BYU vs. Gonzaga Notes & Quotes

BYU vs. Gonzaga Game Story

BYU vs. Gonzaga Box Score

Player Notes

Tyler Haws

Haws totaled 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist. The double figure scoring game passed Danny Ainge for the most in BYU history with 118. Haws also played in his 135th career game tying him with Brandon Davies for third most. It was also his BYU record 133rd game started. Haws passed Michael Smith for 8th most points in a season with 680 this season.

Kyle Collinsworth

Collinsworth finished with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block before fouling out with 7.8 seconds left. He passed Keena Young for 43rd most points in BYU history with 1,076. He also moved into a tie with Gary Trost for the 6th most offensive rebounds in a career with 210.

Chase Fischer

Fischer had 13 points and 4 rebounds as he made three 3-pointers. Fischer moved past Jonathan Tavernari for the third most 3-pointers in a season with 89.

Josh Sharp

Sharp started and pulled down 3 rebounds and a block.

Corbin Kaufusi

Kaufusi totaled 7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. His blocks moved him into a tie for the 3rd most blocks for a freshman with Chris Miles and Alan Pollard at 30.

Skyler Halford

Halford put in 14 points and added 4 rebounds, 1 assist and a steal.

Anson Winder

Winder had 4 points, 2 assists and a steal.

Frank Bartley IV

Bartley totaled 3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a block.

Ryan Andrus

Andrus scored 2 points and pulled down 2 boards in 3 minutes on the floor.

Luke Worthington

Worthington fouled out after making an assist and a steal in 8 minutes.

Team Notes

For the sixth-straight game, BYU started Collinsworth, Fischer, Haws, Sharp and Kaufusi. The Cougars are now 6-0 with that starting five.

Collinsworth, Fischer, Halford and Haws scored in double figures. Collinsworth led the team in points with 20, assists with 3 and rebounds with 8.

BYU out rebounded Gonzaga 41-39 and the Cougars are now 19-0 when out rebounding their opponents.

BYU broke Gonzaga's nation's longest home win streak at 41 games, as well as their 36-game WCC home win streak and their 22-game overall win streak. BYU's 73 points are the most allowed by Gonzaga in a home game this season, the previous being 66 in an 81-66 win against Washington State.

Runs

BYU's 8-0 run three minutes into the game opened up an 11-2 lead thanks to layups from Haws, Fischer, Collinsworth and Halford.

Another 6-0 run gave BYU a 10-point lead at 57-47 with 10 minutes left. Haws scored 4 points and Fischer added another 2.

Quotes from the Cougar IMG Sports Network

BYU head coach Dave Rose

Holding the lead:

"That doesn't happen a lot here. That's a lot of minutes for them playing a little bit frustrated. You're playing this game and you've never experienced a lead, that was really important in keeping our guys in the focus that they were. We were so engaged tonight from the very tip. I don't know if it's our best defensive effort, but the focus we had and the desire and urgency was the best of the season."

"We've played some really, really tough games and we've had some interesting things happen to our roster this year, but right now our guys really believe and they believe in each other. Since that Saint Mary's game at home our guys have found it and believe in it and it has become kind of their personality of what it can take for us to be really good. I've told them that some teams don't need to do what this team needs to do to be good, and this is what we have to be and this is how we have to do it and if we do it, it's turned out pretty good this far."

"The hardest thing in a three, four or five month season is to keep your guys together. That's the beauty of this group. There have been a lot of tough things, but they've never wavered in their ability to stay together. Right now we're in a spot where we trust each other as well as we have all season long. You look at how we won this game and the guys who scored and the way we rebounded and the collisions that were out there. The guys are playing every possession like it's a winning possession."

Kyle Collinsworth

On the intensity of the game:

"I almost had a heart attack. Now I know what it feels like to sit there and watch. It's way worse than playing. I was dying over there."

On overcoming adversity:

"That's why I've been saying all along, the losses we've had, the tough plays we've had, the ups and downs are going to benefit us for this stretch right here. We've got a big tournament up ahead and we can make some noise there and we plan to."

Defense and rebounding:

"What you focus on is what you get good at. We've been focusing on rebounding and defense for the last month. It's been intense. There have been a lot of struggles in practice and a lot of intense practices where it's been really hard. Everyday we show up and practice and focus on those two things and it's really started to translate in big games like this."

Holding the lead for the whole game:

"That's good for us. That's really good because we're starting to start off games and being the aggressor. We missed a lot of shots, a lot of layups at the start and turnovers, but I felt like that's ok because we were being aggressive and we were letting them know we were going to be aggressive all night long and we were setting the tone."