Cougars look to each other to get back on winning track


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PROVO — BYU basketball players looked as if they were practicing with real intent this week, almost as if their lives depended on it.

With last week’s unexpected road loss at the University of San Diego, the Cougars are going to have to hit the hardwood with the mindset that the season is on the line, and they intend to do just that — as a team.

“What I was really concerned about the most is that our guys didn’t seem to be as together as much,” said head coach Dave Rose. “I don’t mean that guys got selfish or that guys were going sideways, but it just seemed like we had a disappointing loss and what we tried to do was fix it by ourselves in our own way.”

Individual players have been having a big season, starting with Kyle Collinsworth making it to four triple-doubles in a single season, and Tyler Haws climbing to No. 3 on the list of top points per game leaders in the NCAA. But the team effort is still alive and well at BYU no matter how individuals are playing, no matter the injuries the team is dealing with.

“What I have really seen in the last couple of days with our guys is that they are really committed to each other, which is a good thing,” said Rose.

The Cougars' next matchup brings conference opponent San Francisco on Thursday to the Marriott Center, a team that had 15 threes dropped on it the last time it played BYU.

What should really worry San Francisco though, is the fight building up in this BYU team.

“We still have a lot of fight left in us, and I think that has showed a lot in our practices. We just have to translate that to the game,” said Haws. “And we are ready to play another game.”

San Francisco is 3-6 in conference play, but has always required a physical game from the Cougars. In the 2014 WCC tournament, USF took the Cougars all the way through the game into overtime, where BYU finally pulled off a close 79-77 win.

The two teams have already been matched up once this season at USF with an overwhelming BYU 99-68 win. The Cougars had a stellar game that night, as before mentioned, draining 15 threes.

Still, BYU's players are ultimately thinking about staying committed to each other rather than thinking about shooting more threes.

“One thing that I think is similar to last year is nobody is going sideways, everyone’s still together in this thing,” said Haws. “Everyone in that locker room still believes in what we are doing, so we’re just gonna keep fighting.”

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Katie Nielson

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