BYU basketball: Tyler Haws overtakes dad on all-time scoring list

Provo • It took awhile for the BYU Cougars to get rolling against North Texas on Tuesday night, with practically no crowd at the Marriott Center early in the game due to a major snowstorm that pummeled northern Utah earlier in the day.

It also took Tyler Haws a bit of time to figure out why his father, former Cougar great Marty Haws, chose to go to his brother TJ's high school game, instead of BYU's.

Haws scored 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting to lead the Cougars to an easy 97-67 win over the Mean Green in front of what turned out to be a decent crowd of 13,908, surpassing his father on the school's all-time scoring list in the process.

"Now I am starting to see why he wasn't here, maybe," Haws joked. "Pretty easy decision for him to take TJ's game."

Tyler Haws is now 20th on the list with 1,342 points; shorter, but faster, Marty Haws had 1,337 in a career that spanned 1985-90 and was interrupted by a two-year church mission.

"I might talk to him a little bit at the dinner table. I got bragging rights now," Tyler said, adding later: "I wouldn't be the player I am without him."

Haws wasn't the only star Tuesday as the Cougars improved to 7-2 heading into Saturday's showdown at Springfield, Mass., against No. 21 UMass (7-0). Freshman Eric Mika had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Kyle Collinsworth had 17 points and six assists and Nate Austin had his first career double-double, 13 rebounds and 10 points.

North Texas (5-4) tried to run with the Cougars early, and that worked for a while, but BYU found its legs as the first half wore on and more people poured into the building, and surged ahead 42-35 at the break.

The second half was barely competitive as the Conference USA team failed to keep up.

"I've been doing this here at BYU, I'm in my 17th year [as a head coach and an assistant]," Dave Rose said. "On a night like this, the crowd eventually comes. But at tipoff today, there were probably the least amount of fans we've had at any game, even our exhibition. But I knew they would show up, and our guys played through those first 10 minutes, and we had a nice run there at the end of the first half."

Then there was the line turned in by point guard Matt Carlino. The junior appeared headed toward a triple-double after posting five points, seven assists and seven rebounds in the first half. He finished with 11 assists and 10 rebounds, but didn't score in the second half, his bid falling short in the least-likely category.

"What he does really well for us, usually, is score points," Rose said. "And tonight he didn't have his best night offensively, but he had a great floor game. I think you take away a few of those [seven] turnovers, and he really led our team."

BYU's last triple-double was turned in by Michael Smith, in 1988.

drew@sltrib.com —

Storylines

O Tyler Haws scores a game-high 23 points and passes his father on BYU's all-time scoring list, moving into 20th place.

• Matt Carlino almost has a triple-double with 11 assists, 10 rebounds and five points, 14 below his average.

• Nate Austin (13) and Eric Mika (11) also reach double figures in rebounds, after the Cougars were out-rebounded in their last four games. —

BYU 97, North Texas 67

NORTH TEXAS (5-4)

Vaughns 4-14 0-0 9, A. Williams 3-7 0-3 6, Jones 3-12 3-5 9, Voss 1-4 0-0 2, Coleman 2-3 1-2 5, Aniefiok 4-7 0-0 11, Walton 1-7 0-0 3, Flannigan 3-3 0-0 6, Taylor 4-8 0-2 9, Wesley 0-0 0-0 0, J. Williams 3-14 1-2 7.

Totals 28-79 5-14 67.

BYU (7-2)

Mika 7-16 3-5 17, Carlino 2-11 1-2 5, Haws 9-12 4-4 23, Collinsworth 8-12 1-1 17, Austin 3-6 4-5 10, Sharp 0-0 0-0 0, Johnston 0-1 0-0 0, Winder 2-2 0-0 4, Halford 5-7 3-4 16, Bartley IV 1-8 1-2 3, Worthington 1-2 0-1 2, Pingree 0-0 0-0 Totals 40-80 18-21 111

Totals 38-77 17-24 97.

Halftime—BYU 42-35. 3-Point Goals—North Texas 6-23 (Aniefiok 3-5, Taylor 1-3, Vaughns 1-5, Walton 1-5, J. Williams 0-5), BYU 4-12 (Halford 3-5, Haws 1-2, Johnston 0-1, Bartley IV 0-2, Carlino 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—North Texas 38 (Aniefiok, Coleman 6), BYU 60 (Austin 13). Assists—North Texas 13 (Jones 6), BYU 24 (Carlino 11). Total Fouls—North Texas 20, BYU 15. A—13,908.