BYU vs. LBSU Notes and Quotes

BYU vs. LBSU Box Score

BYU vs. LBSU Facebook Photo Gallery

PROVO, Utah – Seniors Tyler Haws and Skyler Halford combined for 39 points to lead BYU men’s basketball to a 95-90 win over Long Beach State in the season opener Friday night at the Marriott Center.

"I’m happy for the win," BYU men's basketball head coach Dave Rose said. "I’m really proud of how our guys competed. I think that’s probably the best thing that we did tonight, is that we just stayed together and competed and made enough plays to win."

Haws finished with a team-high 21 points on 7 of 13 shooting and three steals, while Halford added 18 points and a game and career-high seven assists off the bench. Junior Chase Fischer chipped in a career-high 17 points, including 4 of 8 from beyond the arc, and five assists. Anson Winder contributed 12 points and a career-tying six rebounds with freshman Isaac Neilson adding 10 points in 11 minutes of play.

BYU finished with a 51.9 shooting percentage, 45.8 percent from deep and 84.8 percent at the free-throw line. The Cougars outrebounded the 49ers 33-29 and the BYU bench outscored the Long Beach State bench 43-26.

Luke Worthington scored the first points of the game on a hook less than one minute into the game. After the 49ers took a 3-2 lead, Haws scored the next five points with a 3-pointer and a running jumper to give BYU a 7-3 lead at the 16:55 mark. Fischer and Haws’ points from deep extended the Cougars’ lead to 18-12. LBSU tied it at 22 apiece but was answered with another Fischer 3-pointer. After the 49ers scored, Winder’s three-point play gave BYU a four-point lead at 28-24 with 10:13 left in the first half.

The 49ers went on a 7-0 run to take a 35-30 lead with less than eight minutes remaining, but BYU was able to even the score at 35 following Frank Bartley IV’s three points and Winder’s drive down the lane at the 5:37 mark. With 2:56 remaining, Halford’s 3-pointer gave BYU a short-lived 40-39 lead before LBSU’s shot from beyond the arc gave it a 47-46 halftime lead.

Fischer led all scorers with nine points and two assists with Haws adding eight points at halftime. The Cougars shot 53.8 percent from the field and 86.7 percent from the free-throw line.

BYU went on a quick 7-0 run to start the second half on a Nate Austin 3-pointer, a Haws layup and a Kyle Collinsworth’s drive to retake a 53-47 lead. Austin’s block at the 17:54 mark helped the Cougars maintain their five-point lead. LBSU came within two points until Haws’ drive through traffic, Winder’s 3-pointer and Halford’s free throws put BYU back up 64-58 with 12:14 remaining.

With under 10 minutes remaining in the second half, LBSU tied it at 66 apiece but was answered by Fischer’s third 3-pointer of the game and a Fischer steal that led to a Halford jumper to extend BYU’s lead to five at 71-66. Halford added another five points to give the Cougars their first dougle-digit lead of the game at 77-67 with 6:29 left. Following Haws’ layup down the left baseline at the 4:34 mark, he added another four points at the charity stripe to help BYU maintain and eight-point lead at 83-75.

Fischer’s 3-pointer with less than one minute remaining pushed BYU’s lead to nine. The 49ers answered each Cougar basket with a total of three baskets from deep, but the Cougars put the game away at the free-throw line to take the game 90-95.

The Cougars stay home to host Arkansas-Little Rock and Southern Virginia on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. The Arkansas-Little Rock game is part of the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational. Tuesday’s tipoff will be at 7:30 p.m. MST and Wednesday’s tipoff will be at 7 p.m. MST with both games televised live on BYUtv and broadcast on Cougar IMG Sporst Network on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM.

Game Notes: BYU vs. Long Beach State

BYU men's basketball will open the 2014-15 season against Long Beach State on Friday, Nov. 14, at 5 p.m. MST in the Marriott Center. The game will be televised live on BYUtv and broadcast live on the Cougar IMG Sports Network on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM.

BYU Cougars (0-0, 0-0 WCC)

• Head Coach: Dave Rose
• Alma Mater: Houston, 1983
• Career Record: 232-78 (10th)
• Record at BYU: Same

Long Beach State 49ers (0-0, 0-0 Big West)

• Head Coach: Dan Monson
• Alma Mater: Idaho, 1985
• Career Record: 289-231 (18th)
• Record at LBSU: 119-108 (8th)

Series Information

• Series Record: BYU leads 5-4
• Last Meeting: BYU won 75-65 in Provo, 11/14/08
• H/A/N: 4-1/1-1/0-2

Game Information

• TV: BYUtv
• TV Talent: Dave McCann (play-by-play), Blaine Fowler (analyst), Spencer Linton (reporter)
• Live Video: www.BYUtvsports.com
• Radio: Cougar IMG Sports Network, KSL 102.7 FM / 1160 AM, BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143
• Radio Talent: Greg Wrubell (play-by-play), Mark Durrant (analyst)
• Live Audio/Stats: BYUcougars.com

BYU storylines

• BYU opens its 10th season with Dave Rose at the helm. Rose is BYU’s all-time leader in winning percentage at 74.8 percent and second in career wins at 232. He has led the Cougars to nine-straight 20-win seasons and nine-straight postseason appearances, including seven NCAA tournament appearances during that stretch.
• Senior guard Tyler Haws, the 2013-14 West Coast Conference Player of the Year, has been named by the coaches to the preseason All-WCC team. Haws led the league in scoring and was sixth in the NCAA in 2013-14 at 23.2 points per game. He is currently fifth all-time in scoring at BYU at 1,944 career points.
• Junior guard Kyle Collinsworth was selected by the WCC coaches to the preseason All-WCC team. Collinsworth, an All-WCC performer last season, is coming off a torn ACL suffered at the end of last season.

Dave Rose

BYU head coach Dave Rose has led BYU to one of the most successful runs in program history since taking over in 2005. His career record of 232-78 ranks him second in BYU history in total victories and first in winning percentage (.748). Rose has been named conference coach of the year three times, district coach of the year twice, led the Cougars to four conference titles, seven NCAA tournament appearances, two NIT appearances, six 25-win seasons and nine 20-win seasons. In 2010, he led BYU to its first NCAA tournament win in 17 years and the Cougars won at least one postseason game in the next three seasons, including a spot in the Sweet 16 in 2011, a win in the 2012 NCAA tournament and a trip to the NIT semifinals in 2013.

Record Streaks

The Cougars will be looking to keep several program-record streaks intact during 2014-15. Coming into the season,  Dave Rose has led the Cougars to nine-straight 20-win seasons, nine-straight postseason appearances and nine-straight seasons with 10-plus conference victories.

Cougars leading the league

In each of BYU’s three seasons in the WCC, the Cougars have had the leading scorer in all games (Noah Hartsock in 2011-12, Tyler Haws in 2012-13 and 2013-14) and in league games (Brandon Davies in 2011-12, Haws in 2012-13 and 2013-14). Only one other school (Loyola Marymount from 1988-89 to 1991-92) has had the league’s leading scorer in at least three-straight seasons in all games. In league games, a school has had the league’s leading scorer in at least three-straight seasons three other times (San Francisco from 2006-07 to 2008-09, Loyola Marymount from 1982-83 to 1985-86 and Loyola Marymount from 1987-88 to 1991-92).

2014 EA SPORTS Maui Invitational

BYU will play in the 31st annual EA SPORTS™ Maui Invitational® this season. The 2014 Championship Round of the premier early-season college basketball tournament will take place at the Lahaina Civic Center on the beautiful island of Maui from Nov. 24-26.

The Championship Round will feature Arizona, BYU, Kansas State, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Purdue, San Diego Stateand host Chaminade. The seven Division I teams have each appeared in the NCAA Tournament since 2012, with five earning berths in 2014, including Arizona’s run to the Elite Eight. Chaminade has advanced to the previous two NCAA Division II Tournaments.

BYU will take on former Mountain West Conference foe San Diego State in the first round on Monday, Nov. 24, at 9:30 p.m. MST on ESPN2. The Cougars own a 48-23 advantage in the all-time series against the Aztecs, including seven wins in the last nine meetings.

ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will offer live, high-definition television coverage of all 12 Championship Round contests. Games will also be broadcast live on the WatchESPN app and WatchESPN.com. See the complete bracket on page 21 of this release.

Rose in season and home openers

Under Dave Rose, BYU basketball is 6-3 in season openers and 8-1 in home openers. After dropping his first two season openers in 2005 and 2006, Rose led BYU to four-straight season-opening wins before falling 69-62 at Utah State in 2011-12. Last year, BYU defeated Weber State 81-72 in the season/home opener. Rose lost his first home opener (also the season opener in 2005) but has since won the last eight home openers.

Rose vs. the state

BYU basketball coach Dave Rose has compiled a record of 29-7 vs. in-state opponents since taking over in 2005-06. He has the best winning percentage (.806) of any coach vs. in-state teams during that time and is second in wins (Utah State’s Stew Morrill is 30-10 vs. in-state teams since 2005-06, a .750 winning percentage). BYU plays at Utah State on Dec. 2, hosts Utah on Dec. 10 and plays at Weber State on Dec. 13.