Provo • As has happened all season, BYU’s offense morphed into the “Big Two” on Saturday night at the Marriott Center.
Really, TJ Haws and Jahshire Hardnett combined for 41 points, a season-high 24 for Haws and a career-high 17 for Hardnett.
The Cougars took a tougher-than-it-looks 74-58 win over defensive-minded San Diego in front of 13,449 who braved a snowy night to watch BYU win its fourth straight game and improve to 17-4 overall, 6-2 in West Coast Conference play.
Haws and Hardnett were desperately needed, because leading scorer Elijah Bryant had a rare off-night offensively with just 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting and Yoeli Childs was held in check and to 14 points and six rebounds by the Toreros’ constant supply of big men.
“I tried to get to the basket a little bit, and get some shots in the paint and around the hoop,” said Haws, who was 10 of 14 from the floor and 4 of 8 from 3-point range. “I think that really helped me get my rhythm a little bit. I tried to just stay confident. I missed a few 3s early in the first half. I tried to stay confident and kept shooting.”
As for the 6-foot Hardnett, who also had a career-high eight rebounds as the shortest player on the court — “I just felt like the ball kept coming into my hands,” he said — and his first career blocked shot, he said Bryant came up to him in the second half and asked for some scoring help.
“He just told me to score the ball more than I have been doing,” Hardnett said. “He said he was struggling.”
San Diego, which was tied with BYU and Pacific for third place in the WCC when the week began, dropped to 13-7 and 4-4 with the loss. But the Toreros have obviously improved with the addition of transfers Isaiah Wright and Isaiah Pineiro, and the visitors recovered from a 35-26 halftime deficit to take a brief lead in the second half.
“Good game, back and forth,” said BYU coach Dave Rose. “Both teams played hard, and I was impressed with both teams. … It was a challenge, back and forth. So, great crowd, and I am happy we got the win.”
The Toreros opened the second half on a 12-2 run to take their first lead since they made their first shot and led 2-0 in the opening 20 seconds. The Cougars missed six of their first seven shots of the half to lose the lead.
But the Cougars regained the lead on a Haws’ 3-pointer and pushed the advantage to eight on another Haws triple with 10 minutes remaining.
“Really, offensively [Haws and Hardnett] were tremendous,” Rose said. “Defensively, TJ made a lot of plays in the gap as far as getting the ball knocked away.”
Haws finished with four steals and BYU had 12 steals, with just six turnovers.
“A pretty good combination,” Rose said.
He said a key to the turnaround was the play of Luke Worthington on the defensive end.
“They kinda had us on our heels, and Luke came in and stood those guys up,” Rose said.
The coach also liked the way Bryant didn’t force the issue when his shots weren’t dropping. Bryant was 1 of 7 from 3-point range, but did go 4 of 4 from the free-throw line to extend his streak to 27 straight free throws.
“Eli handled it really well,” Rose said. “He was fine to let the other guys’ number be called. … He was excited for them in the locker room.”
San Diego came back by making seven 3-pointers, but 16 turnovers proved costly. The Toreros were led by Olin Carter III, with 14 points. Wright, the former Ute, added 13, as did Pineiro, the Portland State transfer, despite foul trouble.
Storylines<br>• TJ Haws matches his season high with 24 points, and BYU holds off a San Diego comeback to win going away.<br>• Jahshire Hardnett scores a career-high 17 points and grabs a career-high eight rebounds in the BYU win.<br>• After San Diego takes a one-point lead in the second half, BYU goes on a 13-4 run to regain control.
