego finished the half shooting 16 percent (5 of 31) and committed seven turnovers, after having 20 in the 69-67 loss to the Cougars on Thursday night at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Nick Emery led BYU with nine points in the first half and at one point had as many points as the Toreros.
The Cougars shot 45.7 percent in the first half, a marked improvement from the 27 percent shooting at San Diego that resulted in them trailing 32-27 at halftime Thursday.
The only downer for the Cougars in the first half was the Kyles — Collinsworth and Davis — picked up two fouls apiece and spent the latter half of the half on the bench. Collinsworth's second foul came after he had a steal and a dunk to give the Cougars a 27-6 lead with 7:56 left.
Chase Fischer hit a 3-pointer right before the halftime buzzer to give him 18 straight games with at least one 3-pointer.
Austin's marks
Every time Nate Austin steps on the floor for a BYU basketball game, he sets a record for most games played by an individual in school history. He played in his 145th game on Saturday night. He played in 10 games last year, but was given the year back by an NCAA medical hardship ruling.
Austin tied another BYU record after committing two fouls Saturday. He now has 408 career fouls, tied with Russ Larson for most at BYU.
Briefly
Corbin Kaufusi started for the fourth straight game after replacing Austin in the starting lineup. … Collinsworth made his 123rd career start, tied for second-most in BYU history with Randy Reid.
Twitter: @drewjay