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PROVO — BYU cruised past Saint Mary’s, 82-60, Thursday night at the Marriott Center as a result of playing well on both sides of the floor.
BYU has had its ups and downs this season and has had many games decided by only a few baskets, but against the Gaels, it all came together for the Cougars.
“It seems like the past three or four weeks we have just been trying to find ways to hang in there, but tonight we were good on both ends,” BYU basketball coach Dave Rose said. “I thought that it was a great effort from our guys. I think we really dialed in on the important parts of what we needed to do to be successful in this game. Rebounding is such a huge key for us, and we gave them 17 offensive rebounds at their place and tonight they got nine, so that is a big number for us.”
Rebounding was key to overcoming Saint Mary’s. After losing In Moraga, California, by five and getting heavily outrebounded, BYU outrebounded the Gaels, 37-26, in Provo. Kyle Collinsworth led the way for the Cougars with nine boards.
In past games, BYU has relied heavily on Tyler Haws, Collinsworth or Chase Fischer to lead the way. However, BYU had four players with double-digit scoring and saw improvement in post play and overall consistency in the win.
The issue with our team is consistency. Last Thursday at Pepperdine, we played a good half and then defensively we kind of collapsed in the second half. So to put two good halves together and find a rotation where everyone went in and actually contributed and helped and executed and was in the plan was good.
–Dave Rose
“The issue with our team is consistency,” Rose said. “Last Thursday at Pepperdine, we played a good half and then defensively we kind of collapsed in the second half. So to put two good halves together and find a rotation where everyone went in and actually contributed and helped and executed and was in the plan was good.”
BYU led the whole game and jumped out to a 19-point lead in the first half before Saint Mary’s cut it to 12 at halftime.
“I think we all looked around at each other at halftime, even before the coaches came in, and we kind of knew this is our trend; we get a lead and then we relax so we knew we hadn’t won anything yet,” Fischer said. “We knew we had a lot to prove, and we are a really hungry group right now. Collectively, we came together really well at the half.”
The Cougars dominated in every category on the stat sheet and that had Fischer and Rose calling the game some of the best basketball they have played all year. Rose called the first 15 minutes of the game "really good and it might be the best 15 minutes of a half we have played (all season)."
“I don’t know (if it’s the best we have played), it has been a long season, but it is one of the best games we have played collectively for sure,” Fischer said. “We had really good offensive games and then subpar defensive games and vice-versa so I think this game is up there with how well we have played and we are in a really nice groove right now.”
Skyler Halford and Collinsworth led BYU scoring with 17 apiece, while Haws added 15 points and Fisher had 14 points.
BYU will look to continue its balanced play Saturday when it takes on Pacific at the Marriott Center.
