BYU basketball: Noah Hartsock helps BYU down Santa Clara, 82-67

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As Noah Hartsock fell hard to the floor under the basket Saturday while battling for a rebound against Santa Clara, the senior forward lay almost motionless for several minutes, and BYU fans held their collective breath.

So did Hartsock.

For a while, the senior from Bartlesville, Okla., thought his season — and career — might be over.

"It just felt like something happened to my knee, just the way I landed," Hartsock said. "I was a little scared. You get that little sensation, and I was a little afraid at that moment. I came down and the weight on top of me, it just felt like something might have happened."

Bronco forward Yannick Atanga, who drew a foul, got tangled up with Hartsock, who landed in awkward fashion. There was 9:54 remaining in the game, and the Cougars led the Broncos by eight, but at that moment, the outcome of the contest wasn't foremost on Hartsock's mind.

"My knee was still bent," he said of the time he spent on the floor. "I was afraid to stretch it out because it felt like there might be something terribly wrong there. Fortunately, it wasn't anything too big."

Eventually, Hartsock stood up and walked off the floor on his own power, went to the locker room, and later returned to the game.

Hartsock fueled a late-game surge that allowed BYU to pull away from Santa Clara, 82-67, before a sellout crowd of 4,700 at the Leavey Center.

Playing as though nothing was wrong, Hartsock scored five of the Cougars' final 13 points to finish with a game-high 21.

"That just shows exactly how Noah is. He's going to give you all he has every single day," said forward Brandon Davies, who finished with 20 points. "Whether he's hurt or not, he's going to try and do what he can help the team win. We were all worried. He's a tough guy. He doesn't go down like that unless he's really hurt. It's unfortunate that that happened. I'm just glad he's OK."

Coach Dave Rose said it was adrenaline that enabled Hartsock to finish the game. Rose went onto the floor to check on his team's leading scorer after the injury.

"He was pretty scared, the way he came down," Rose said. "He's still not out of the woods … We'll see how he is (Sunday and Monday). (Sunday) will be a big day. If it swells and the pain stays out of it, he might have dodged a bullet. But history will tell you it will probably be pretty sore (Sunday)."