I’m glad his work paid off and it was a good game for him because he’s a competitor, a real fighter. This should give him more confidence. That’s what young guys need. – BYU head coach Dave Rose on Nick Emery
SAN FRANCISCO — Coming off its most disappointing loss of the season at home against Pacific last Saturday, BYU had something to prove Thursday night at War Memorial Gym.
Especially freshman guard Nick Emery.
BYU took out its frustrations against San Francisco, jumping all over the Dons with torrid shooting, taking a 19-point halftime lead and steamrolling to a 114-89 victory.
And Emery snapped out of his recent slump in spectacular fashion, pouring in a career-high 37 points, setting the school single-game scoring record by a freshman. Danny Ainge had 36 points in a game as a freshman in 1977-78.
“He’s had good practices (this week). Nick’s pretty hard on himself,” said coach Dave Rose. “He has high expectations of himself and of our team. I’m glad his work paid off and it was a good game for him because he’s a competitor, a real fighter. This should give him more confidence. That’s what young guys need.”
Emery, who entered the night having made only 4 of 25 3-pointers in his previous four games, hit 10 of 12 from 3-point range. His 10 3s tied a single-game school record that teammate Chase Fischer set last season.
As a team, BYU tied the school record for 3-pointers in a single game with 17, drilling 17 of 27 from 3-point territory. The Cougars shot 58 percent from the field.
“This whole week, there was a different energy. That’s the energy I yearn for as a player,” Emery said. “My teammates found me early and I was able to knock down shots. They had faith in me. You always like those types of games.”
Assistant coach Terry Nashif told Emery during shootaround Thursday morning that he would have a big game.
“That got me going and I was able to knock down some shots,” Emery said. “When you feel it, you feel it, no matter how deep you are. There was one, I don’t even know why I released it, and it went in. I just ran back and smiled. If they’re falling, you’ve got to keep shooting.”
Emery was one of six Cougars to score in double figures, along with Fischer (22), Kyle Collinsworth (17), Kyle Davis (12), Jordan Chatman (11) and Corbin Kaufusi (10). For Chatman, it was a career-high and Kaufusi also had 10 rebounds.
San Francisco was led by Devin Watson’s 29 points. Tim Derkson added 25.
Emery knocked down 3-pointers from all over the court, including one from about 28 feet. He hit 3-pointers pulling up in transition. He even banked one in.
“We haven’t seen that from Nick since he was in high school,” Rose said of Emery’s deep 3s. “He’s played well and has had good games, but we haven’t seen Nick where he’s really confident — maybe overconfident at times — and it was good to see that tonight from him. That’s the guy that we recruited. It’s taken him a little while to find it, but he found it tonight. Hopefully we can duplicate that.”
That it was a high-scoring track meet wasn’t a surprise. When the two teams met in Provo last month, BYU won, 102-92.
The Cougars are now 5-0 at San Francisco since joining the WCC five years ago.
BYU improved to 18-8 overall and 9-4 in the West Coast Conference while USF dropped to 13-11 and 6-7.
BYU opened the game hitting seven of its first 11 shots and Emery was deadly from 3-point range.
He finished the first half with five 3-pointers. One of them banked off the glass, giving the Cougars a 17-point lead, 38-21, with 7:40 left in the first half.
Fischer, who was listed as “questionable” going into the game due to a shoulder injury, also hit a pair of 3-pointers and Collinsworth, not known for his long distance shooting, buried a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give BYU a 58-39 advantage at halftime. Emery had 20 points at the break.
In the second half, the Cougars pretty much picked up where they left off, extending their lead to 21 points, 62-41, after a Fischer jumper. Back-to-back 3s by Emery put BYU up 72-52, with 15:40 left in the game.
The Cougars visit Santa Clara Saturday (2 p.m. MST, BYUtv).
EMAIL: jeffc@deseretnews.com