The BYU basketball team played its first exhibition game to the 2014–2015 season against Colorado School of Mines on Saturday.
Tyler Haws led the team with a game-high 29 points as the Cougars beat the Orediggers at the Marriott Center 82-64.
After a slow start, BYU went on a 15-2 run to take a 17-9 lead. BYU led the Orediggers 44-35 at the half and went on another run of 12-0 in the second half to extend the lead to 76-54. The team finished the half shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from deep. It also held the Orediggers to 40.7 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
“It was fun to get a look in front of a different team,” Haws said. “We didn’t play that well coming out. It took us a minute to find our rhythm, but we got it going.”
Good thing the Cougars have a roster with such depth.
Chase Fischer finished with 13 points and five assists, scoring the first BYU points of the game at the 18:32 mark. He also had three rebounds and two assists before any other Cougar. He reached double-figures in the first half, finishing the half with a game-high 12 points.
Leading the team with 29 points, Haws made his first bucket on a layup at the 16:43 mark to tie the game at seven. The senior finished with 10 points at the half and opened in the second half scoring BYU’s first eight points.
Freshman Jake Toolson added 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Isaac Neilson pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, while Skyler Halford finished with a game-high seven.
“It’s felt really good,” head coach Dave Rose said. “The guys in the rotation in the positions have functioned really well as far as how we practice, how we want to put new things in and progress. I think the numbers have been really good.”
In total, thirteen players saw the court with 11 players on the court for 10 minutes or more. Haws and Fischer played a team-high 25 minutes. With a roster of 18 players, there are definitely plenty of options and rotations available for the team.
“I’m pleased with what took place tonight,” Rose said. “I think there’s so many different places that you could start as far as things that we can improve on, but we did a lot of things really well. We got a lot of new guys some time in a game setting, which I think is good. I think we can have a really good week of practice this week and learn from this game.”
The Cougars play their next exhibition game at the Marriott Center on Saturday against Seattle Pacific at 7 p.m.
