This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo • Nick Emery was hot, having drained a pair of 3-pointers at the end of the first half to get the sluggish Cougars rolling. The freshman took a crosscourt pass and was wide open for another big three early in the second half, but opted instead to dish the ball inside to a posting Kyle Davis, who made a 3-point play down low.
Welcome to the new BYU offense, which through three games hasn't come close to resembling what coach Dave Rose put on the floor last year.
Outscoring Adams State by 50 points in the paint, BYU took a 97-56 win over the visiting Division II team from Alamosa, Colo., on Friday night in front of 12,976 fans at the Marriott Center.
"We are a good 3-point shooting team, but I don't know that that is the real strength of our team this year," Rose said. "I think the strength of our team is inside, at the rim."
That's the case so far.
What in the name of Tyler Haws is going on around here?
Although the 6-foot-2 Emery led BYU with a career-high 20 points on 9-for-14 shooting, the Cougars pounded the ball inside to Davis (10 points and 10 rebounds), UNLV transfer Jamal Aytes (career-high 11 points) and the much-improved Corbin Kaufusi (14 points, seven rebounds) and had 68 points in the paint.
Last year, guards Tyler Haws, Chase Fischer, Anson Winder, Skyler Halford and Kyle Collinsworth did almost all of the scoring. Even against bad teams, the Cougars were often outscored in the paint.
Talk about role reversal.
Collinsworth added 12 points, six rebounds and four assists Friday, while Fischer struggled to find his shot for the second-straight night and had just seven points on 2-for-9 shooting, including 1-for-8 from 3-point range.
Although there was no comparison in the quality of competition, Rose was generally pleased with how the Cougars responded after losing 66-65 at Long Beach State early Tuesday morning and committing 24 turnovers against the 49ers. They had just 11 giveaways against the Grizzlies, and no offensive charges.
"There were a lot of things that we needed to do to improve our team, and I think tonight we made some steps forward in that progress," Rose said. "I think that the fact that we only turned the ball over 11 times, that is probably the best we have played in that aspect the past two or three games."
The Cougars actually committed six of those turnovers in the first 10 minutes, and trailed 21-18 before a pair of Emery steals and layups midway through the first half got them out of their funk.
"I think it started on the defensive end," said Emery, who also had six assists, three steals and two rebounds off the bench and was rewarded for his stellar play with a start in the second half. " We got stops and that got us confident on the offensive side, too. I believe this team, when we find ourselves on defense, our offense comes right behind it."
Redshirt freshman Jordan Chatman was also on the floor at the end of the half when BYU used a 10-0 run to distance itself, and got a second-half start as well. He had five points and two assists in 11 minutes.
Aytes said Rose "just kind of called us out" at halftime, and the Cougars responded with 10 strong minutes to bury poor-shooting Adams State (27 percent) before garbage time came early.
"It was just kind of a gut-check, you know?" Aytes said.
Rose said he went with Emery and Chatman to start the second half because he wanted to keep the momentum going and they were being more effective than starters Fischer and Jake Toolson.
"I thought our execution was better," Rose said. "We got the ball in the post tonight. We had 32-33 touches in the paint with our post guy in there. So that's important for us."
Twitter: @drewjay —
Storylines
Freshman Nick Emery scores a career-high 20 points on 9-for-14 shooting for BYU
• Cougars end the first half on a 10-0 run to take a 42-29 lead at the break
• BYU struggles again at the free-throw line, going 8-for-15 after going 8-for-21 at Long Beach State