PROVO — BYU basketball received some good news Saturday night — and it wasn't just a 74-58 win over West Coast Conference rival San Diego or TJ Haws’ season-high 24 points.

Cougar forward Dalton Nixon returned to the BYU lineup for the first time in 11 games, playing seven minutes off the bench and accumulating two rebounds, one block, one steal and a personal foul in his first game since Dec. 6.

"It was great to see him in there," said BYU coach Dave Rose of Nixon, who has struggled with a foot injury. "Doctors and trainers were reminding me of the number on his minutes; I usually stretch that pretty good."

Nixon hadn’t played against a WCC opponent since returning from a two-year mission for the LDS Church in Boston. But the son of former Cougar cager Kevin Nixon made his minutes count Saturday night — even if his contributions don’t always show up in the box score.

"Dalton does so many good things for us that don’t always show up on a stat sheet," Haws said after Saturday’s game. "But that man gives 100 percent effort at all times, and brings a good spark for us and a lot of energy."

Nixon played seven minutes off the bench this weekend, though Rose admitted he has a tendency to rush players back from injury. When former BYU guard Jackson Emery was coming off an ankle injury several years ago against Creighton, the team medical staff told him the former Lone Peak High star could play 8-10 minutes — or maybe 15, at the most.

Emery played 33 minutes that night.

"Tonight, it was just 8-10 minutes for Dalton, and we kept it right in there," a cautious Rose said. "Hopefully he can have a good week of practice and we can get more from him."

Nixon returns at the right time, as BYU prepares to face a critical rematch against WCC-leading Saint Mary’s (19-2) on Thursday. He gives them more than another body against the top team in the conference.

"He’s got a real physical presence to him with a lot of skill," Rose said of Nixon. "It’s good size and he really understands our defensive system. He’s a really good screener on offense and you have to guard him on the perimeter."

The Gaels halted a BYU win streak in overtime in the first meeting in Provo, and the Cougars head to Moraga, California, after Saint Mary’s picked up a pair of road wins over No. 13 Gonzaga and Pacific.

The Gaels had to survive what may have been the ultimate trap game in Stockton, rallying in the second half to fend off the upset-minded Tigers 72-69 behind 32 points from star center Jock Landale.

"We need to have a good week of practice and start figuring things out," Rose said. "We battled pretty good (against the Gaels), but we need to do a lot of things better."

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Haws tied a season-high with 24 points, including four 3-pointers, and Jahshire Hardnett added a career-best 17 points and eight rebounds to help BYU pull away for a 74-58 win Saturday night over San Diego in a snow-covered Marriott Center.

Nixon’s return and Haws’ scoring output came as BYU leading scorer Elijah Bryant had a below-average game Saturday night. The junior from Gwinnett, Georgia, had "only" 13 points and six rebounds — but the Cougars didn’t miss a beat, as Haws and Jahshire Hardnett stepped into the offensive go-to role.

The Cougars will need a similarly deep effort if they have any hope of knocking off the Gaels. And Bryant plays as big of a role in that balanced depth as anyone, Rose said.

"That’s a time when sometimes you feel like everybody needs you, and you are going to try harder," Rose said of Bryant. "When these guys actually started to find their game and really help us, he was fine to let their number be called. The excitement he had in the locker room and on the floor is a good thing — to have a team with a lot of balance."

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