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The Cougars picked up their first West Coast Conference win of the season Monday night in front of 17,452 at the Marriott Center, beating Portland 97-88 after losing Saturday to now-No. 7 Gonzaga, 87-80.

Here's my report on the game as BYU coach Dave Rose started Anson Winder for the first time this season and played small in a successful attempt to tire out Portland's vast array of big men.

Guards scored 95 of BYU's 97 points, and the only points from a big man, Corbin Kaufusi, were set up when guard Kyle Collinsworth dropped off a pass near the basket.

Rose said he's not sure whether he will use the same starting lineup — Winder replaced 6-11 freshman Isaac Neilson — on Thursday when the Cougars tangle with Santa Clara in a New Year's Day special at 3 p.m. MST.

"It was really pretty simple, based on the way we started the last two games. We wanted to get off to a better start," Rose said when asked why Winder started. "It seemed like our second group came in in both those games and bailed us out and got us back tied or into the lead. Without a day of practice in between, you start trying to maybe invent something else.

So we went with the lineup we have been playing most in the last couple of games that were doing pretty well and executing pretty well in the guts of the game, and that is kind of how we decided to do it. Without a lot of time to prepare for that, we just wanted to see if we could get off to a better start, and we did. So, mission accomplished.

I don't know what we will do going forward with Santa Clara, but we got a couple of days to prepare for that, so we will see."

Portland started three guys who are 6-10 or taller, and Rose correctly guessed that the Pilots would open in a zone defense.

"I think what we knew, just from watching film, that if they were going with that big group, that they were going to play zone to start," Rose said. "We felt comfortable with our four shooters on the floor. We felt that we could spread it out. We actually got off to a decent start, then hit a flat spot where we missed quite a few shots in a row, and the game got even again.

But I like the way we started the game.

The one thing I was really impressed with the entire game was how we shared the ball. The ball moved. It moved from one side to the other. We got good penetration. We got it kicked out. We got a couple offensive rebounds and got it kicked out for threes, and I think that is a really good sign with this group.

I thought Corbin [Kaufusi] was a force for us against some good big guys in our league. I could see some real improvement with our group tonight."

If the win showed anything, it was that Tyler Haws is seemingly back from the sprained ankle he suffered against Weber State on Dec. 13. Haws has much better lift on his jumpers, moved laterally much better than he has, and played a fine game. He still forced a couple shots, but went 8 of 20 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line en route to a team-high 24 points.

"I feel great," Haws said after the game. "It was tough the first game back just because it hurts to run, but I'm feeling better and better each day. I'm trying to get as much rest as I can. These couple days we have in between our next game are going to be big for me. I think I will be able to practice more. All the swelling is gone out of my ankle and it feels great. I felt close to 100 percent out there tonight."

Rose said he noticed that as well.

"I think we all saw a little more active Ty," Rose said. "He was involved in more plays, 50-50 balls where he went and got them. It was more like the Dec. 12 Ty. And Ty has been pretty good for us in the last two and a half weeks, but I was encouraged tonight by just some of the situations that he actually got in. He initiated the contact a lot, which was him looking for space the last couple of games."

Haws also tied his career-high with six assists and added five rebounds and two steals. He scored in double figures for the 102nd time in his career and scored 20 or more points for the 59th time.

Skyler Halford had a nice game with 12 points and six assists, but missed a free throw in the waning moments after having made his first 25 this season.

A few more comments from the win:

Rose on how the players were more patient offensively:

"I think we did two things. One, is we got a lot of those in transition where we were able to get to the rim, off a steal, off a long rebound. But then we got our guards posted up. I remember Kyle a couple plays, one big one, he posted up and the second defender came and he dumped it off to Corbin for a nice basket."

Haws on Anson Winder getting the start:

"It was great. It feels like we play that line up a lot during the game, so Anson is more than capable of giving us a good start. We like having him on the floor."

Halford on going small against towering Portland:

"They told us at the beginning of the game the guards need to fly in there and get some rebounds. They are big. But we were able to get around some of their bigs with quickness, and get some of those loose balls, and get out and run. I think it just puts a little more pressure on the guards to rebound down and get some more of those loose balls from those bigs. I think we did a good job of that tonight."