This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The UMass Minutemen showed why they are ranked No. 21 in the country, holding off BYU 105-96 on Saturday afternoon at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass.
Playing just 30 miles away from their campus in Amherst, the Minutemen (8-0) shot 56 percent from the field and had little trouble with BYU (7-3), pulling away midway through the second half after leading 52-41 at halftime. All three of BYU's losses have come against ranked teams.
The Cougars scored the first eight points of the second half to get within three, 52-49, but a 10-2 run UMass run earned it some breathing room and foul trouble kept BYU from making another charge.
Tyler Haws led BYU with 25 points and Matt Carlino added 23. Eric Mika added 18, but spent most of the game on the bench in foul trouble after picking up a technical foul during a first-half scrum.
Chaz Williams, a 5-9 guard, torched the Cougars with a career-high 32 points and 15 assists for UMass, a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Twitter: @drewjay