BYU still basking in spotlight after historic win over Gonzaga


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PROVO — Fresh off an exciting 73-70 win against then-No. 3 Gonzaga Saturday night in Spokane, Washington, BYU finds itself still basking in the national spotlight after the historic win for the program.

Gonzaga, which had the nation’s longest home winning streak of 41 games before the loss, had swept through conference play undefeated before the Cougar upset. KPI Sports, a database of college basketball analytics and algorithms, ranks BYU’s win against Gonzaga as the fourth-best win of the 2014-15 national collegiate season.

While BYU head coach Dave Rose knows the importance of this win for the Cougars' postseason resume, he is crediting this win as one that will have a lasting impact on the program.

“It’s really special for this team right now to get that win and how it affects everything for our postseason situation, but as good as these guys felt, it will go long beyond that moment,” Rose said. “The fact is that every team that goes up there now will believe ‘Hey, listen, this could be a special night.’”

Rose considers this Gonzaga team the most talented roster he has seen, which makes this win even more impressive considering the Bulldogs have won 16 out of the past 17 WCC regular-season championships.

When asked if he thought this was the best Gonzaga team ever, Rose replied, “I think so, overall with the depth of their guard line and then the skill and size of their front line.”


It's really special for this team right now to get that win and how it affects everything for our postseason situation, but as good as these guys felt, it will go long beyond that moment. The fact is that every team that goes up there now will believe 'Hey, listen, this could be a special night.'

–Dave Rose


The Cougars, who haven’t allowed an opponent more than 70 points in the past six games, shut down Gonzaga’s best two offensive players: guard Kevin Pangos and forward Kyle Wiltjer. Pangos, who was just named the West Coast Conference player of the year, didn’t score in the second half, and Wiltjer shot 2 for 11 from the field for four points.

When BYU played Gonzaga earlier in the season on Dec. 27, Pangos and Wiltjer scored 21 and 24 points, respectively. Rose credited the Cougars' defensive focus to shutting down the Gonzaga stars as the key to winning the game.

“The focus was ‘These two guys can’t do this again,’” Rose said. “I just really felt good about how we were actually going to change that. It’s amazing. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Pangos play a half without scoring, especially in a game where they really need him.”

The triumphant victory didn’t come without stress toward the end of the game, however. BYU, which never trailed, saw its eight-point lead diminish to one during the final seconds.

“It looked like we had this game in a position where we were going to win going away, then the last couple minutes got pretty sketchy,” Rose said. “A lot of strange things happened; you could feel a lot of the mystique that they have at that place checking into our group. But then that ball bounces off, and that was a really great feeling.”

Senior guard Tyler Haws, who became BYU’s all-time leading scorer over the weekend, talked about how the Cougars’ confidence grew throughout the game.

“In the locker room before the game, I think all of our guys felt that something special was going to happen,” Haws said. “I don’t think anyone in that whole building thought that it could be done. I think it was about 10 minutes to go in the second half that I was like ‘We are going to get this thing done.’”

Haws set the scoring record during BYU’s 86-78 win over Portland in the game prior. Haws, who set the record early in the first half, is happy to have the record and the accompanying anticipation behind him.

“It was kind of a big relief,” Haws said. “It’s nice to have that in the rear view mirror. I heard about it a lot from lots of different people, and I am glad we were able to accomplish that and to go beat the Zags. It was an awesome weekend.”

BYU is known throughout the country for loyal fans and alumni who attend road games in large crowds. Cougar fans packed the house in Portland, which lead to an unusually loud celebration on the road after Haws set the record.

“It was quite amazing,” Rose said. “It was a couple possessions where they were still standing and cheering.”

Rose also reflected on the accomplishments of his star senior. He discussed how great of a feat it was to become BYU’s all-time leading scorer, especially considering some of the talented players who have donned a Cougar uniform, such as Danny Ainge and Jimmer Fredette.

“He’s as consistent as any player I’ve ever seen,” Rose said. “He will appreciate this a lot more a month from now, but it’s quite an accomplishment. You talk about some really talented, efficient, effective players that have gone through here (and) to be able to be the guy that has scored the most points is quite the accomplishment.”

Despite setting the scoring record and establishing himself as a Cougar legend, Haws was happy to admit that the biggest story of the weekend wasn’t his record, but his team’s victory over the Bulldogs.

“It was an unbelievable team effort,” Haws said. “From start to finish our guys were locked in. We needed everyone for that game and lots of guys stepped up. I thought we put together a great 40 minutes, and hopefully we can continue to keep that edge we had in that game.”

Haws spent some time discussing how he will remember this year’s team. The Cougars finished the regular season 23-8 despite playing with ten different starting lineups and facing a steady stream of injuries.

“I definitely feel like this is a special group of guys,” Haws said. “This team has been through a lot this year. We’ve gone through injuries, adversity and lost some games we should have won. For our guys to stay in it, stay together and keep believing that we can do something special, I think that says a lot about the heart and the resolve of this team.”

BYU’s potential postseason play in the NCAA tournament was in question heading into the weekend, but after Saturday’s victory over Gonzaga, the team experienced a boost in its resume and watched its chances of receiving a bid to the tournament increase. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, known throughout college basketball as an expert for NCAA tournament seeding, placed BYU in his “Last Four In” category after the Cougs’ win.

The Cougars can take confidence in what happened last season, when they received a No. 10 seed to the tournament despite boasting a weaker resume than this year’s team. The 2014 Cougars were 21-10 overall, and 5-9 on the road, heading into the WCC tournament. This year, BYU is 23-8 and 8-3 on the road. Additionally, last year at this time BYU’s RPI was ranked 37 nationally, compared to the current team’s ranking of 35.

However, the Cougars can relieve themselves and their fans of any stress by winning the WCC tournament this upcoming weekend in Las Vegas.

“One of the toughest things in sports is to get your guys off of a really big win and into the next game,” Rose said. “The most important thing is when we get out on the court, is to find that edge to us, because that’s how we have to play.”

Haws and the Cougars are now mentally preparing for the conference tournament and the opportunity to end the season on a magical run.

“Everyone in that locker room, and all our coaches, believe that something special can happen,” Haws said. “Your focus has to be one game at a time. Everyone’s gunning for you, especially in the conference tournament. You got to be ready.”

The Cougars play the winner of the Santa Clara vs. Loyola Marymount Saturday, March 7. The game will be televised on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. PST. Trevor Woller is a public relations student at Brigham Young University and sports enthusiast.

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