On fire: Zylstra's career night paces Cougars in 87-52 win against Northern Arizona

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. — Late in the game, the lopsided score creating more yawns than cheers, a young fan won an Xbox by nailing a half-court shot.

It must have been "Feel Like Brock Zylstra Night" at the Lumberjack Classic, won by BYU, 87-52, off a career night from the team's junior shooting guard.

He had a career-high 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including missing just one of his six 3-point tries. He had three made tries in the first six minutes Wednesday against Northern Arizona.

"We got big performances out of a couple of guys we've been waiting for," coach Dave Rose said in the locker room at Tim's Toyota Center, also hinting at freshman center Nate Austin's career-high 11 points.

No one was happier, maybe even more relieved, in the 5,000-seat venue a couple of hours north of Phoenix than Zylstra. The starting point guard for a few games, at 6-foot-6 and with little experience at the position, it wasn't a good fit. Rose said he'll "always appreciate" his player's effort. But how things are now, clearly better.

And it took a couple of games to find his footing again at his more natural position, where he was lethal when left open — which was early and often, as outsized NAU focused on hanging tough with rebounding but left a lot of shooters open.

"How fun was that for (Zylstra) tonight?" NAU coach Mike Adras said without a hint of disgust. "When you make a couple, then all of a sudden the basket looks as big as the ocean."

Zylstra (26 minutes) even had a career-best point total after the first half, 15 points. He didn't score again until about nine minutes remained on a couple of free throws. 

"It was good for me," Zylstra said by the locker room after taking a few peeks at his cell phone, which had blown up with congratulatory messages shortly before his team would make the short drive to the airport for a chartered plane ride home. "(Playing on the wing) is something I'm obviously a lot more comfortable with. It feels good to be able to come off screens and shoot shots, and make plays that way."

Zylstra missed all four 3-point tries against Wisconsin, which is now ranked No. 9 nationally.

Of course, there must be a middle ground somewhere — even if BYU's schedule hasn't shown it. The 5-2 Cougars have either won big against vastly inferior competition (including the now 2-5 Lumberjacks) or fallen apart in the second half in losses to Utah State and Wisconsin. Perhaps Saturday's opponent, Oregon, at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City will tell a little more about how good Zylstra and Co. are.

Rose said he was pleased with this showing, especially on the defensive end. He worried about NAU's series of screens and physical play wearing down his relatively team. The seventh-year coach was as vocal as he's been all year in the first half, barking out assignments, criticism and some encouragement as BYU built a 44-21 lead.

NAU scored the first four points as BYU suffered a lethargic start, complete with five missed shots and a blown 4-on-1 fast break.

But the Cougars eventually led 15-4 and forced 16 turnovers (24 total) to varying degrees through their own doing.

"I thought our length could cause them problems if we played with a lot of energy," Rose said.

BYU had just a six-rebound advantage (38-32) against a team that started no one taller than 6-foot-6, but young and small NAU suffered for staying inside by allowing the Cougars to sink 10 3-point shots (in 25 attempts) and a host of jumpers, even by big men like Austin and Brandon Davies, who had 14 points and nine rebounds.

"It was definitely a good confidence builder," the freshman center Austin said after a solid late showing, including a 3-pointer.

NAU's Adras hit it right on: "It was shooting practice for those guys."

Though Zylstra did turn down an exceptional bomb. He was in Jimmer Fredette's old stamping grounds, about 23 feet from the basket on the right wing. Zylstra pump-faked, the crowd of 3,215 awed, but he passed it up.

Instead he set up a Davies bank-shot jumper. Zylstra-mania will have to wait.

"It would not have been a good shot," Zylstra said, smiling. "I don't have that kind of green light yet."