Four points made the difference in BYU’s victory over Texas in the CBE Hall of Fame semifinals.
During the last few minutes of the game, Haws hit a one-legged, off-balance jumper to take the 83-80 lead, and he later sealed the game with free throws. Haws scored 19 of BYU’s last 21 points of the game to finish with a total of 25 points, five rebounds and two assists.
“It was a great second half for Tyler,” said head coach Dave Rose. “A lot of it was he got to the free throw line; Ty’s one of the best we’ve ever had of playing the next play and not playing the last play. … He’s one of those guys that kind of lives for that moment. That’s what he wants. He got some space and buried that thing.”
Matt Carlino made five of his seven three-pointers, ending with 20 points, five rebounds and six assists. Eric Mika looked good after his eye injury by adding 15 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Kyle Collinsworth put in 13 points and eight rebounds. Frank Bartley scored all 11 points off the bench and was perfect from the field, including his 3-3 from the three-point line.
“We had two things to do tonight to win; we needed urgency throughout the game to not make it a losing streak,” Rose said. “The second thing was we were going to have to execute late in the game. The guys were just really good down the stretch. We got out-rebounded, and at times it looked like they were manhandling us, but we made shots to stay in the game, and then when it was time to win the game we were really good on both ends, I thought.”
The battle between the Cougars and the Longhorns was evident the whole first and second half. The game consisted of 21 lead changes throughout the night, and the score was tied 18 times. The Cougars proved they could make the right plays in critical moments and come out on top.
BYU will advance to the finals to play No. 12 Wichita State on Tuesday, Nov. 26, at the Sprint Center. Wichita State outplayed DePaul in a 90-72 victory the same night BYU beat Texas. Halfway through the first half of the game Wichita State was only up by one and then went on a 16-0 run. The team will come into the final game of the tournament with a 5-0 record this season.
Tipoff for the BYU and Wichita State game can be seen at 9 p.m. CST. It will be televised live on ESPN2/ESPNU and broadcast on the Cougar IMG Sports Network on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM.
