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PROVO — Freshman Eric Mika and the Cougars knew they would have to be physical to beat a Pacific team that prefers to execute out of half-court sets.
BYU was up to the challenge Thursday night, ending a two-game losing streak by beating the visiting Tigers, 88-78, in a game that featured a combined 50 fouls and 62 free throws.
“It was a physical game, which is one I like to play,” Mika said. “We were all crashing the boards hard and (the ball) kind of got tipped around and it ended up in my hands sometimes. That’s kind of lucky, but it does get you going and helps you out the rest of the game.”
The Cougars won the battle on the boards 35-24 and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, compared with the Tigers' five. Having an edge on the glass also allowed BYU to outscore Pacific 22-6 in second-chance points.
“Hopefully our guys on the inside understand the effect that they had on this game, and we did it without getting in too much foul trouble, which is a good sign for us,” BYU head coach Dave Rose said.
“The nights that we seem to be really physical are the nights that our big guys don’t get very many minutes. Tonight, I thought we did a much better job of controlling that. The big emphasis is to be more physical without fouling, which is a challenge.”
On a back-side rotation in the first half, junior Nate Austin arrived in time to assist Mika by rejecting a layup attempt out of bounds. He finished with two blocks and eight rebounds. Together, Austin and Mika accounted for nine of the offensive rebounds.
Junior Tyler Haws’ shooting night (12-for-20 from the field, 4-of-5 from behind the arc) helped BYU space the Pacific defense, and Mika took advantage by tying his career-high with 20 points and adding eight rebounds.
“Eric was really aggressive, especially on the offensive end,” Rose said. “He was really confident taking the ball at the rim and going through some of those big physical guys. He was way more explosive tonight than he’s been, which is a really good sign.”
BYU focuses on defensive adjustments before playing Pacific, St. Mary's
Getting back to the Marriott Center, where BYU is 8-1 this season, should help the Cougars begin the second half of conference play better than they did the first, but their defense may end up determining their postseason destiny.With more of an onus on defense this season than perhaps any other since Rose took over in 2005, the Cougars had 10 steals and forced 14 turnovers.
“At times we were good,” Haws said of the perimeter defense. “Still, they got in the lane a bunch. I think 12 (Andrew Bock) got in the lane and got some easy buckets. We got to just keep getting better, and we can’t relax in focusing on that.”
Rose said the energy exhibited protecting the basket was a result of the urgency with which the team is playing. BYU (14-9, 6-4) hosts St. Mary’s (16-6, 6-3) Saturday night with the Cougars in search of their first-ever win against the Gaels.
“They do a great job controlling tempo and they really ball-screen you,” Rose said. “You have to be really disciplined on the defensive end to be better at the end of the shot clock than you are at the start.”
Gonzaga is the only West Coast Conference team that makes more 3-pointers and shoots a higher percentage from distance than St. Mary’s. Pacific was 7-for-17 (41.2 percent) from three Thursday night, but it didn’t spell much trouble since the Cougars went 8-for-18 (44.2 percent).
Stephen Holt (42.9) and Kerry Carter (45.3) shoot over 40 percent from 3-point range for the Gaels, while 6-foot-9, 260-pound forward Brad Waldow leads them in scoring and rebounding with averages of 16.8 and 7.6 per game.
Some fans may continue to be haunted by Matthew Dellavedova’s buzzer beater just inside half court that lifted St. Mary’s to a victory during its last trip to Provo, but they can at least rest assured the Australian guard won’t be the thorn in BYU’s side this time, as he now plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Saturday night’s game will tipoff at 9 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN2 and heard on KSL NewsRadio.
