The BYU men’s basketball team defeated Loyola Marymount 85-72 on Saturday behind Tyler Haws’ 26 points and Kyle Collinsworth’s stat-stuffing performance. Collinsworth ended with 13 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals, falling just short of his fourth triple-double of the season.
LMU was without Evan Payne, its leading scorer, who was suspended shortly before the game for a violation of team rules.
After their slow start in a loss against Pepperdine on Thursday, the Cougars came out hungry and played out to a quick 10-0 lead.
“The first four minutes are always really important for us, to get out to a good start,” BYU guard Skyler Halford said. “It was good to get out in front early tonight.”
They were able to hold on to the double-digit lead throughout the first half, stretching it to as high as 16 before going into halftime, up 47-36. LMU guard David Humphries, who started in place of Payne, led the Lions with 10 points at the break.
“I don’t think any player on their team wants the leading scorer not to play, but when that happens, every one of those guys gets a little bit of excitement,” head coach Dave Rose said. “Other guys step up.”
The Cougars couldn’t close the game out comfortably in the second half, however, as LMU cut the BYU lead to as little as four in the first five minutes and kept it close throughout the rest of the game.
“We get a little complacent sometimes; we’ll get up by 15 or 16 and be like, ‘Okay, we’re good now,’ and that’s not the right mindset,” Haws said. “We’re fighting to stay hungry and put together a solid 40 minutes.”
BYU will be on the road for the next three games, beginning next Thursday at Pacific.
BYU student and breast cancer survivor Brooke Ahlander was honored during halftime.
