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Provo • Four days of hearing about how bad they were defensively last week apparently struck a nerve with the BYU Cougars.
After giving up 105 points to a ranked Massachussetts team on the road, the BYU Cougars allowed less than half that on Wednesday night in a tuneup for Saturday's showdown at rival Utah.
Of course, Prairie View A&M of the Southland Conference has nowhere near the firepower of the Minutemen, but the Cougars were happy with their improvement just the same as they coasted to a 100-52 win over the Panthers in front of 15,194 fans at the Marriott Center.
"The most encouraging thing is it has come from the guys. It has come from within," coach Dave Rose said after BYU improved to 8-3 by holding its opponent to 29.2 percent shooting. "They know what we need to do as a team to become a better team."
Backup guard Anson Winder said the Cougars set a goal in Wednesday morning's shoot-around to hold the Panthers (2-7) to a certain amount of points, "and I think we did that as a team. We battled and we guarded them the way we wanted to guard them."
At the other end of the floor, the Cougars were their running and gunning selves, hitting the 100-point plateau for the third time this season, but first time since a 108-76 win over Mount St. Mary's on Nov. 15.
Tyler Haws got it started, hitting his first five shots and scoring 13 points before the first media timeout. It appeared the junior who averages 23.8 ppg. was on his way to a Jimmer Fredette-like scoring explosion, but he took just five more shots the rest of the way, including just two shots in the six minutes he played in the second half.
Haws finished with 19 points, tying Kyle Collinsworth for game-high honors.
"When Ty can get into spots where he feels good, and he has some space, he's [terrific]," Rose said.
"But he was a little bit extra special tonight."
Haws "took a pretty good lick" late in the first half, but told Rose he felt OK after the collision. Matt Carlino also left the game briefly with a leg injury, but returned and had seven points, seven assists, four steals and six turnovers.
Eric Mika was solid again with 15 points and six rebounds, while Winder chipped in 11 points off the bench, all in the second half, and was 3-for-3 from 3-point range.
"It felt good," Winder said. "My teammates were finding me and I was able to get some shots and knock them down. So it was fun to get out there and play. We all played well as a team. It was a good win."
Every Cougar who played scored, except walk-on Graham Pingree, and six guys had three or more assists as the team recorded 27 dimes on 35 field goals.
"Offensively, we shared the ball really well," Rose said. "Twenty-seven assists is a really good number for us, for our team."
Twitter: @drewjay
Storylines
O The Cougars shoot 61 percent and hold the Panthers to 29 percent in an easy win.
• Tyler Haws scores 13 of his 19 points in the game's first four minutes, then sits most of the second half.
• The Cougars record 27 assists on 35 field goals in the romp over the Southland Conference team.
BYU 100,Prairie View 52
PRAIRIE VIEW (2-7)
Hagood 1-1 0-0 3, Robinson 5-11 0-2 12, Brisco 3-14 0-0 6, Scott 1-5 0-0 3, Onwukamuche 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 1-2 2-2 4, Surles 2-4 0-0 4, Munks 1-9 5-6 7, Agho 2-4 0-0 4, Montgomery 1-5 1-2 3, Jenkins 0-0 2-2 2, York 2-10 0-0 4.
Totals 19-65 10-14 52.
BYU (8-3)
19, Collinsworth 7-12 5-8 19, Austin 3-5 2-2 8, Sharp 2-3 0-0 4, Johnston 1-1 0-0 3, Winder 4-4 0-0 11, Halford 2-5 2-2 7, Bartley IV 2-5 0-0 5, Worthington 1-1 0-0 2, Pingree 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 35-57 20-29 100.
HalftimeBYU 46-28. 3-Point GoalsPrairie View 4-27 (Robinson 2-7, Hagood 1-1, Scott 1-4, Surles 0-1, York 0-3, Brisco 0-5, Munks 0-6), BYU 10-14 (Haws 4-6, Winder 3-3, Johnston 1-1, Bartley IV 1-1, Halford 1-2, Collinsworth 0-1). Fouled OutNone. ReboundsPrairie View 31 (Agho, Hagood, Robinson, York 4), BYU 44 (Austin 11). AssistsPrairie View 8 (Brisco, Hagood, Robinson 2), BYU 27 (Carlino 7). Total FoulsPrairie View 20, BYU 13. ANA.