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After an intense and hard fought battle between in-state schools, BYU came out on the winning end. In front of a full crowd at Energy Solutions Arena, the score at the final buzzer was 85-74. With the convincing win BYU moves to 6-2 on the year while Utah State drops their first game of the year. Tyler Haws led all scorers with 21 and Kyle Collinsworth and Jarred Shaw led all rebounders with 13.
First Half
After winning the tip the Cougars started strong and held a 12-9 advantage at the first media time out. The Aggies continued to play close and tied it up before Haws hit a three point shot that gave the Cougars a three point lead. Haws led the team with 11 of the first 21 points but didn't score again in the half. Haws took a break with about nine minutes left in the half and the Cougars offense did the same.
After being tied at 35 the Aggies went on a 9-4 run to finish the half on top by five. The Cougars only hit three shots in the last six minutes of the half and ended with two missed free-throws by Kyle Collinsworth, a missed layup by Frank Bartley IV and a bad shot by Collinsworth after fumbling the ball with less than 10 seconds in the half. BYU shot 46 percent for the half while shooting 14 percent from behind the arc. USU shot 59 percent in the half and 45 percent from the three-point line. The first half was highlighted by Tyler Haws and his new haircut get a dunk after a BYU steal.
Second Half
The Cougars came out in the second half with the ball and Collinsworth turned the ball over immediately. He redeemed himself just a short time later when he got a massive block that led to two free throws for Matt Carlino on the other end. The next offensive possession turned into an ally-oop from Carlino to Eric Mika to cut the lead to one. Haws hit Mika for the 45-44 lead, and a six point run to start the half. USU would take over again and led at the first media. BYU came out of the time out with an intensity that led to a 9-0 that would give them a 58-55 lead highlighted by a circus shot by Carlino, giving him 13. BYU would take the energy, and the lead, into the under eight minute time out after a step back three-pointer by Bartley. With physical play taking over, the Bartley increased the Cougars lead to 11 at 74-63 with under five minutes left in the game.
The Cougars had balanced scoring as Mika, Bartley, Haws, and Carlino each had 15 points going into the stretch run. With 3:40 left in the game, Haws would hit two free-throws to increase the lead to 12. Frantic offensive rebounding by both teams put points on the board and the Aggies wouldn't go away. With 1:27 left in the game, and an eight point deficit, USU called a time out but didn't have one. This led to a technical foul and two Haws free-throws giving him 19 for the game, and a 10 point lead. With the crowd chanting "Just like Football" the contest turned into a free-throw shooting exhibition for the Cougars as they held on to win.
Next Game
BYU will stay home for their next game. They will face North Texas on December 3rd at 7pm MST. The game will be televised on BYUtv.