PROVO — All 15,212 fans that attended Saturday night’s thriller at the Marriott Center, as well as a national television audience, will remember BYU senior guard TJ Haws’ heroics and his storybook ending, burying a game-winning 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining that lifted the Cougars to a thrilling 81-79 victory over Saint Mary’s — just before Haws and his wife, Lauren, headed to the hospital for the birth of the couple’s first child.
Forward Yoeli Childs said it was one of the most memorable moments of his BYU career.
“That’s up there for sure. That’s one of the best experiences I’ve had here. It’s like a movie, man,” he said. “He’s thinking about his kid as he hits the shot? Are you kidding me? I’m about to tear up, man. That’s amazing.”
But what might be forgotten is that on this night, BYU had heroes all over the court. And without them, Haws might not have been in a position to hit a game-winner. And his teammates helped preserve the win, too.
First, take Zac Seljaas.
After Haws’ 3-pointer, the Gaels still had 7.5 seconds to either force overtime or win the game. Guard Jordan Ford drove into the lane and tossed up a floater that missed the mark. Then Saint Mary’s Kyle Bowen came up with the rebound and tried to score but Seljaas blocked the shot and then grabbed the game-sealing rebound as time expired.
“Zac Seljaas epitomizes that fighting, competitive spirit, doing whatever needs to be done. It’s appropriate that he made those plays,” said coach Mark Pope. “Think about Zac Seljaas, as a freshman, who would have thought that you would be subbing him in as the defensive stopper in a huge game in the waning seconds and that he would actually get it done?”
“Zac’s a monster. His journey’s been crazy, from when he broke his foot in the summer to completely change his game for our team,” Childs said. “We lose (forward Gavin Baxter to an injury) and he puts on 20 pounds of muscle. He’ll just come out and fight and do whatever you want, whatever the coach wants to get the win. The game’s on the line, on the defensive end, I need him in the game.”
And don’t forget Seljaas’ pair of clutch free throws with 50.6 seconds remaining. And when Ford missed a shot with 20 seconds remaining, it was Seljaas that grabbed that rebound, too.
Then consider Jake Toolson, who went down in awkward fashion in the first half with an ankle injury that appeared serious with 9:57 remaining before halftime. He lay on the court writhing in pain before he was helped to the locker room, unable to put pressure on his right foot.
But the senior guard improbably returned with 6:48 left on the clock.
“I’m so happy for Jake Toolson. He was terrified and I was terrified. The only thing we heard from the medical staff was a conversation about a tibia,” Pope said. “It really scared us. Then miraculously he rolls back out and it gave the team a huge lift when he ran back into the huddle.”
Toolson ended up playing nearly 36 minutes, despite the injury. He made only 3 of 11 field goals but he collected four rebounds, scored eight points and added a team-high eight assists and recorded two blocked shots — on a bad ankle.
“It’s hard when you’ve been through so much as a team and to see one of our brothers go down like that, it’s hard to see,” Haws said of Toolson. “But we huddled together and we were like, ‘We’ve got to continue to fight for each other.’ It was so great to see him come back. To be honest, I wasn’t surprised because that’s the kind of dude Jake is. He’s as tough as nails and brings it every single night. We needed him tonight and he came back and had a huge boost for us.”
What about Connor Harding, who came off the bench to defend Malik Fitts, who poured in a game-high 29 points before fouling out, as well as Ford, who finished with 18?
“Malik Fitts put on a show tonight. He’s really talented … You can’t beat this team unless you are ready to fight and compete through all the good moments and bad moments,” Pope said. “If you put Connor Harding in the headline tomorrow in the paper as the guy that won us the game, you’re probably telling the truth because we couldn’t stop (Fitts or Ford). Unfortunately, there’s not two of him so we could only take one guy at a time. But the defensive plays he made down the stretch with Fitts were huge. They were big-time. We couldn’t get any stops and then he got a couple of stops and turnovers. He was chasing Jordan Ford all night long. He was special tonight. He’s tough.”
And there’s Childs, who scored 19 points on 9 of 12 shooting despite playing only 22 minutes due to foul trouble.
“There was a moment where we weren’t sure if he’d go today,” Pope disclosed after the game, without providing specifics. “He gutted it out and played through it.”
Childs returned last week after missing four games due to a serious finger injury.
Which brings us back to Haws, who scored a team-high 23 points on 9 of 15 shooting, including 3 of 6 3-pointers while dishing out five assists. He also used his wizardry to create his own shots and score buckets, particularly in the paint, when BYU needed them most. He scored 17 of his points in the second half — and 11 of those came over the final seven minutes.
“The fact that this dude’s having a kid, that’s the best thing ever. I can’t even imagine — the emotions he’s feeling, the stress he has, on the court, off the court,” Childs said of Haws. “That’s just the type of dude that he is. He’s one of the toughest dudes out there. To push that all aside and focus in the moment and lock in and fight for his team was unbelievable. He did it all night.”
Yes, Haws came through all night — and so did his teammates.
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BYU (17-7, 6-3) at Portland (9-15, 1-8)
Thursday, 8 p.m. MST
Chiles Center
TV: Stadium
Radio: 1160 AM, 102.7 FM