I’m so proud of the way we shared the ball. We were able to find our rhythm in the second half and start knocking shots down. – BYU's Tyler Haws
LOGAN — If there’s one thing BYU has shown so far this season, it’s that the Cougars play their best basketball in the second half.
And that was clearly the case Tuesday against Utah State before a sellout crowd of 10,270 at the Spectrum.
Tyler Haws scored 26 of his game-high 35 points in the second half as BYU exploded for 60 second-half points in a 91-81 victory over the Aggies.
It marked BYU’s first win over USU in Logan since Jan. 8, 2000. On that night, Cougar guard Terrell Lyday also went off for 35 points.
“Maybe that’s the magic number,” joked coach Dave Rose, who was a BYU assistant coach in that 82-73 decision. “Instead of all the game prep, we’ll just tell someone to get 35.”
While BYU (6-2) hit just 5 of 25 shots from 3-point territory, it made 34 of 39 shots from the free-throw line, including 27 of 30 in the second half. In fact, the Cougars knocked down 24 consecutive free throws to end the game.
Haws had a lot of help from Kyle Collinsworth, who recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Anson Winder, who chipped in 17 points.
But BYU had to overcome a sluggish first-half start. The nation’s top-scoring team had just 31 points in the opening period and a 32-31 halftime deficit.
It took the Cougars nearly three minutes to score their first points of the game, and Haws’ first bucket didn’t come until 11 minutes into the game.
In the second half, BYU turned things around.
"I’m so proud of the way we shared the ball. We were able to find our rhythm in the second half and start knocking shots down,” Haws said. “It shows a lot about our character. We’re just going to keep coming at you for 40 minutes. Even if we don’t see our first few go in, we’re going to keep coming at you.”
The Cougars outrebounded the Aggies, 46-33, and had 18 second-chance points. BYU scored 18 points off USU's 15 turnovers.
“We stuck to what we do best and played our style,” Collinsworth said of his team’s play in the second half. “We played at our tempo and made them adjust.”
Early in the second period, Haws drove to the hoop on a fast break and was fouled by Utah State’s Jojo McGlaston. Haws fell hard to the floor and immediately stood up and confronted McGlaston as the two bumped chests.
Both players received technical fouls.
“It was emotion and I probably shouldn’t have done that,” Haws said. “You kind of get caught up in it sometimes. I didn’t say anything, I didn’t mean anything. I just felt like I got fouled hard.”
Haws made both free throws after the personal foul to cut BYU’s deficit to 36-35.
About midway through the half, the Cougars went on a 14-1 run to seize a 58-48 advantage, and were in control for good.
The key to that run, Haws said, was “just our pressure on defense. We got some turnovers, then we shared the ball.”
Over the final 10 minutes of the game, “we got into the bonus and started driving the ball and got to the free-throw line,” Rose said.
The Aggies (3-3) cut BYU’s lead into single digits several times, but the Cougars kept answering. With a little more than five minutes left, Haws drained a huge 3-pointer to put BYU up, 68-58.
“He hit big shots for us,” Collinsworth said. “As a point guard, I look for him and try to give him the ball down the stretch in tight games like that so he can make big plays.”
“We started to feel a little more comfortable,” Rose said of his team’s second-half performance. “This is a great home court. It’s hard to feel comfortable in here and I don’t know if we ever really did. But we found something that really worked for us. Ty made some big shots. He came off screens and some of those elbow jumpers that he hit with guys flying at him to keep us in it.”
Chris Smith led the Aggies in scoring with 25 points while Darius Perkins added 21.
For BYU, winning in Logan for the first time in 14 years was sweet.
“It means a lot, for sure. This is definitely one of the craziest environments I’ve ever played in, in my whole life,” Haws said. “The fans are right on top of you and it feels like lots of weird things happen throughout the game. I’m proud of the way we battled and stuck with it for 40 minutes.”
The Cougars dropped a couple of overtime games in Maui last week, but Tuesday, they showed they could win a game in a hostile environment.
“We’re coming off a tough tournament,” Haws said. “We didn’t do what we wanted to over in Maui, but we learned a lot about ourselves. I feel like we’re growing a lot as a team. It’s a big win for us.”