We are an inside-out team, that’s when we are the best. Chase hitting his first shot is big for him (for) his demeanor, his attitude and his energy. We fed off of it. – BYU coach Dave Rose
HONOLULU — It took a span of 31 minutes and 13 seconds, but senior Chase Fischer finally got his island groove back.
The theme on the young season for the Cougars is when Fischer is locked in and the rest of the team locks in as well.
The senior guard stole the show against the Lobos with a career-high 41 points as the Cougars defeated the New Mexico Lobos 96-66 in consolation play of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Wednesday.
“We are an inside-out team, that’s when we are the best,” said BYU coach Dave Rose. “Chase hitting his first shot is big for him (for) his demeanor, his attitude and his energy. We fed off of it.”
An enigma in BYU’s four losses, Fischer, whose last made field goal came in the waning seconds in the win over Central Michigan, followed up an ineffective effort against Harvard with a spot-on shooting display to help the Cougars get back on the winning track.
“It was big for our team because just because I’m an older guy, a senior on this team, I have to come out and perform every night and be a good leader even when I have bad games,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting to come out and score 40, but I think it was good just to come out and play hard and play for the guys.”
It was Fischer’s second straight record-setting holiday explosion in a Hawaii tournament in as many years. Fans no doubt remember Fischer setting the school mark for 3-pointers in a game with 10 against Chaminade at the Maui Invitational.
“When I’m clear-headed I just go out there and play,” he said. “I like Hawaii though.”
“I wanted to get 40 in a college game, it’s always been a goal of mine,” said the sharp-shooting Cougar. “It was cool, my teammates really found me. Kyle Collinsworth and Nick did a good job finding me, especially on that last one. It felt good to get 40.”
Fischer's day on the hardwoods may be the top individual athletic performance on the islands in the last 24 hours aside from President Barack Obama’s 40-foot putt in Kailua.
After attempting just 13 threes against Harvard, BYU hoisted 28 against the Lobos making 16 of them en route to shooting a scorching 56 percent from the field.
The Cougars will face the winner of Washington State-Northern Iowa on Christmas Day for fifth place.
“In these tournament settings it’s kind of like an AAU game, you are playing two games in two days, you don’t really do that anywhere else so you just kind of forget everything, forget scouting reports and go out there and play,” said Fischer, who set a tournament record for threes in a game.
Along with Fischer being the catalyst that seems to energize the entire team, another trend that continues is that when the Cougars lead at halftime they win.
In a matchup of two teams searching for their eighth victory of the season, who could have easily met in the winner’s side of the bracket had it not been for late game lapses, the 30-point rout was the second largest margin of victory on the season, following the Cougars' 41-point drubbing of Adams State in November.
After taking just 13 threes in their loss to Harvard, Fischer and Emery hoisted long balls with reckless abandon early and often. BYU took an early 24-13 advantage behind the marksmanship of Fischer and Emery who nailed 5 of their first 8 shots from distance. Eight of the team’s first field goal makes were 3-pointers.
Emery, the WCC's leading scorer going into the tournament, possessed a similar hot shooting stroke, going 5 of 10 from behind the arc to finish with 20 points.
Following the Cougars' hot start, they had a lull during a stretch when BYU committed six turnovers in eight possessions. The Lobos closed the gap to 42-38 late in the first half on a 3-pointer by Elijah Brown. Two consecutive Lobo turnovers and a slick reverse lay-in by Fisher made the score 46-38 going into halftime.
With BYU up 48-40, Fischer and Emery nailed consecutive 3s to push the Cougars' lead to 54-42. A free throw by Collinsworth and a three ball from the corner by Fischer increased the margin to 58-44 with 16:58 to play.
As Fischer and Emery established themselves from long range, both players proceeded to mix in drives to the basket in the second half to keep the Lobo defense honest. It was all for naught as the closest New Mexico (7-4) could get in the second half was 71-56 on a jumper from scrappy Lobo guard Cullen Neal that capped a mini 5-0 New Mexico run.
“Yesterday against Harvard I didn’t get a lot of good looks. I wasn’t really in the rhythm and it sucks because I think I am an up and down player,” said Fischer. “When you hit a couple threes they come out on you so I’m trying to utilize that and be crafty around the rim and score.”
The sophomore guard tandem of Brown and Neal, who accounted for 54 of New Mexico’s 78 points and all 10 of the team’s 3s the night before, were held to 16 and 14 points respectively. Tim Williams chipped in with 16 points and a team-high 8 rebounds.
“I’m tired. I don’t feel very well. I found a good rhythm tonight, it was fun. It was a good team win as well,” said Fischer.
While the Stan Sheriff Center hardwood belonged to Fischer, Coach Rose, whose team never trailed, was quick to praise the contributions of Nate Austin, who hauled in all four of his rebounds in the first half. According to Rose, the 6-foot-11 forward helped set the tone with his rugged presence and physical play. It was Austin’s first start of the season.
“We wanted KD in the low post. When Corb (Kaufusi plays he only knows the one position. Nate can play both so we played Nate at the four and KD at the five so KD could get a couple low post catches.”
“(Austin) got his hands on a lot of balls, knocked people around which is good,” said Rose. ”The energy is contagious.”
Rose also was pleased with the effort of sophomore Jamal Aytes. The wide-bodied forward contributed nine points and six rebounds playing a season-high 21 minutes.
“The number one thing today was for us to stay together,” Rose said. ”Their minds, their will was all focused towards each other. We were fortunate to get off to a good start and it kind of carried us all the way through.”