Neilson scores career high in victory over Wildcats

BYU vs. Weber State Notes and Quotes

BYU vs. Weber State Box Score

OGDEN, Utah – Freshman Isaac Neilson scored a career-high 15 points in a 76-60 victory over Weber State Saturday night at the Dee Events Center. 

"The best thing tonight was that it was a really good team win," BYU basketball coach Dave Rose said. "There were so many guys that actually got the chance to play a few more minutes than they were playing. There was a lot of real balance from our team with scoring and rebounding the ball. We got contributions from seven, eight, nine, 10 guys on both ends of the floor.”

Tyler Haws finished with a game-high 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Neilson added six rebounds, two steals, a block and a career-best four threes to his career-high 15 points. Chase Fischer contributed 13 points and four assists with Anson Winder adding nine points and five rebounds.

BYU finished the game with a 54.3 shooting percentage while holding the Wildcats to 37.3 percent. The Cougars made 12 of 19 shots from 3-point range and outrebounded Weber State 34-25.

Fischer scored the first points of the game on a 3-pointer from Haws’ steal and assist 1:07 into the first half. The Cougars forced the Wildcats into four turnovers over 3:01 as part of a 15-2 run that included by three shots from deep by Neilson and Fischer to lead 20-6 with 13:54 remaining.

Weber State reeled off a 6-0 run to come within eight, but it was answered by Haws’ jumper to maintain a 22-12 lead with 10:31 left in the half.

Dalton Nixon connected from beyond the arc at the 10:31 mark to give BYU a perfect 5 of 5 start from 3-point range. Five minutes later, Haws made his first 3-pointer of the game and was followed by two more shots from deep by Winder and Fischer with 3:27 remaining to keep a 13-point lead. The Cougars entered halftime up 39-25.

Haws led all scorers in the first half with 14 points with Fischer trailing with nine points on 3 of 4 shooting from beyond the arc. Neilson added six points after going 2 of 2 from deep, while the Cougars finished the half going 8 of 10 from downtown.

Neilson continued his hot shooting after the break, going on a solo 6-0 run with consecutive 3-pointers to give BYU a 46-27 lead three minutes into the second half. Skyler Halford added another shot from 3-point range for the Cougars’ 11th 3-pointer of the game, which was followed by a 7-0 run by the Wildcats. Corbin Kaufusi made the first points in the paint for BYU on a dunk at the 11:42 mark to keep the 51-39 lead.

Weber State cut its deficit to 51-43, but was answered by Kyle Collinsworth’s baseline dunk to put BYU back up by 10 with 11:01 remaining. Haws’ three-point play and Fischer’s 3-pointer at the 6:43 mark pushed the Cougars’ lead back to 16 at 63-47. With 3:59 left, Nixon’s bucket gave BYU its largest lead of the game at 70-50. Winder scored the last BYU points with 38 seconds on the clock to take the game 76-60.

The Cougars welcome Stanford to the Marriott Center on Saturday at 9 p.m. MST. The game will be televised live on ESPNU and broadcast on the Cougar IMG Sports Network on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM.