The BYU Cougars used a hot-shooting night from Nick Emery to knock off the San Diego Toreros, 82-70, at the Marriott Center on Thursday night. Emery finished with 26 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the floor, including 5-for-7 from beyond the arc as the Cougars avenged an earlier loss to the Toreros.
Eric Mika added 15 points and 10 rebounds while Elijah Bryant chipped in with 15 points and eight boards as BYU improved to 19-9 on the season and 10-5 in WCC play.
Olin Carter III had 21 points and eight assists for San Diego while Brett Bailey added 21 points and seven rebounds.
Why the Cougars won
The Cougars were better in just about every statistical category. They had better shooting numbers from the floor, beyond the arc and from the foul line. They also won the battle of the backboards and had more assists, steals and blocks while committing fewer foul and turnovers.
The turning point
Trailing 11-8 midway through the first half the Cougars got hot and blew the game wide open, with a 29-8 run. Emery was a catalyst with 17 of the 29 points on 5-for-5 shooting from 3-point land.
What it means
With the win, the Cougars hold a one-game lead over Santa Clara for third place in the WCC, with three games to play.
Grading the performances
BYU
The Cougars caught fire to take a big lead, then held on to take home the win. They shared the ball well as all five starters scored in double figures, including Yoeli Childs and TJ Haws, who finished with 12 points apiece.
The downside for the Cougars was, even after a masterful shooting stretch, they allowed the Toreros to come back and stay within striking distance for much of the night.
Grade: B+
San Diego
The Toreros had a clear game plan to not let Mika beat them, and he didn't, shooting just 3-for-13 from the floor. But the constant double-teams opened plenty of shots for Emery and Haws, and they took advantage.
Offensively, San Diego got great production out of Carter and Bailey, but the rest of the team combined to score just 28 points on 11-for-30 shooting.
Grade: C+
Three telling stats
From the 13:01 mark in the first half until the 5:10 mark, the Cougars didn't miss a shot from the field. They connected on 13 straight shots, including five 3-pointers.
BYU had one of its best assist-to-turnover ratios on the season with 17 assists on 26 made baskets against just seven turnovers.
The Cougar starters combined to score 80 of the team's 82 points.
Up next
The Cougars close the home schedule as the Saint Mary's Gaels come to town. The Gaels are 23-3 on the season, including 13-2 in conference after a bounce-back win over Loyola Marymount.
A player to watch from Saint Mary's is Jock Landale, who is averaging 17 points on 60.3 percent shooting from the floor while grabbing 9.5 rebounds in 28.1 minutes.