Haws has career night, but Cougars fall to San Diego

BYU at San Diego Box Score

BYU at San Diego Postgame Notes

SAN DIEGO – TJ Haws scored a career-high 27 points, but the BYU basketball team fell to San Diego 88-75 on Saturday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

BYU (13-6, 4-2) trailed by two at the half and exchanged leads with San Diego (9-9, 2-4) throughout the second half but had it slip away in the final minutes. The Toreros did damage at the 3-point line, draining 12 of 21 shots for 57.1 percent to make the difference. 

Haws had 27 to surpass his previous high of 20 and added two rebounds, two assists and one steal. He also shot five out of six from the free throw line and a career-best six 3s. Eric Mika posted 11 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks to tie a career best.

A short 5-0 run for the Cougars before half brought the score to 34-32 with the Cougars trailing by two as they ended the first half.  

San Diego claimed the first points of the second half, but BYU’s longest run of the night fueld a comeback, featuring a 3-pointer from Emery and six points from Haws to give the Cougars an edge.

Haws sank another three from well outside the arc to put BYU up 49-44 at 14:19.

The Toreros gained on BYU and took the lead back after making two 3-pointers. The Cougars answered with a jump shot and a free throw from Childs, bringing the score to 58-57 at 9:35 and the Cougars trailing.

Mika countered with an aggressive two-point attack and free throw after a foul. San Diego responded with seven unanswered points, until Haws dropped another 3, making it 66-63 San Diego at 5:46.

Bryant plowed his way into the key with a two-point addition, sparking movement and points from teammates Haws and Mika, bringing the score to 73-71. BYU continued to search for a way to take the lead with 2:56 remaining but kept coming up short. 

For the remaining minutes of the game, the Cougars were only able to put four more points on the board as San Diego claimed the win with a final score of 88-75.

The Cougars return home to take on Pepperdine on Thursday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. MST at the Marriot Center. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv, along with a radio broadcast on the Cougar IMG Sports Network, KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM and BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143.