BYU Cougars

Emery scores 23 as BYU sprints past CS Bakersfield, 81-69 (Dec 22, 2016)

Published Dec. 22, 2016 11:34 p.m. ET

PROVO, Utah (AP) Nick Emery scored 23 points and Brigham Young built a 20-point lead in the first half and cruised to an 81-71 win over Cal State Bakersfield in the Cougars final nonconference game Thursday night.

BYU opens West Coast Conference play Thursday when it plays host to Santa Clara.

The Cougars (9-4) never trailed and needed less than four minutes to take a double digit lead when L.J. Rose hit a trey to make it 12-2. BYU took a 22-7 lead after eight minutes and led by 20 at intermission, 47-27.

Freshman TJ Haws finished with 14 points for his sixth consecutive game in double digits. Freshman Yoeli Childs had his most productive night, scoring a season-high 19 points and grabbing a dozen rebounds. He has reached double digits four times in his last five games.

Damiyne Durham scored 22 points off the bench for the Roadrunners (8-5).