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Las Vegas • Seniors Kyle Collinsworth and Chase Fischer and junior Kyle Davis made big plays down the stretch to enable BYU to hold off Santa Clara 72-60 on Saturday, but the freshmen got them there.
First-year players Nick Emery and Zac Seljaas combined for 27 points and made three 3-pointers apiece as the Cougars (23-9) advanced to the West Coast Conference tournament semifinals for the third straight year with the closer-than-expected win.
"They've done that all year," Collinsworth said after scoring 13 points and adding nine rebounds and six assists. "Nick and Zac have been great for us. They made big plays down the stretch, offensively and defensively."
Emery collided with Davis' knee in practice earlier this week, but there was no doubt that he'd play; He torched the Broncos (11-20) in the two regular-season games, and was at it again Saturday.
"I felt bad, because it was my knee that hit him," Davis said. "So I was really worried about that. But Nick is tough. That was a tough bruise that he got, but Nick is just a competitor. You can see it when he plays. I knew we would see the Nick that we have seen all season, a high-energy, confident player. And we needed it."
Emery was 3 of 4 from beyond the arc in the first half, and Seljaas 2 for 4, including a 3 that beat the first-half buzzer and sent the Cougars into the locker room with a 35-25 lead. Seljaas' 3 in the second half thwarted an SCU run and gave the Cougars an 8-point lead.
"It was just energy," Seljaas said. "We hit a shot right before [halftime], got a stop and came back down and hit a three and then I hit a three. Then we went into halftime. It was an energy boost to go into halftime with."
Bound for a church mission to Iowa when the season ends, Seljaas hit two big free throws with 48 seconds left to seal the win.
"Zac made those big free throws," Collinsworth said. "This isn't any surprise to me or Kyle [Davis]. We have seen this all year, and that's why coach had them in at the end of the game. Because he trusts them. He trusts them on defense, and he trusts them to hit those shots.
"So, they've been amazing," Collinsworth continued. "I mean, freshman year is extremely hard, and people get after freshmen for the ups and lows they may have, but those two have been nothing but terrific for us all year. I am super proud of them."
Emery became the fifth Cougar to make 80 or more 3-pointers in a season, joining Jimmer Fredette (124), Fischer (103 and 93), Jackson Emery (92 and 85) and Jonathan Tavernari (88 and 85). It was Nick Emery's 17th game with three or more 3-pointers.
Seljaas has reached double figures in three of his past four games, and 10 times this season.
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU's freshmen vs. Santa Clara
Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FGM Points Rebounds Assists
Nick Emery 4-11 3-7 15 3 0
Zac Seljaas 3-7 3-6 12 4 1