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BYU basketball: Cougars pull away late, down Santa Clara in WCC quarterfinal

All the BYU Cougars know is that they are advancing to the West Coast Conference tournament semifinals, after holding off Santa Clara 72-60 on Saturday afternoon at Orleans Arena.

Five Cougars scored in double figures, led by freshman Nick Emery with 15 points, and BYU improved to 23-9.

Jared Brownridge accounted for half of Santa Clara's points, scoring 30 after a slow start.

Trailing by 10 at halftime, Santa Clara played like a different team in the second half, and cut the BYU lead to 42-41 with 14:25 left on a 3-pointer by Brownridge.

The Cougars pushed their lead back to 47-41, but couldn't shake the Broncos, whose confidence increased as the half wore on.