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PROVO — Searching for its first win against St. Mary’s since joining the West Coast Conference, BYU got off to a lackluster start Saturday night before an absolute dominant second half propelled the Cougars to an 84-71 victory.
Over the course of the first 10 minutes, the Gaels jumped out to a 14-point lead, while BYU committed four turnovers, four fouls and went just 4-of-14 from the field.
Sophomore Kyle Collinsworth attributed the early game struggles to emotion because the team was, as he described it, “excited” to play a conference foe in a “big game.”
So the dexterous point guard/forward increased his aggressiveness offensively to get the Cougars out of their early hole.
“In the first half they put a 4-man on me so we tried to take advantage of that,” Collinsworth said.
Scoring nine of BYU’s first 17 points, the Provo native was getting into the paint at will, and he finished the half with a team-best 14 points and six rebounds.
“Every night it seems like they can’t guard Ty (Haws) so we get him the ball and play off him,” Collinsworth continued.
Haws missed his first four shots prior to making 10 of his next 13 attempts, and the Cougars, after trailing by one at the intermission, took control in the second half.
Aided by a deafening roar from the Marriott Center crowd of nearly 18,000, BYU outscored St. Mary’s 36-21 during a 15-minute span and held a 17-4 second-half rebounding edge.
As much as I'm happy with the scoring, I feel like we're figuring some things out defensively and we're starting to play on that end of the floor. That's leading to a lot of our offensive opportunities.
–Tyler Haws
Haws, the Cougars’ leading scorer, reached 30 points just moments later, marking the 10th time he’s accomplished the feat for his career and the seventh this season.
His offensive game, complete with a flawless midrange jumper that is usually set up by a variety of screens or one of his post-ups, is so efficient that the gaudy performances have become more of an expectation than a surprising development.
BYU head coach Dave Rose had to remind members of the media that he was a difference-maker after the game.
“It’s interesting that I’d field six or seven questions and no one would ask me about Ty getting 33,” He said. “I think even you guys are starting to overlook.”
Collinsworth and Haws ended up combining to score 53 points, shoot 53.3 percent on field goals and pull down 16 rebounds.
A lot of the credit also has to go to the ever-improving Cougar defense, which held the Gaels to 8-for-22 shooting (36.4 percent) following halftime and 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) from 3-point range for the game.
“As much as I’m happy with the scoring, I feel like we’re figuring some things out defensively and we’re starting to play on that end of the floor," Haws said. "That’s leading to a lot of our offensive opportunities."
St. Mary’s big man Brad Waldow was the key to the Gaels building a first-half lead and kept them close by scoring 25 points to go with his seven rebounds. But again BYU’s physicality forced the visitors into mental mistakes.
BYU outmuscles Pacific to snap two-game losing streak
Freshman Eric Mika and the Cougars knew they would have to be physical to beat a Pacific team that prefers to execute out of half-court sets.With just over 12 minutes left and the Cougars leading by five, Waldow collected a difficult bounce pass that initially went through his legs and tried to spin and pass out of a double team.
After being whistled for a travel, he threw his mouthpiece in frustration and was charged with a technical foul, which was also his fourth personal foul of the contest.
Then, the game was already in hand when reserve Garrett Jackson violently swung his elbow at the head of BYU freshman Eric Mika. It was the second flagrant 2 foul in as many games that involved Mika and resulted in Jackson's ejection from the game.
“I think Eric’s a physical player,” Rose said. “Our whole staff is really pleased at just how active he is again after I thought he was kind of favoring that leg.”
BYU (15-9, 7-4) moved into a tie for second place in the WCC with the win, having already defeated San Francisco — the team that also holds the position behind Gonzaga.
The Cougars continue their four-game homestand Thursday against Santa Clara at 9 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPNU and heard on KSL News Radio.
