PROVO — The BYU Cougar basketball team held its Cougar Tip-off in the Marriott Center Wednesday night, and although the game was just a Blue/White team scrimmage, fans got a chance to see the Cougars in a competitive setting along with the debut of many new faces to the team.

The first half the teams were evenly matched with older and younger players on each side. The first half resulted in White beating Blue, 34-27. After the half the teams switched up and most freshmen played on the white team. The more experienced Blue team outscored the White team by 11 in the second half.

Among the new faces for BYU is Chase Fischer, a 6-foot-3 junior, transfer from Wake Forest. He will support Tyler Haws in the guard position this season.

Fischer totaled 11 points, two assists and four steals in the Cougar Tip-off. Although this is his first time in a Cougar uniform it was clear that he is a leader of the team and will contribute right away this season.

“I think Chase had a lot of really good moments out there, but I think that any player that has practiced for an entire year waiting for this moment, he got a little bit ahead of himself at times and he needs to slow down," BYU basketball coach Dave Rose said. "But I really like his presence on the floor and I think he did a good job of carrying himself and taking advantage of opportunities that presented itself.

“He got into a situation in the first half where he was playing a little bit of the point guard and I think it was interesting to watch him attack from that position. I think he is a guy that can do a lot of things for us on the guard line."

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With six freshmen and Fischer new to the Cougar roster this year, Fischer is looking forward to what the new guys can bring.

“I think we kind of bring a new look. We had some departures with missions and gradations. So, I definitely think we have a lot of new guys that do different things and that will be good," Fischer said. "We still have to get our timing down but I think all the newcomers are doing really well.”

Isaac Neilson is another new face to watch for this season. He is a freshman this year after he redshirted last season after returning from his LDS mission to Alabama. At 6-11, Neilson will help fill the void of big man Eric Mika, who is currently on his mission. Neilson had 13 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and a block during the scrimmage.

“I think he is skilled and long," Rose said of Neilson. "I hope he can be a really durable post player for us. But we saw a lot of things from him — you saw a nice little hook, a couple baskets right at the rim, you saw a jumper from the foul line. I think he has the chance to be a good offensive post player for us and I was happy with his offensive performance.”

Along with Neilson, freshmen Jordan Chatman, Dalton Nixon, Corbin Kaufusi, Ryan Andrus and Jake Toolson made their Cougar debuts.

Kaufusi had seven points, four rebounds and two blocks on the night. Toolson added eight points and four rebounds.

The Cougars host Colorado School of the Mines Saturday at 7 p.m.

Lindsey Peterson is a Brigham Young University student studying Broadcast Journalism. Contact her at lindspeterson4@gmail.com or on Twitter @LindsPetey.

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