Basketball: Haws' big shot propels BYU past Texas, 86-82

When you have scored 1,177 points in your career before your junior season, as BYU's Tyler Haws did, you have had a lot of memorable baskets. The one he made Monday night to sink Texas has to rank right up there among the best. With the Cougars leading by a point and the shot clock about to expire, Haws made a running 18-footer, off-balance, with 43 seconds left and BYU held on for an 86-82 win. His description: "We had a play called, and I think we ran the play and Texas defending it really well. Time was just running down, and Eric [Mika] was in the corner. He was acting like he wanted me to come off for a little hand-off. I have just shot that shot, sometimes in HORSE, and sometimes after practice, the runner thing. I was just happy it went in." Here's Mika's take on the play: "[Ridley] was coming out to pressure me, and I was like, 'I am in a tight spot right now.' So I didn't even look at the basket. And I was just hoping Tyler would come back. He came back and made an unbelievable shot. That was probably the hardest I have ever gone for an offensive rebound. I was ready to go get it no matter where it went, because I knew if he missed it, it was on me." Haws scored 23 of his game-high 25 points in the second half after going 1 of 6 in the first half. He finished shooting 7 of 16 from the field, 9 of 10 from the free-throw line."Our guys were able to finish that game off in a real positive way for us, and hopefully it gives us a lot of confidence moving forward," said BYU coach Dave Rose. "My general thought off the top of my head is I couldn't be happier for this group of guys, because they came off a tough loss the other night and rebounded well, and got a big win."The folks at the CBE Hall of Fame Classic distributed quotes from both teams' press conferences after the game, and Texas coach Rick Barnes had some interesting things to say about Haws and the game. For instance: "Our guys fought hard, we have a good basketball team and [BYU] is a good team. They're an older group of guys — I don't think there is a senior on either group, but we know they are older." Barnes on BYU playing so much zone defense: "We weren't surprised that they went to zone defense because obviously they didn't think they could guard us man-to-man. I don't think they thought they could keep up with us in transition because they were getting everybody back." Barnes on Demarcus Holland guarding Haws: "Haws is a tough guy because he has a little actor in him, where he does a good job of trying to sell it. That shot he made, I wasn't surprised at all; I've watched enough tape to see him make some of those plays." Barnes on how Texas dominated the glass with 47 rebounds, 17 offensive: "I told my team today that [BYU] is scoring 96 points per game. I said I wanted us to score 100. I told my guys that they can't rebound with us and they can't run with us. The first timeout, I said, 'I told you guys that and they came out and played zone. I said, 'they are telling you something right now. They got everybody back because they did not want to deal with the guards coming at them….. Rebounding [edge], I am not surprised. I thought we could win the game." On BYU's guards and the pace of the game: "I felt like their guards out front didn't want to foul, didn't want to really guard because they want to score. I don't think there was anything we saw where we were surprised — even at the end. They executed and Haws did what he did. They're a good team. We're a good team. I think we'll both get better."