Cougars can't complete upset opportunity against Gonzaga

PROVO — BYU fell to Gonzaga, 70-65 Thursday night, dropping its second straight game despite 19 points from Tyler Haws.

With the loss to Gonzaga preceeded by a loss to Saint Mary’s, BYU has now lost two straight for the third time this season. Such losing streaks have been a rarity at BYU during the coach Dave Rose era, but this season has seen unique trials and difficulties.

On a night when the team celebrated the completion of five players’ careers, the Cougars struggled to finish the game. The loss illustrated a problem the Cougars have struggled with this season — an inability to close out games down the stretch.

“We got ourselves in a position where we could win the game,” Rose said after the game. “A missed rebound here, a couple missed shots here, and it could have been a different story.”

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In a loss against San Diego on Feb. 7, Haws made a layup with 4:12 remaining, drew the foul and made the free throw, narrowing the deficit to 64-62. BYU's next field goal didn't come until four minutes later with 0:12 remaining and the Cougars down six. The Cougars missed seven field goals after Haws' hoop, allowing the Toreros to clinch a home win.

In a loss against San Francisco, BYU went nearly eight minutes during the second half without a field goal. With 13:35 left on the clock, Matt Carlino made a jumper, increasing BYU's lead to 64-50. The Cougars missed their next 11 field goal attempts. When they finally hit a basket, they were down six with 3:21 remaining. The next field goal came with 0:38 on the clock, and BYU on the short end at 95-82 in the loss.

In a loss against Saint Mary’s, BYU missed five of its final six shots after cutting the Gael’s lead to one at 53-54.

In Thursday's loss against Gonzaga, BYU had difficulties again in getting shots to fall. After tying the game at 60 with 4:18 to play, BYU missed eight of its final nine shots from the field. Haws missed his last five attempts. The only made field goal came on a tip-in by Brandon Davies, who had 12 points in 29 foul-plagued minutes, after an offensive rebound with 2:57 remaining.

“It wasn’t just one guy,” Rose said. “Everyone had chances, we all had opportunities to make a play or finish a play. I think that the last two games have been really similar, because we’ve fought together. We’ve made crucial stops at times, big baskets, but when it came down to making that play to win the game, we’ve come up a little short.”

Trying to pinpoint the problem is difficult. BYU has shot just 28 percent from 3-point range in the last two losses. And, rebounding has also proven to be an issue on the defensive end of the court.

“Down the stretch, we couldn’t make the plays that we needed to,” Zylstra said after the Gonzaga game.

Magical Marriott not enough to power BYU over 'Zags

"Abandon hope all ye who enter here."- Divine Comedy The Marriott Center doesn't sport the supposed inscription at the entrance of Hell, but teams must feel like that at times. A raucous and sold out crowd of nearly 21,000 electrified the arena as BYU brought the second ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs to their home.

Thursday's loss was to a team that, in the opinion of Davies, Zylstra, and Rose, could be the top ranked team in the country after this weekend. Gonzaga is currently ranked No. 2 behind Indiana, which lost on Wednesday and just ahead of Duke, which lost Thursday night, and Michigan, which also lost on Wednesday.

BYU has another date with a West Coast Conference opponent on Saturday against Loyola Marymount. The game will begin at 9 p.m. MST, with the KSL Radio crew providing pre-game coverage an hour before tipoff. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.

Dan Lewis covers BYU sports for KSL.com. He is currently attending Brigham Young University, studying communications with an emphasis in multimedia journalism.

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