SAN DIEGO — BYU did have a couple of bright spots in its 77-74 loss at San Diego Saturday afternoon.
Freshman forward Dalton Nixon and senior guard Skyler Halford provided a big boost off the bench for the Cougars against the Toreros.
Nixon hit all four of his shots from the field and finished with eight points — just two shy of his season-high of 10 against Southern Virginia back in November. He also had three rebounds in 13 minutes before fouling out.
Halford ended up 4 of 7 from the field with 12 points, four assists and two steals in 29 minutes of action. He drilled a pair of 3-pointers that helped BYU dig its way out of a bit of a hole in the first half.
The Cougars made just three 3-pointers as a team.
Halford’s first 3-pointer came after BYU fell behind 20-13. He and Nixon helped propel the Cougars on a 12-3 run that led to BYU taking a 25-23 advantage. Nixon scored six points in the first half.
Halford has scored 48 points in the last four games after scoring a total of 11 in the previous three contests. Halford was BYU’s leading scorer at halftime with eight points. He started both games last week in place of injured Anson Winder, who returned to the starting lineup Saturday.
For stretches of the game, Nixon played the four spot, alongside four guards, and has seen more and more playing time recently.
Why the increased minutes for Nixon?
“His ability to understand our system and be able to finish plays around the rim. He’s a good free-throw shooter,” said coach Dave Rose. “Especially on the offensive end, he really understands what we want to do and how we do it. The more experience he gets, the better he’s going to be.”
DEE FOR 3: San Diego senior guard Johnny Dee, who is the school’s all-time leading scorer, poured in 18 points, including four 3-pointers, Saturday against the Cougars.
BYU knows what a dangerous player Dee is, especially when it comes to his outside shooting.
“Moving without the ball, he’s really good at that. He’s confident and he’s great at catch-and-shoot 3’s,” Halford said earlier this week about Dee. “What I like about his game is he’s confident even though he’s smaller. He goes out there and tries to make shots and help his team out. He does a good job at that.”
Dee’s backcourt mate, Chris Anderson, was 1 of 6 from the floor and finished with five points. Anderson did have seven assists.
TIP-INS: BYU guard Chase Fischer suffered a sprained left thumb of his non-shooting hand in practice Thursday and it was wrapped for Saturday’s game. Fischer scored six points. … Forward Corbin Kaufusi recorded two blocks Saturday for the fourth time this season. … Tyler Haws became BYU's career leader in games started, with 124. He surpassed Randy Reid (1992-96), who started 123. … Haws also scored in double figures for the 109th time in his career. He trails only Danny Ainge, who had 117.