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PROVO — The game was defensive, gritty and low-scoring — all points in favor of San Diego.
But just when BYU’s chances at an eighth-consecutive home win over the Toreros were looking grim, TJ Haws came alive.
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.
"I tried to get to the basket a bit and get some shots around the paint and around the hoop. That helped me get my rhythm a bit," said Haws, who has scored in double figures each of the past four games. "I just tried to stay confident and keep shooting."
Yoeli Childs added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Cougars (17-4, 6-2 WCC) on a night when leading scorer Elijah Bryant “struggled” to 13 points on just 4-of-14 shooting.
But in his absence, Bryant’s teammates were more than ready to carry the load for a team leader who has carried the Cougars on offense for several weeks.
"Elijah came to me and told me to score the ball," Hardnett said. "He said he was struggling and I told him to keep shooting.
"But he told me now was my time to step up and score the ball more."
Hardnett set a career high with seven rebounds in the first half.
"I just felt like the ball kept coming to my hands,” he said with a grin. "That’s the honest answer."
When the offense wasn’t there, the Cougars also turned to defense. San Diego committed 16 turnovers, including 12 steals by BYU with Haws chipping in four takeaways.
"They made it hard for us on both ends of the floor," BYU coach Dave Rose said of USD. "hey stood us up on defense, and penetrated on offense while hitting threes. It was a great challenge and back-and-forth."
Olin Carter III led USD (13-7, 4-4 WCC) with 14 points and seven rebounds, and former Utah guard Isaiah Wright supplied 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Isaiah Pineiro chipped in 12 points and four boards for the Toreros, who tied the game three times in the second half but only led for 2:40 of game time.
"It’s a good team; just look at their numbers and what they’ve done on the year, winning five games on the road at Colorado or at New Mexico State and Grand Canyon," Rose said. "You know that is a team that has got a real identity to it."
BYU made just one of its first eight shots from the field, a breakaway layup by Hardnett, as the Toreros opened with a 6-4 advantage five minutes into the contest.
Haws jumpstarted the offense after the slow start, and back-to-back buckets by the ginger sharpshooter and Childs gave the Cougars a 15-9 lead with 11:27 left in the half.
Wright drilled a deep 3-pointer on the other end to pull the Toreros within three, but Hardnett had eight points and a career-high six rebounds to lead the Cougars on a 6-2 run to end the half up, 35-26.
Dalton Nixon played in his first game since Dec. 6 against Illinois State, substituting into the post with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half. Rose had hinted that Nixon could see limited minutes Saturday, and the 6-foot-7 forward from Orem High was cleared to return for 8-10 minutes by the team's medical staff.
Nixon missed 11 games, including the first seven of WCC play, with a foot injury — but still maintained a 6.7 points per game average, the fourth-most on the team. He finished with two rebounds, one block and one steal in seven minutes of controlled play off the bench against the Toreros.
San Diego opened the second half on a 6-0 run, pulling within 35-33 when Carter drained a 3-pointer with 17:36 remaining.
BYU missed five of its first six shots to open the second half, finally getting on the board via Haws’ jumper with 16:35 on the clock. But the Toreros — a team that claimed non-conference scalps on the road from Colorado, New Mexico State and Grand Canyon — didn’t go away.
USD tied the game at 40-all on a pair of free throws by Pineiro. Childs dropped his first triple of the game to spark the Cougars, up 46-43 with 11 minutes left, and the Cougars took a 51-43 lead on Haws’ trey moments later as BYU slowly pulled away for the win.
"We knew both teams would go on runs, and we knew they would," Haws said. "I thought we did a great job of keeping our poise, weathered the storm, and kept battling and doing our thing to pull away a bit."
Haws stretched the lead to double digits with his fourth 3-pointer of the game, and Hardnett raced down court for a bucket in transition to give the Cougars a 66-54 lead with 3:26 remaining and race to the finish.
"I’m just trying to keep shooting the ball and have confidence," Haws said.
The Cougars fed off the loud energy of a below-average crowd of 13,449 that braved the winter storm warming in Utah County to put the game away for good.
"The crowd did an amazing job getting us pumped up. Within two plays, it did it for us," Hardnett said.
