NCAAB Game Recap - Santa Clara at BYU
Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:00 PM EST

USF
54
Gonz
71
F
Oreg
72
AzSt
77
F
USC
66
Colora
70
F
OhSt
76
Iowa
85
F
SCla
75
BYU
85
F
OrSt
63
Ariz
89
F
Longw
68
USC-Up
58
F
SoFL
55
WichSt
65
F
UConn
89
Temp
93
F(2OT)
Lipsco
68
JU
67
F
USA
78
App
70
F
KennSt
46
N AL
65
F
UMassL
84
Bingha
86
F
Stetsn
69
NJIT
78
F
UMBC
69
Albany
50
F
Presb
70
HiPt
82
F
NebOm
61
IPFW
59
F
GWebb
77
Hamp
87
F
WriSt
70
YSU
88
F
W&M
61
Tows
51
F
Vermt
63
Stony
54
F
Hartfo
63
UNH
67
F(OT)
NFla
77
Lib
82
F
Elon
70
JMU
62
F
NrthIA
64
IndSt
67
F
Hof
81
Drex
74
F
NE
48
Del
70
F
Troy
60
CoCar
90
F
NoKY
73
Clev
59
F
Belm
80
MorSt
67
F
TNSt
62
E KY
83
F
Campbl
66
ChaSo
51
F
APSU
78
SIU-E
60
F
GASt
62
TexAr
70
F
GaSo
55
TxSt
70
F
Evans
53
SIU
70
F
MSU
86
Nebras
65
F
SEMO
58
JSU
65
F
Murr
60
E IL
63
F
TN-M
65
TNTec
78
F
Pepp
66
Portl
59
F
CSBak
58
UtVal
72
F
S UT
66
N CO
68
F
ORU
96
Denv
100
F(OT)
UNCA
64
Radf
79
F
Sac
76
E WA
77
F
NoAZ
78
Ida
61
F
UCSB
75
CS-Ful
66
F
UCDav
77
CAPoly
62
F
Stan
72
Wash
64
F
GrCan
89
Seatt
95
F
MTSt
77
PorSt
87
F
UCLA
69
Utah
58
F
HI
56
UCRiv
55
F
LoyMa
51
StMar
57
F

Feb 20, 2020, 9:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

T

Santa Clara

30

45

75

(23) BYU

40

45

85

No. 23 BYU edges Santa Clara 85-75
Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:51 AM

PROVO, Utah (AP) It turns out blistering 3-point shooting is not the only tool in BYU's arsenal.

When the shots did not fall from the perimeter on Thursday night, the No. 23 Cougars settled into attacking the basket and it helped them eventually pull away from Santa Clara for an 85-75 victory.

T.J Haws scored 28 points and had nine assists while keying that attack on the rim. The senior point guard scored or assisted on 17 of BYU's final 19 points. His efforts helped the Cougars break a 66-66 tie with 5:37 remaining.

BYU made a season-low three 3-pointers on just 13 attempts.

"Santa Clara made an all-out commitment to not double in the post and not give up threes," BYU coach Mark Pope said. "Your poison there is T.J. Haws downhill. I don't know if anybody wants to see T.J. Haws downhill. He's just too good. He's unbelievable. He's really special."

With Haws leading the charge, BYU took command behind a 15-3 run that gave the Cougars an 81-69 lead going into the final minute. BYU made four straight baskets, culminating in a 3-pointer from Yoeli Childs at the top of the key, to punctuate the game-clinching spurt.

Haws ended up being the spark that lit the fire that burned Santa Clara's upset hopes. He scored a pair of baskets and made four free throws during the game-clinching run, while assisting on three other baskets.

"We're a great 3-point shooting team and a lot of guys can go off any night," Haws said. "But I think it shows a lot of who we are. If the three is not falling, we can win in other ways. This team, we fight to the end and we just find ways to win."

Childs scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Jake Toolson added 20 points and 10 boards for BYU (22-7, 11-3 West Coast Conference). The Cougars won their seventh straight.

Josip Vrankic scored 28 points and collected 11 rebounds to lead the Broncos (18-10, 5-8). Tahij Eaddy added 11 points, all in the second half.

BYU finished with a 41-32 advantage on rebounds.

"I don't think that this crew has it in our DNA to be a dominant rebounding team," Pope said. "But we have to be able to compete and the guys did a nice job on the glass."

Santa Clara opened the second half on a 10-2 run and made it a one-possession game when Trey Wertz and Keshawn Justice sank back-to-back 3-pointers to cut BYU's lead to 42-40.

The Broncos took only their second lead of the game at 49-47 when Eaddy made a 3-pointer for his first basket. Santa Clara went 4-of-4 from long-distance through the first seven minutes of the second half after making only one 3-pointer before halftime.

"I thought, for the most part, we played the right way throughout the game," Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek said. "Early on, the ball wasn't going down for us. As we got more comfortable, we made more shots."

The Broncos missed 12 of their first 15 shots from the field. It opened the door for BYU to surge ahead once the Cougars worked out of their own slow start. BYU scored on five straight possessions to carve out a 17-6 lead midway through the first half. Childs punctuated a 9-0 run with back-to-back layups.

The Broncos scored their first 10 baskets in the paint before Jalen Williams broke the ice from the perimeter to cut BYU's lead to 34-26. Santa Clara could not get the deficit under double digits again before halftime. Haws hit four free throws -- interrupted only by a layup from Childs -- to push the Cougars' lead to 40-28.

FREE THROW KING

Haws went 12-of-12 from the free throw line. He's made 28 straight free throws going back to BYU's 107-80 victory over Pepperdine on January 31. The senior made one fewer free throw than Santa Clara did as a team.

He was converting 73.5 percent from the line for the season coming into the game and has seen major improvement on his free throws since the Cougars began WCC play.

"I'm shooting extra ones after practice," Haws said. "I think my confidence has gone up a little bit. Sometimes, you need to get into a rhythm at the free throw line."

JERSEY SWITCH

Zac Seljaas had to change jerseys after ripping the chest on his jersey late in the first half. Seljaas subbed out with 5:38 left in the half and changed from No. 2 to No. 20 for the remainder of the game.

THE BIG PICTURE

Santa Clara: The Broncos hung tough by getting to the basket after an early shooting drought. That opened things up on the perimeter, which allowed Santa Clara to stay in the game until the final minutes.

BYU: A rare off-night from the perimeter put the Cougars into a dogfight for the better part of the second half. BYU dodged an upset loss by making stops at critical junctures down the stretch.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

BYU didn't hurt its spot in the Top 25 and can help it significantly if it can score an upset victory over No. 2 Gonzaga on Saturday.

UP NEXT

Santa Clara visits Pacific on Saturday.

BYU hosts No. 2 Gonzaga on Saturday.

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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

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Leaders

Santa Clara PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
J. Vrankic 28 0 1 11 2 1
T. Eaddy 11 0 2 2 0 0
BYU PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
T. Haws 28 0 9 2 2 0
Y. Childs 22 0 2 11 1 0

Team Comparison

SCla BYU
Points For 75 85
Field Goals 27/59-46% 30/62-48%
Three Pointers 8/22-36% 3/13-23%
Free Throws 13/20-65% 22/32-69%
Offensive Rebounds 4 10
Defensive Rebounds 28 31
Rebounds 32 44
Blocks 1 3
Steals 6 6
Turnovers 11 7
Personal Fouls 19 13
Technical Fouls 0 0
Ejections 0 0

2019-20 Reg Season - BYU Leads Series 1-0

Date Result Away Pts Ldr Home Pts Ldr
Thu Feb 20 SCla 75 @ BYU 85 J. Vrankic 28 T. Haws 28

Game Information

Stadium: Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
Attendance: 12,757
Game Time: