Central Michigan University
BYU
Chippewas Battle, But Fall at BYU
12/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
PROVO, Utah - Outgunned out west.
Freshman Zac Seljaas hit seven 3-pointers en route to a career-high 25 points Friday as Brigham Young handed the Central Michigan men's basketball team a 98-85 non-conference loss before 13,408 at the Marriott Center.
The loss snapped CMU's two-game win streak. The Chippewas (5-5) play host to Howard (6-5) on Tuesday (7 p.m.) at McGuirk Arena. BYU is 7-3.
"We did enough offensively," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "I think defensively we just didn't have an answer for them. Fortunately we've got some time to get better in that area.
"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."
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."
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 9 minutes remaining.
The Chippewas remained within striking distance, cutting their deficit to six, 81-75, with under 4 minutes left. The Cougars went on a 7-0 spurt to bump their lead to 13, 88-75, with 2 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."
