Cougars end season with loss to Ole Miss

BYU vs. Ole Miss Notes & Quotes

BYU vs. Ole Miss Box Score

BYU vs. Ole Miss Facebook Photo Gallery

DAYTON, Ohio – Senior Tyler Haws scored 33 points in a heartbreaking 94-90 loss to Ole Miss in the NCAA First Four Tuesday night at UD Arena to end the 2014-15 season. 

"Congratulations to Andy (Kennedy) and his team and wish him the best of luck as they move forward," BYU basketball coach Dave Rose said. "I think this game will sting for quite a while. Our guys showed a lot of fight and it's pretty similar to three years ago – it was a tale of two halves. Offensive rebounds were a problem for us, but our guys continued to battle and we got the lead again. I thought it would go right down to the wire, but we didn't get the stops we needed. I feel for our guys because we played well enough to win, but just couldn't finish it off." 

Post Game Interviews and Highlights

Haws added five rebounds and five assists on the night with Chase Fischer finishing with 23 points and five rebounds. Skyler Halford finished with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists off the bench.

Kyle Collinsworth contributed eight points, seven rebounds and 10 assists despite battling foul trouble, while Corbin Kaufusi added six points, six rebounds and a block.

Fischer opened the game on a solo 8-0 run with a drive to the rim and consecutive triples to give BYU the lead at the 17:37 mark. Ole Miss responded with six-straight points of its own, but was answered by two 3-pointers by Fischer and Halford to help the Cougars maintain a 16-9 lead with 12:33 left in the half.

The Rebels cut their deficit to one at 19-18 with under nine minutes in the half, until Fischer and Haws connected on two more triples to go back up 25-18. An 8-0 BYU run over three minutes that included 3-pointers from Haws and Halford extended its lead to 38-23 at the 3:38 mark.

Haws scored on the next three BYU possessions with Winder’s bucket from deep putting the Cougars up 49-32 at halftime.

Haws led all players with 19 points, going 8 of 12 from the field, and Fischer followed with 17 points, making four 3-pointers. The Cougars made 10 triples in the first half and held Ole Miss to 30 percent from the field.

BYU held onto a 13-point lead after Halford’s layup at the 15:36 mark despite the Rebels’ 8-2 run to start the second half. Ole Miss chipped away to make it a five-point game, but was answered by Haws’ alley-oop to Collinsworth for the three-point play and the 60-52 lead.

With 7:14 remaining, the Rebels’ stormed back with a big 15-2 run over 2:05 to take their first lead of the game at 72-68. Following Kaufusi’s three-point play and Fischer’s shot from beyond the arc, BYU retook an 80-78 lead with 3:52 left in the game.

Fischer answered Ole Miss’ 4-0 run with a 3-pointer to cut the Cougars’ deficit to 87-85 with 1:21 left on the clock. After the Rebels extended their lead to six at 93-87 with nine seconds remaining, Haws connected from deep to make it a three-point game, but BYU fell 94-90.

The Cougars end their season with a 25-10 record, the program’s 10th-straight season with a postseason birth and at least 20 wins under coach Dave Rose. BYU played in the NCAA tournament for the eighth time in the last nine seasons.