BYU prepares for a battle against Saint Mary's


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PROVO — It has been a busy week in Provo. A contract extension for BYU basketball coach Dave Rose, announcements of a new practice facility and Marriott Center renovations, along with hype surrounding Kyle Collinsworth's latest triple-double and a nearing milestone for Tyler Haws have headlined the days leading up to BYU's Thursday night showdown with Saint Mary's.

Now, Rose is focused solely on the Gaels, who make their way to Provo to play in the Marriott Center. The conference showdown is the second and final regular-season meeting; Brad Waldow's 24 points and 14 rebounds paced the Gaels to an 82-77 win over BYU last month in Moraga.

“I think that we will have to try a lot of different things. If there is one thing it’s that not only is (Waldow) really smart and really skilled, but he is really smart,” said Rose. “If you try the same thing over and over, you can get into a pretty good rhythm but you can’t just double team him because he’s really strong and he is a really good passer right out of the post.”

While the Gaels are seeking to protect their 2nd-place standing in the West Coast Conference, the 3rd-place Cougars are seeking to avoid dropping as low as the fourth seed in the conference tournament. Tied with Pepperdine, the Cougars would lose any season-ending tiebreak with the Waves.

“We expect a hard, tough game, hard-nosed," said guard Skyler Halford on Wednesday. "We are going to have to fight during every possession. They are a tough team. We will be ready for it though. We are excited for the challenge.”

Collinsworth recently recorded his NCAA record-setting fifth triple-double of the season, while Haws is on a streak of 10 consecutive games with 20-plus points. What will be challenging for the Cougars, particularly against Saint Mary's, is rebounding well enough. Last month in Moraga, the Cougars were out-boarded by 13. This week, we learned that forward Nate Austin (hamstring) will not be returning to aid in the rebounding effort.

“(Nate Austin’s) season is over. He doesn’t feel like it has healed and he wouldn’t be 100 percent,” said Rose. “We will look into trying to see if it’s possible for him to get his year back.”

This season, BYU’s starting lineup has changed constantly, with Rose turning late in the season to freshman Corbin Kaufusi as a post anchor.

“There is always pressure with being the only big guy, but I take it one play at a time,” said Kaufusi. “You just do what your coaches tell you to do and do what you are taught.”

Rose has been preparing his team for Thursday's matchup, and Kaufusi believes their chances of coming out with a win because of their preparation is really high. Although their NCAA tournament at-large hopes have taken a recent hit, the Cougars are showing no signs of faltering.

“(Waldow) is a very seasoned player and he knows what to do and how to do it well,” said Kaufusi. “So going up against him we already knew that, but now I have a feel for how he does it and goes about it, and looking at the film helps a ton too on how to guard him.”

The Gaels' primary focus will be Haws, who enters Thursday night's game only 70 points away from becoming BYU's career scoring leader.

“I’m just amazed at how difficult (Haws’) assignment is and yet how good he is in that assignment,” said Rose. “There’s a lot of attention paid to him and everybody all know what he does and they all have a plan of how to stop him, but very few guys can do it.”

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Katie Nielson

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