We've got to give Saint Mary's a lot of credit. (Brad) Waldow was a beast inside. We've got to find a way to handle him. – BYU's Tyler Haws
MORAGA, Calif. — BYU saw its nation-leading seven-game road win streak come to an end Saturday night at McKeon Pavilion — right where it began last February.
Saint Mary’s forward Brad Waldow turned in a double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds and forward Garrett Jackson added 20 points and nine rebounds to lead the Gaels to an 82-77 victory over the Cougars.
"We've got to give Saint Mary's a lot of credit," said BYU's Tyler Haws, who scored a game-high 28 points. "Waldow was a beast inside. We've got to find a way to handle him."
Jackson came into the night averaging 6.8 points per game, but the transfer from USC poured in 16 in the first half alone.
Combined, Waldow and Jackson shot 17 of 25 from the field. Saint Mary’s had its way in the paint, outrebounding BYU 41-28. The Gaels tallied 17 offensive boards.
"They're really tough inside," said coach Dave Rose. "We had a hard time rebounding, especially early and late in the game."
Chase Fischer chipped in 19 points, including five 3-pointer for the Cougars.
BYU fell behind by as many as 11 in the second half, but battled back to cut the deficit to 75-72 with 2:23 left after a Fischer 3-pointer. But seconds later, freshman guard Emmett Naar answered with a 3-pointer to push Saint Mary’s lead back to six, 78-72, with 1:25 left.
But the Cougars stayed in the game. With 46.3 seconds on the clock, Skyler Halford buried a 3-pointer to make it 80-77. But BYU could get no closer.
"Every time it looked like it was going to get away from us, our guys fought pretty good to where it was in reach," Rose said. "But we just couldn't finish it off."
"Saint Mary's made the plays they needed to down the stretch," Haws said.
Guard Anson Winder missed his second consecutive game due to a knee injury. Kyle Collinsworth picked up his fourth personal foul with 16:54 left in the game. The junior guard, who is vying for his NCAA record-breaking fifth triple-double, finished with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Collinsworth's absence for a stretch in the second half hurt BYU.
"He's a huge part of our team," Haws said. "He gets us going. But stuff happens during a game ... Our guys just fought and battled and weathered the storm the best we could."
The Cougars enjoyed a six-point first half advantage, but couldn’t hold on to the lead. Saint Mary’s went on a 20-6 run to close the first half and never trailed again.
The Cougars dropped to 15-6 overall and 5-3 in the West Coast Conference. The Gaels improved to 15-3 and 7-0.
Halford replaced Winder in the lineup again. Halford kept BYU in the game early in the second half, scoring seven straight Cougar points to cut the deficit to 51-46.
But Waldow got involved offensively and powered Saint Mary’s to a 62-51 lead with 11:44 remaining in the game. The Cougars continued chipping away, but the Gaels kept BYU at bay.
BYU did everything it could to try to neutralize Waldow, with little success. "We tried a lot of lot of different things, throwing double-teams at him and bringing guys," Fischer said about defending Waldow. "But he found guys for 3's. Credit to him. He's a really good player. He handled everything we brought at him."
The first half began with a frenetic pace and things went back and forth, with BYU and Saint Mary’s trading leads in the early going.
The Gaels grabbed a 25-20 advantage, which was followed by an 11-0 Cougar run. BYU led 31-25 with just less than six minutes left in the first half.
But Saint Mary’s outscored the Cougars by 14 over the final six minutes, a stretch that featured seven points by Jackson. At intermission, the Gaels led 45-37.
"We didn't finish the half very well," Rose said.
Saint Mary’s controlled the boards, outrebounding BYU 22-12 and grabbing 10 offensive rebounds. Waldow collected 10 rebounds all by himself.
While the Cougars knocked down four 3-pointers over the opening 20 minutes, the Gaels hit five. Jackson drilled three 3-pointers and finished the half with 16 points while Haws led BYU with 15. Fischer had 11 points and three 3-pointers at the half.
BYU visits San Diego next Saturday (2 p.m. MST, ROOT).
TIP-INS: Haws tied Randy Reid as BYU's career games-started leader, with 123 starts. … Haws has started 123 of 125 career games played. … The Gaels ended a two-game losing streak to the Cougars. BYU swept the season series a year ago. … Fischer’s three 3-pointers in the first half gave him 67 for the year, tying him with Terrell Lyday (1999-2000) for No. 10 in a single season.