Cougars fall to Pepperdine as Waves rally in the second half

BYU vs. Pepperdine Notes & Quotes

BYU vs. Pepperdine Box Score

MALIBU, Calif. – BYU men’s basketball fell 80-74 to Pepperdine as the Waves made a second-half push at the Firestone Fieldhouse Thursday night.

"The first seven or eight minutes of the second half were really the difference," BYU basketball coach Dave Rose said. "Not only the score, but the momentum. They were really good with the ball in our zone in the second half. Their spacing was better and we weren't quite as active. Basket after basket after basket and then it was a game." 

Tyler Haws tied a game high with 22 points and added four rebounds with Anson Winder scoring 20 points, going 11 of 13 from the charity stripe. Winder’s 11 made free throws were a career-high.

Kyle Collinsworth finished with his ninth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Skyler Halford added 11 points off the bench with three assists.

Five-straight points from Haws, a 3-pointer from Winder and a tip-in by Collinsworth gave the Cougars a 10-7 start four minutes into the game. Collinsworth finished with a two-hand dunk at the 13:38 mark as BYU retook the lead at 13-12 following a Pepperdine run.

The Cougars reeled off a 14-0 run over six minutes to extend their lead to 27-14 with 6:06 left in the half. The run included buckets by Winder, Frank Bartley IV and Halford. Collinsworth and Isaac Neilson added two more dunks, followed by Halford’s backdoor pass to Haws for the 35-21 lead with 1:40 remaining in the half.

BYU entered halftime up 38-25 shooting 56.0 percent from the field. Winder led all scorers with 12 points and Haws followed with 11 points. Collinsworth entered the half with six points and seven rebounds.

It was a back-and-forth battle in the second half until the Waves went on a 12-2 run to cut their deficit to four at 46-42 with 13:45 on the clock. Holding onto a four-point lead, Halford connected for a big triple to push BYU back up 51-44 at the 13:05 mark.

With 9:01 remaining, Haws’ trip to the free-throw line gave him 21 points for the most 20-point games in BYU history with 68. Pepperdine responded with a 6-0 run to take a 62-61 lead and continued to extend its lead and take the game 80-74.

The Cougars stay on the road to take on Loyola Marymount on Saturday at 1 p.m. PST. The game will be televised live on ROOT Sports and broadcast on the Cougar IMG Sports Network on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM.