PROVO, Utah – Freshman Zac Seljaas hit seven 3-pointers en route to a career-high 25 points Friday as Brigham Young handed Central Michigan a 98-85 non-conference loss before 13,408 at the Marriott Center. The loss snapped CMU’s two-game win streak.
“We did enough offensively,” CMU coach Keno Davis said. “I think . . .
“They exploited some of our weaknesses, but I think we saw enough positives going forward that we’ll have a positive attitude, pretty good focus in the games to come.”
BIG NIGHT FOR THREES
The Chippewas hit a season-high 17 3-pointers, on 36 attempts, to finish at 47 percent from long range. They were 30-for-64 (47 percent) overall from the floor.
Josh Kozinski scored a season-high 18 points and matched his career-best with six triples in 13 attempts to lead CMU. Braylon Rayson added 16 points, Rayshawn Simmons had 15, and John Simons finished with 14.
The Cougars held CMU’s leading scorer, Chris Fowler, to eight points on 3-of-14 shooting, including an 0-for-5 clip from 3-point range. Fowler finished with 10 assists.
“You give them credit,” Davis said, “not only do they have a great team, great atmosphere here, but they really disrupted us, I thought, in the second half with what they did defensively.”
ON TRACK THROUGH THE HALF
The game was tied 44-44 at halftime. BYU outscored the Chippewas, 54-41, over the final 20 minutes. The Cougars made 20 of their 33 second-half field goal attempts.
The Cougars used a 13-3 run that started with a Seljaas jumper with 12 minutes, 40 seconds to play in breaking out to a 70-60 lead with under nine minutes remaining.
The Chippewas remained within striking distance, cutting their deficit to six, 81-75, with under four minutes left. The Cougars went on a 7-0 spurt to bump their lead to 13, 88-75, with two minutes remaining.
Chase Fischer added 23 points and Kyle Davis had 20 for the Cougars. BYU point guard Kyle Collinsworth finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, upping his NCAA Division I career record to eight triple-doubles.
“What you have to learn, and we’re continuing to learn even though we’ve got some experience, is that to beat a team like this you can’t let them beat you in every area,” Davis said. “They knocked down 3s, yes, but from two-point range in the second half they were 14-for-20.
“It’s not that we have to become a great defensive team this year, but we have to see marked improvement if we want to be able to win, and especially win on the road.”
The Chippewas (5-5) play host to Howard (6-5) on Tuesday (7 p.m.) at McGuirk Arena. BYU is 7-3.