Haws, Winder lead BYU to senior night win over San Diego

Tyler Haws scored 20 second-half points as the BYU Cougars raced to a big second-half lead, eventually defeating the San Diego Toreros 75-62 Thursday night at the Marriott Center.

Haws and Anson Winder combined to connect on three consecutive three-pointers to key a 14-2 run for BYU, giving the Cougars a 47-30 lead just five minutes into the second frame.

BYU would more or less maintain that lead throughout the game. With 5:16 left, a jumper from Johnny Dee cut San Diego's deficit to 63-53. Haws answered with a nifty ball fake and jumper in the key, then followed that with a fast-break bucket and foul, converted the free throw, and extended BYU's lead back to 15 in less than a minute's time.

Haws finished with 28 points on 8-of-17 shooting and a 10-of-10 night at the foul line. That leaves him just seven points away from surpassing Jimmer Fredette (2,599 points) and becoming the all-time leading scorer in BYU basketball history.

Winder added 15 points, two rebounds and two assists on an efficient 5-of-7 shooting night, pitching in a solid senior-night contribution after missing a few games to injury. Kyle Collinsworth scored 16 points and hauled in 11 rebounds, seven of which came in the final eight minutes.

The outburst to begin the second half came after a tepid first half for both teams. BYU made only nine field goals in the first frame, but was 2-of-4 from deep and 13-of-14 from the line to take a 33-28 lead into the locker room.

The win helped BYU maintain status quo at the top of the conference. Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, and Pepperdine all won as well, leaving BYU still two games behind Saint Mary's and two games ahead of Pepperdine.

BYU takes a week off before traveling to Portland on Thurs., Feb. 26, the site of Haws' career-high 48 points a season ago.