Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression.

When will the acceptance come for the BYU men's basketball team after a desperation heave by Matthew Dellavedova won the game for the Saint Mary's Gaels — and simultaneously ripped out the hearts of the Cougars — on Thursday?

"I'm just stunned. I'm at a loss for words right now," said BYU guard Tyler Haws, who agonizingly trudged off the court with the scoreboard reading "Saint Mary's 70, BYU 69." "I thought we had the game won, and Dellavedova hit a big shot."

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Matthew Dellavedova's buzzer-beating three-pointer as time expired led St. Mary's to a huge win over BYU at the Marriott Center. Dellavedova's parents were sitting on the front row, having traveled from Australia to watch their son play.

Haws had a right to believe the game was won. After seeing the Gaels tie the game up late, the Cougars called timeout to script up what they thought would be the final play with 34 seconds remaining.

Carlino dribbled down the clock, with his teammates waiting to get into their offense until there were 10 seconds remaining. Haws gained position on the right wing, collected a pass from Carlino, then went to work. After a dribble into the lane, Haws squared his shoulders, and let go a jumper from the elbow that found nothing but the twine of the net to give the Cougars a two-point lead with 2.5 seconds remaining.

Way too much time, as it turned out, with Dellavedova around.

The Gaels inbounded the ball to the senior star from Australia, who caught it near the scorer's table, moved across half court, and launched a prayer from the M of the Marriott Center logo on the court. The final horn sounded, and thousands of fans watched in horror as the ball dropped right through the rim.

"It was a heckuva shot," BYU guard Matt Carlino said. "They made the shot. They won the game. It's always hard when you lose the game like that."

The two teams were very physical the entire night, with Saint Mary's committing 17 fouls while BYU had to close the game without senior forward Brandon Davies, who earned his fifth foul with 1:50 remaining.

"It came down to a guy (Dellavedova) making a really big play late in the game," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "Hopefully, we can learn from this, respond, come back, and give another good effort on Saturday."

To be successful later in the year against high-quality opponents, BYU will have to have a better game from Davies, who fouled out after 24 minutes of ineffective play on the defensive glass Wednesday. Davies finished with zero rebounds, struggling to secure the ball against the bigger lineup presented by the Gaels. He was not alone in his struggles however; fellow starting forward Josh Sharp finished the game with one rebound and played 18 minutes.

So the Cougars will need to focus on rebounding if they want to win. When the Cougars win, they average about 40 rebounds per game. When they lose, that number drops by nearly eight to 32 rebounds.

For coach Rose and the Cougars, hosting San Diego could help get them back on track. The San Diego Waves average 32.5 rebounds per game — one of the worst marks in the country — which should give BYU an opportunity to practice securing possession after missed shots on both ends of the floor.

BYU will tip off against San Diego at home Saturday at 7 p.m. MST.

Daniel Lewis is an intern with KSL.com, and covers the BYU men's basketball team. He is currently a student at Brigham Young University, and is studying communications. He can be reached on Twitter at @trueDanLewis.

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