I remember shaking Kawhi Leonard’s hand and feeling like a little kid. They’re just tough guys that competed for 40 minutes and never gave up. They’re fun games to play in. – Tyler Haws
PROVO — The last time BYU and San Diego State met on the basketball court, the Aztecs downed the Cougars in the 2011 Mountain West Conference tournament championship game in Las Vegas.
During the regular season, which saw both teams ranked in the top 10, Jimmer Fredette led BYU to a pair of victories over SDSU.
The following season, the Cougars left the MWC and joined the West Coast Conference.
BYU (3-0) and No. 16 SDSU (3-0) meet again Monday (9:30 p.m. MST, ESPN2) at the Lahaina Civic Center in the Maui Invitational.
“We look for good storylines in first-round matchups,” said Dave Odom, Maui Invitational chairman. “When you look at BYU and San Diego State, they were fierce rivals for a long time. Now we’re giving them a chance — if only for a night — to renew it. It will be a great basketball game.”
The winner of the BYU-SDSU game will face the winner of Pitt-Chaminade in the second round Tuesday.
BYU guard Tyler Haws played the Aztecs when he was a freshman during the 2009-10 season. He recalls going up against former SDSU star, and current San Antonio Spurs star, Kawhi Leonard.
“I remember shaking Kawhi Leonard’s hand and feeling like a little kid,” Haws said. “They’re just tough guys that competed for 40 minutes and never gave up. They’re fun games to play in. I remember playing at San Diego State and the whole place was filled. We got a big win down there. I heard about all the Jimmer games after I left. They’re just battles. It will be fun to play them again.”’
A WEEK IN PARADISE: The Cougars are mixing a little bit of pleasure with what Haws called a “business trip" at the Maui Invitational.
BYU arrived in Maui early Friday, and checked into the Hyatt Regency at about 2 a.m. Later Friday, the team went snorkeling before practicing that evening.
The Cougars were scheduled to practice again Saturday.
“Then on Sunday, we’ll do our normal preparation for games where we’ll go to church, then get after it on Monday,” BYU coach Dave Rose said. “Hopefully, we’ll all be adjusted to the time (difference) and we’ll be ready to go.”
Haws said he has been looking forward to this trip for a long time.
“Anytime you can go to Hawaii,” he said, “I think everyone’s a little bit happier.”
HISTORY IN MAUI: BYU has appeared in the Maui Invitational twice, in 1992 and 2004. The Cougars’ all-time record in the tournament is 3-3.
In 1992, BYU beat No. 9 Oklahoma and Memphis, then fell to No. 1 Duke. In 2004, the Cougars lost to No. 4 North Carolina and Stanford, then defeated Chaminade.
HALFORD AND COLLINSWORTH: Early in BYU’s 101-48 blowout of Southern Virginia last Wednesday, guard Skyler Halford sustained a hip injury.
“He’s already got one sore hip and when he dove for the ball in the first minute or so of the game, I hope it’s not a hip pointer, but we’ll watch it and see how it goes,” said Rose.
Halford played only two minutes against Southern Virginia.
Meanwhile, guard Kyle Collinsworth, who has been brought back gradually after undergoing knee surgery last March, didn’t play at all against SVU.
“This was the plan,” Rose explained. “When he came back from the doctor about two weeks ago, they said he could play in the exhibition game. This is how they set it up, that he wouldn’t play in this back-to-back. He’s set for practice on Friday in Maui. We’ll treat him like (the injury) never happened. We’ll let him go.”