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Stockton, Calif. • Having scored eight points in a 90-second span early in the second half after failing to score in the first 20 minutes of the game, BYU's Nick Emery stole the ball and raced down the court at Spanos Center in front of the Cougars' bench.
His heavily contested fastbreak layup attempt rolled off the rim as he crashed to the floor, and TJ Haws attempted to follow it up but was assessed a technical foul for having one hand on the ball and another on the rim.
Emery stayed down while officials reviewed the play to make sure they made the right call on the Haws' play, and eventually had to be helped off the court by BYU trainer Rob Ramos.
The Cougars went on to a 62-47 win, but may have lost one of their best players in the process.
"We will look at it again [Sunday]," Ramos said. "Left knee."
Emery pounded the trainer's table with his fist after receiving treatment from Ramos, and spent some time riding a stationary bike while play resumed. He was limping noticeably in and out of huddles the rest of the game, and on his slow walk to the locker room.
"We don't know [the extent of the injury]," coach Dave Rose said. "The word I got on the bench during the game was that it was really weak and he probably won't be coming back [in the game]. So we will have somebody look at it. Hopefully we will dodge a bullet here; We will see."
The Cougars lost senior forward Kyle Davis to a season-ending knee injury in December. The loss of Emery, the second-leading scorer on the team with a 15.1 points-per-game average, would be devastating.
"That was tough to see," Haws said. "Nick is one of our best players and he has got a lot of heart. But I am not too worried about him. I think he is going to come back tough because he's a tough sucker."
Having gone 0 for 4 in the first half, Emery showed his value in those crucial first five minutes of the second half when the rest of the Cougars were throwing the ball away or getting stuffed at the rim.
"Oh my gosh, the start of the second half, he was determined," Rose said. "He got a quick foul, then he got that second foul, and I sat him for two or three minutes at the end of the first half. He hit a big three in the corner, really got us off to a good start in that second half."
Whether he will be able to do it again Thursday night at Santa Clara remains to be seen.
Twitter: @drewjay