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PROVO — Tyler Haws scored a season-high 35 points, and Kyle Collinsworth fell one assist shy of a triple-double to lead BYU to an 84-72 win over Pepperdine Thursday night.
The visiting Waves cut the Cougars' lead, which had stretched to seven points in the second half, to 62-60 before BYU head coach Dave Rose called timeout.
"We called a nice play, and they came out in a zone and our guys read it," Rose said. "I think we kind of softened up the backside of that zone and then we made a great play. Skyler (Halford) jumped up and hit a 10- to 12-footer. It was a big shot."
Halford's jumper pushed BYU's advantage to four before two Pepperdine misses gave Haws the opportunity to run down the floor and find space on the wing.
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"I think we got some real energy and went down and got a stop," Rose continued. "Then Ty hit a couple of shots back to back. It was great execution in a tough spot."
Haws made both of his 3-point attempts on the following Cougars possessions to push the advantage to 70-60 — BYU's biggest lead of the night since it opened the game on a 12-0 run.
Collinsworth found Haws on the second of the two triples, giving him nine assists to go with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three steals.
The Waves were without starters Brendan Lane and Malcolm Brooks; their top two scorers. Lane and Brooks average 17 and 15.8 points per game respectively. Nikolas Skouen, the team's only reserve to play in all 16 games prior to Thursday, also missed the game.
Brooks had 24 points in the first meeting this season between the two schools — an 80-74 Pepperdine victory.
Foul trouble complicated the Waves' ability to remain close. Stacy Davis finished with 17 points to lead the visitors but picked up his fourth foul with 5:27 left, just moments before the aforementioned sequence of events that saw BYU claim a 10-point edge.
The Cougars' depth was also tested as Eric Mika missed his first game of the season with a hip contusion. Josh Sharp filled in for the freshman in the starting lineup and had five rebounds despite committing four fouls in 12 minutes.
Nate Austin had nine rebounds and two blocks. Perhaps more importantly, the junior finished the first half with just one foul and didn't commit his fourth until the 3:16 mark in the second half.
In his second start of the season, Halford finished with 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting and chipped in six rebounds. Matt Carlino rounded out the Cougars in double figures, scoring 10 points, dishing out six assists and collecting three rebounds.
Loyola Marymount visits the Marriott Center on Saturday in the second of two early league rematches for BYU. The Lions fell on the road to San Diego, 74-67 Thursday night.
Saturday's contest is scheduled for 7 p.m. MST.
