Haws hits career-high 30 in 85-66 win over Portland State

PROVO, Utah – TJ Haws scored a career-high 30 points in BYU's 85-66 win over Portland State Wednesday night at the Marriott Center.

"I'm happy for the win," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "I like the balance we had. They were athletic, and they play with real purpose defensively. I thought we handled the press well and got some good shots."

Haws made 9-of-15 from the field and 5-of-10 from 3-point range. Yoeli Childs had 13 points, and Connor Harding and Zac Seljaas added 11 apiece. Nick Emery dished a season-high six assists.

The Cougars (8-4) scored 32 points off 21 turnovers from the Vikings (5-4). BYU never trailed.

Five minutes into the game, Harding drove the baseline and dunked for a 13-9 BYU lead. The Cougars kept a small margin over the Vikings halfway through the period, leading 24-21.

A possession after Haws hit a 3-pointer, he lobbed in inbounds pass to Dalton Nixon, who caught it on his way up and laid it in to go up 29-21. Over the course of a couple minutes, Haws scored seven-straight points as BYU made it a 38-21 advantage.

In the last few minutes before halftime, Haws got to a new first-half career high of 18 points. The Cougars went into the locker room with a 45-32 lead.

Childs took a pass from Seljaas and threw down a dunk early in the second half to make it 52-34 for BYU. Portland State battled back and trailed 55-46 with 14:11 left in the game.

The Vikings got their deficit down to just seven points before back-to-back Haws 3-pointers. With 11:46 on the clock, the Cougars led 61-48. Later, a 3-point play from Haws made it 66-51.

Haws knocked down a 3 to get to a new career high of 30 points and put BYU up by 20 with five minutes left. The Cougars coasted to the 85-66 win.

BYU travels to take on UNLV Saturday at 5:30 p.m. PST in T-Mobile Arena. The game will be streamed on ESPN3, with radio broadcasts on KSL (1160 AM/102.7 FM) and BYU Radio (XM 143/89.1 FM HD2).