Balanced BYU ousts Santa Clara from WCC tourney, 72-60

LAS VEGAS (AP) Kyle Collinsworth, the West Coast Conference Player of the Year, scored 13 points and had two key assists late in the game as Brigham Young defeated Santa Clara 72-60 in the quarterfinal round of the WCC basketball tournament on Saturday.

BYU (23-9) will face the winner of No. 2 seed Gonzaga-No. 7 Portland in a semifinal on Monday. Gonzaga has eliminated BYU in the last two tournament championship games.

The Cougars rushed out to a 21-7 lead but Santa Clara twice came within one point, each time on a Jared Brownridge 3-pointer. The last made it 55-54 with 6:19 to play.

Collinsworth, who finished with six assists, dished to Kyle Davis for a layup and then found Chase Fischer for a 3-pointer that hit nothing but net for a 61-54 lead.

Brownridge led Santa Clara (11-20) with 30 points. Santa Clara made one 3-pointer and had no assists in the first half.