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Provo • Kyle Collinsworth said Wednesday that he wanted to savor every last second of his final two home games at the Marriott Center.
Thursday's performance will certainly qualify.
The versatile senior posted the 11th triple-double of his career — 14 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds — to lead BYU past Portland 99-81 in front of 13,497 fans to keep the Cougars' hopes of getting a piece of the West Coast Conference regular-season title alive.
BYU improved to 13-4 in WCC play and will have to beat Gonzaga (14-3) on Saturday and have Saint Mary's (14-3) lose at San Francisco to get the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament next week.
The Cougars played like conference championship contenders on Thursday, dominating the Pilots (12-18, 6-11) from start to finish after falling 84-81 at Portland in January.
Chase Fischer added 21 points and Nick Emery 18 as BYU raced out to a 53-32 lead and held off a couple mild Portland runs in the second half.
"We're on a good little streak here," Fischer said after BYU's fifth straight win.
Jordan Chatman scored a career-high 13 points off the bench, while Kyle Davis (11) and Zac Seljaas (10) also reached double figures.
It was Collinsworth's fifth triple-double of the season, and his 10th assist early in the second half broke Matt Montague's record for single-season assists (218).
"More assists than usual? I dunno," Collinsworth said when asked if this triple-double was any different than the others.
He had six triple-doubles last year, and the 16 assists is a career high. The Cougars assisted on 30 of their 36 field goals.
"There were a lot of assists tonight," Collinsworth said. "We moved the ball well."
Coach Dave Rose said he was pleased with his team's defensive mindset early, but not especially happy with how Portland scored 49 points in the second half.
"In the first half, we guarded the 3-point line well. In the second half, not so much," Rose said.
It took awhile, but the Cougars heated up in the first half after having three of their first five shots blocked and missing the other two.
Fischer hit a 3-pointer for the 19th-straight game with 12 minutes remaining in the half, and Chatman popped off the bench to hit back-to-back treys with his father, former BYU legend Jeff Chatman, looking on.
"Anytime you get 30 assists in a game you are sharing the ball and playing the way we want to play," Rose said.
Emery's third 3-pointer of the half gave BYU a 50-26 lead, and the Cougars cruised into the locker room with a 53-32 advantage, having scored 50 or more points in a half for the 13th time this season.
It was the third time in the last five games the Cougars have broken the 50-point barrier in the first half. Collinsworth had 10 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in the first half, while Emery had 13 points and Fischer 12.
Portland started the second half on an 8-2 run to make things mildly interesting, but the Cougars eventually led by as many as 25 in the second half before settling for the 18-point win.
"Kyle was terrific tonight," Rose said of Collinsworth's big night. "He was really engaged and sharing the ball. … That was one of the better games he's ever played."
Jazz Johnson led Portland with 17 points off the bench, going 4 for 4 from 3-point range in the second half, and Bryce Pressley added 15. Point guard Alec Wintering, who averages 19 points a game, had just five on 1 of 10 shooting.
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU 99, Portland 81
• Kyle Collinsworth registers the 11th triple-double of his career and BYU routs Portland to stay in the WCC regular-season title race
• Chase Fischer and Nick Emery combine for 39 points as BYU improves to 13-4 in WCC play, 22-8 overall
• Collinsworth's 16 assists are a career high.