BYU Basketball with Dave Rose 1-2-14


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PROVO — The BYU men's basketball team is riding its first four-game losing streak in the Dave Rose era, and desperately need a win to get back a lot of lost confidence.

A home game in the friendly confines of the Marriott Center would help. And a Saturday evening tip against travel partner San Diego comes just in time.

"It's always good to get back to the Marriott Center and play in front of your home crowd," junior Tyler Haws said Thursday during the Dave Rose Show at Malawi's Pizza. "There's something special about that place, and it's good to be back."

BYU Basketball with Dave Rose 1-2-14

Haws, who leads the West Coast Conference in scoring with 22 points per game, sat down with his coach and host Greg Wrubell for a lengthy discussion about the Cougars' recent struggles and how they can correct them. The answer may be pretty simple, even.

"There are some real complicated issues, but all of these games are winnable," Rose said. "It's close; it's a matter of a couple of free throws, or three or four empty possessions where we didn't take the best chance."

Haws said every player on the team has been involved in some introspection recently as to what he can do to help break the team's recent skid. The big-time scorer from Alpine, Utah, said he needs to play harder on the defensive end, and not just settle for scoring points.

"When I look at myself in the mirror, I felt I needed to keep our guys together," Haws said. "That leadership role is really important in me."

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BYU has struggled to stop the 3-point shot in its most recent losses at Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine, and Rose knew the guard-heavy WCC had the potential to be one of the best 3-point shooting leagues in the country.

San Diego is shooting .352 from long range in its first 15 games of the season, but has attempted 261 shots from beyond the arc -- 45 more than BYU. BYU is 6-2 all-time against San Diego, including a 3-0 mark at home.

The Toreros (9-6, 0-2 WCC) are led by Johnny Dee, who is second to Haws in WCC scoring with 18.9 points per game. The junior from Vista, Calif., also leads the conference in 3-point field goals made with 46 -- an average of 3.1 per game on a team that averages a dead-last 69.9 points.

"It's funny, because they push the ball in transition and find ways to get Johnny Dee his shots," Rose said. "They're very good on the offensive end."

San Diego also counts on Christopher Anderson (10.5 ppg) and Duda Sanadze (12.9 ppg).

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One player BYU won't be able to count on to get out of the funk is walk-on Bronson Kaufusi, the Cougar football team's defensive lineman. The sophomore was considering rejoining the team after a fan-favorite freshman season, but decided against it during BYU's recent bowl game in San Francisco.

"We had quite a few conversations, and it looked like Bronson was excited to play," Rose said. "He called me from San Francisco and said his heart was in this next football season. He wanted to be in the offseason with the guys. I totally respect that ... he really felt as a team player that this offseason was really important to his development."

As a freshman, Kaufusi averaged 1.1 points and 1.7 rebounds in 6.4 minutes of play after coming in to start the Cougars' WCC run.

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Rose admitted during a Question & Answer segment with fans that he grew up a Lakers fan -- an unpopular opinion since he moved to Utah on a full-time basis.

"I grew up in Southern California, and my favorite player was Jerry West," Rose said.

The ninth-year head coach also follows the Houston Rockets, stemming from his days as a member of the famed "Phi Slama Jama" teams with Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon.

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