BYU comes out on fire, running the Zags out of the building, Halford hits a three to put BYU up by 7 and somehow something gets “spilled” on the floor and it takes them more than 5 minutes to clean it up?
That’s terrible… the Zags should be ashamed of themselves and their dirty tactics to take the momentum away from the Cougars.
Likewise BYU was getting a fairly called game through most of the first half and then the officials abandon them in the last 5 minutes or so and the game is tied at halftime. Only Gonzaga could play that poorly and be tied at halftime.
Also, can somebody see if Tyler Haws will show up to play the second half? Stop with the head case issues… he may have broken Jimmer’s scoring record but he is no Jimmer. You have a chance to make a statement in the second half Tyler, go out and do it! If he doesn’t show up in the second half, that scoring record… well, whatever.
It will be interesting to see how the game is called in the second half and if the officials will allow BYU to regain some momentum by letting them run and gun or will they let Gonzaga to go back to the plodding, inside post game and foul the BYU bigs out and then make it a free throw shooting game at the end.
Not feeling good about our chances but hopeful nonetheless…
A win from wire to wire! Terrible free throw shooting, Tyler having an off night, yet the hustle and the shooting of other makes up the difference. Gonzaga played well too.
SM lost-should give BYU a 2 seed I believe??? I’d still think you wouldn’t want to do any worse than semi’s in the tourney and hopefully finals. It looks a lot better than it did anyway
One difference in this game (among a few I can mention) was the officiating for the majority of the game was fair and balanced. The refs did not let the Zags get away with anything and for that I am grateful because I didn’t think it was possible. My faith has been restored.
I thought Kaufusi was huge in this game. I don’t know what his “stats” were, but he did so much on both ends to block shots and keep the ball alive. If he could take a page from the season and watch tape of this game and emulate what he sees himself doing from here on out… well, he was great.
I thought Kyle was great and you have to give a shout out to Halford, the guy just keeps amazing me with his clutch shooting. The rest of the guys were good enough, Fischer made a couple dumb plays but overall he was good.
Part of me feels bad for Haws, it is obvious now that he doesn’t have the mental fortitude to do what needs to be done. If he did he would have stepped back and found other ways to contribute, and those two misses at the end were the nail in the coffin. He’s no Jimmer…
Oh well, great win. I really didn’t think it was possible.
Gary, that was more than just an off night, that was a complete mental collapse. All he had to do to seal the win was make one of those two and he missed both. A 90% ft shooter and the all time scoring leader in BYU history NEVER misses both, let alone one.
I feel bad for him, he’s a great kid, but that is all mental. The guy has probably shot more than a million free throws in his career, he’s 90%… and he misses two of the biggest in his career?
Also, GU played a weak first half and was still tied. It is nothing short of a small miracle that the Cougars pulled off the upset.
I think it does and that is a clear 180 from what I said and wrote several weeks ago. Back then I responded to a Gavenman post that I didn’t want to see BYU go to the Big Dance and play a Kentucky or Virginia and be embarrassed. (We sparred about kissing our sister in the NIT vs. the prom queen in the Big Dance.). Well I was wrong (sorry Scott). After tonight, I would like to see them in the NCAA tournament.
What a strange and great sports day today was. BYU Men’s volleyball wins, Utah loses to AZ, and with the Gonzaga win and SMU loss, BYU is the #2 seed. So much different than earlier in the season. Yes, BYU punched the ticket tonight.
Haws scored the first 7 points of the second half. But, he was just off. Jimmer had some off nights too. Haws has played big in the other big games. I was more questioning his butterfingers handling the ball. The defense was very good against him.
Free throws were a problem all game. 55% is back where they were in the beginning. Losing big games because of it. This one we won. The real difference, Kaufusi.
Winder’s defense was poor. Slow with the feet and too much with the hands reaching. Same with rest of the team.
I think Haws will bounce back. For some reason he plays terribly in the Zag’s gym. Agree we need to go deep in the WCC tournament. It was nice to see some boys (Kafusi / Andrus) become men tonight.
Does anybody besides me wonder if Gavenman watches the games?
The only way I know he is watching a game is if I am sitting there watching it with him.
Tyler Haws scored the first 7 points of the second half? Umm… no he didn’t.
He had 3 points at halftime and didn’t score in the second half until it was almost half over, with a little more than 10 minutes left. That started a streak of 7 straight points for him as he finished with 10. He scored his last basket with 8 minutes to go in the game. He never scored again and almost cost the team the game by blowing two free throws that would have sealed the deal.
I like the kid, he’s great. But let’s be honest here and at least tell it like it is. If you remember the entire season, which I know you don’t because of some of your other posts, he has done this before. He doesn’t come close to having the mental approach necessary to be the man in close games or important games. He will be remembered as the all time leading scorer but is nowhere near the level that Jimmer or Danny Ainge were.
I would love to see him step up in the wcc tourney or ncaa tourney and be the man in the clutch but until he does, I stand by my opinion and FACT based assertions.
Jimmer was the man in important games and on the big stage. Danny Ainge (there may be others before my time) is the only BYU player that was bigger IMO. The reason he made up for the off nights is exactly what you said, he changed things up and was more versatile.
This is nothing personal, he comes from a great family, is a RM and probably one of the best all around young men out there.
He just doesn’t show up regularly in big games and when he does, you can’t rely on him to do what needs to be done in crunch time. He makes weird decisions, gets flustered and doesn’t play like himself. He had half the teams turnovers tonight for crying out loud.
Of course I watched the game. Time will tell with Tyler. Jimmer was all about the 3 shot. Ainge had a more complete game. Defense was better than both. But, Tyler is right there with them. Top scorer of all time. Can’t deny him that.
LOL… “we did what I’ve always said”. Interesting comment and I could go so many places with it. One HUGE reason BYU won the game is that the officiating was, for the most part, objective and fair. I’m still not sure why they didn’t lean Gonzaga’s way, as we have seen routinely in the past, but it was refreshing to see. If they had officiated it like some of GU’s other conference games I’ve watched, BYU wouldn’t have escaped with a win.
Apparently the wcc commisioner’s comments about hoping BYU would make it to the ncaa tourney were taken seriously.
I’m not denying the scoring aspect of his game, it is fantastic.
Your reading comprehension issues are flaring up again.
What do you mean time will tell with Tyler? He has a handful of games left in his career and other than being the career scoring leader, what will you remember about it?
Can you point to any games where he was clutch down the stretch? where he carried the team on his shoulders to victory? How about tonight’s game and missing two free throws that would have put the game away?
Just the other night, Jimmer came in cold off the bench for 9 seconds (that was his total playing time for the game) at the end of a game and nailed two free throws to ice the game for the Pelicans.
That is what I am talking about. Do you understand or is this something new that you have to ponder? or is it just too late?