Haws' career-high 35 leads BYU to pivotal road win at San Diego in OT


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PROVO — Forget about Gonzaga, or even Saint Mary's or San Francisco (for now, at least).

BYU’s road trip at San Diego was a pivotal game for the Cougars’ postseason hopes — namely the West Coast Conference tournament, which ends one month from Thursday night in Las Vegas.

Coach Dave Rose knew it. San Diego coach Sam Scholl knew it.

And TJ Haws knew it.

Haws scored a career-high 35 points, and Yoeli Childs added 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead BYU to an 88-82 win in overtime in the Jenny Craig Pavilion at San Diego, helping the Cougars to their fourth-straight victory.

Olin Carter III led the Toreros with 20 points, and Isaiah Pineiro supplied 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for San Diego.

Isaiah Wright supplied six points, seven rebounds and seven assists for USD.

“It was a fun night for me,” said Haws, who also passed his father, Marty Haws, for No. 23 on the Cougars’ all-time scoring list. “This place is a tough place to play. To win two games on the road, you have to win the first one. But I thought they came out with a tough mentality and made a lot of shots. We weathered the storm, and really just battled all night.”

The Cougars never led for the first 35 minutes of game time, had just two leads in regulation, and won their first game after trailing by double figures for the first time in the 2018-19 season.

But with Childs’s dunk in the second minute of overtime, the Cougars took a 79-77 advantage and never trailed again.

Childs hit a jumper just over a minute later to give the Cougars an 82-77 advantage — their biggest lead of the game — with 2:13 left in overtime.

Pineiro cut the deficit to two on a pair of free throws, but Haws responded with a miracle jumper to push the lead back to four with 1:14 left, and BYU held on for a critical road win to keep sole possession of second place in the West Coast Conference.

McKay Cannon scored 10 points, including a 3-pointer that gave BYU its first lead of the game with about five minutes remaining. The senior who transferred from Weber State hit three triples on the night.

Nick Emery supplied eight points and two assists in 34 minutes, earning his second start of the season for BYU and swatting a ball to earn a steal in the final minute to help BYU preserve the win.

BYU was caught sleepwalking through the first 10 minutes of the game, and San Diego took advantage. The Toreros shot 6-of-11 from 3-point range early, and Carter’s fourth triple gave USD a 24-10 lead just eight minutes into the game.

But the Cougars didn’t go away and battled back — with defense. BYU forced a season-high 18 turnovers, scored a season-best 18 points off those turnovers, and snuck a win from a team that posted better margins in rebounding (34-29), assists (18-16) and shooting (52 percent to 48).

But the Cougars won with defense.

“I think Sam’s doing a great job. I really like his team, and they are together,” BYU coach Dave Rose said of first-year USD coach Sam Scholl. “He’s probably wondering how they lost the game … but they turned the ball over 18 times, and that’s how we got them.”

The Toreros shot nearly 60 percent from the field in the first half, building up a big lead to survive any attempted flurry the Cougars threw to get back into the game.

Brigham Young guard Zac Seljaas reacts after making a three-point shot during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against San Diego, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, in San Diego. (Photo: Gregory Bull, AP)
Brigham Young guard Zac Seljaas reacts after making a three-point shot during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against San Diego, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, in San Diego. (Photo: Gregory Bull, AP)

The Cougars trailed by as many as 14 points — twice — while allowing the Toreros to essentially have their way from the field.

But Haws wouldn’t say die.

“We made a few punches, made a few runs, and they kept battling,” Haws said. “That’s a really great team that we played tonight. But that’s what great teams do; you make a run, and they don’t fold. They bounced back as well.

“We kept fighting, kept battling all night, and eventually broke through.”

Haws shot 11-of-18 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and came up with 10-of-11 free throws to help the Cougars preserve their lead in overtime in the first of two WCC road games this week.

“It’s fun now that it’s over. But the grind during the game, I’m really proud of the guys,” Rose said. “It looked like San Diego was going to put us away 2-3 times, but they had a tremendous resolve.

“Defensively is where we won the game. We won the game with active hands and active feet — just staying engaged. We got better as the game went on — and they’re good.”

Next up

BYU caps the Southern California road trip Saturday at Loyola Marymount. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. MT on TheW.tv and KSL Newsradio.

BYU defeated LMU 67-49 in Provo on Feb. 2 behind a career-high 25 points and 15 rebounds from freshman Gavin Baxter.

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