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PROVO — Junior Tyler Haws hasn’t had to carry the Cougars' offense recently, a trend that’s uncustomary for the nation’s fourth-leading scorer.
In wins at Saint Mary’s, home against Gonzaga, and Saturday night, 89-72 over Portland, Haws didn’t score 20 points a single time — the first three-game stretch all season that he’s failed to do so — and the Cougars won each night to solidify their grasp on second place in the West Coast Conference and move within one and a half games of first-place Gonzaga.
Dave Rose has conceded that his team has often required too much from the man now in seventh on BYU’s all-time scoring list, but with a bench now evolving into an interchangeable starting lineup rather than a usual collection of role players, the Cougars are beginning to look like a suitor for the NCAA selection committee.
“You get to the end of the year and you can’t just rely on one or two guys,” Rose said. “You have to have a group, a whole bench of guys, contributing and playing well. I think we’re improved in that area.”
Haws had 15 points, however it was his five assists, and the fact that he scored 11 of his total in just over 8 minutes to open the game that depicts the progress of the active 12-man roster.
“The most important thing that we’re trying to challenge the guys with is to try and find the potential within them all because they’re all really good players,” Rose said.
No one has seized their opportunity quite like junior Anson Winder, who, after finishing with another efficient offensive game (19 points, 7-of-8 field goals made, 4-for-4 on free throws) and locking down Bobby Sharp for the better part of the first half, has the backcourt depth as strong as it’s been all year.
In four starts this season, Winder is averaging 18 points per game, shooting 60.5 percent from the floor, and has made 22-of-24 free throws. Two of the performances — against Mount St. Mary’s and Colorado Mesa — forced him to fill the void created by an early season Haws injury. While Winder continues his remarkable transformation, the question has changed from who will help Haws shoulder the production to who will steal the spotlight?
Junior Matt Carlino took on that role versus the Pilots. Carlino put on a 30-point, 8-of-13 3-point shooting clinic in his best game as a reserve.
We're growing a lot and I feel like we're having the most fun at this point in the year. Sometimes it feels like a grind at this point in the year, but we're really clicking and having a lot of fun together and that's really important.
–Matt Carlino
He could undoubtedly start if Rose didn’t have such a logjam at guard, but the fact that he’s embraced his responsibility is testament to the improvements the Cougars have made as a team.
"We're growing a lot and I feel like we're having the most fun at this point in the year,” Carlino said. “Sometimes it feels like a grind at this point in the year, but we're really clicking and having a lot of fun together, and that's really important."
Steady at the point has been sophomore Kyle Collinsworth, whose multi-faceted game allows him to find success navigating defenses as a facilitator or posting up on the block, and though it seems he can slash into the lane with ease at times, he’s content doing whatever gets BYU a victory.
The guard/forward finished with seven points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and two steals as the Cougars split the season series with the Pilots.
Plain and simple, this group is embodying a team-first mentality. Freshman Eric Mika talked about the advantage he has coming off the bench after the Gonzaga win and he again served in that capacity Saturday, which prevented him from picking up his third foul until there were less than 5 minutes remaining in the contest.
Fellow newcomer, freshman Luke Worthington, got the start in Mika’s place and looked like a completely different player than he did in his first Division I experiences, running the floor early on to finish a 3-point play.
Other players have made significant strides as well to help BYU go 12-3 in 2014, and they’ll need to conclude the regular season playing well to be able to showcase their progress on March’s biggest stage.
San Diego (16-14, 7-10) awaits the Cougars’ final stop March 1 at 1 p.m. before traveling to Las Vegas for the WCC tournament.
The Toreros are also playing confident basketball, having knocked off Gonzaga 69-66 at home Saturday.
