This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Provo • At practice Friday afternoon, Tyler Haws surprised his coach by playing through the pain of an ankle he badly sprained less than a week before.

On Saturday night, Haws simply did the kind of things everyone has come to expect.

The senior BYU guard, and the nation's third leading scorer, went for 24 on 8-of-15 shooting to lead the Cougars to a 79-77 win over the visiting Stanford Cardinal.

"Pretty impressive," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "He's just one of those guys that's got a special combination [of attributes]."

Junior BYU guard Kyle Collinsworth added 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the victory. And guards Chase Fischer and Anson Winder scored 16 and 13 respectively, as the Cougars improved to 9-3 on the season.

The Cougars let a late double-digit lead nearly slip away in the game's final minutes. Stanford's Chasson Randle hit a 3-pointer to bring the Cardinal within two points with just under a minute to play. But Randle, who had 24 points in defeat, missed a 3-ball that would have put Stanford up late and watched as his potentially game-tying jumper at the buzzer bounced off the rim.

"Just really proud of our guys, they way we battled," Haws said. "We've got to keep learning to finish games the right way, but a win's a win. We'll take it."

Haws himself wasn't sure he'd be able to play Saturday night. But when his ankle felt good during warmups, he told his coach he wanted to give it a go and see how he felt after the first timeout.

With Haws in his usual spot in the starting lineup, an energized Cougars squad swarmed Stanford early and jumped out to a 13-4 lead. The senior Haws, meanwhile, looked to be unaffected by his ankle as he knocked down his first five attempts from the field.

"He wanted to help the team," Rose said. "That's what he said. 'Coach, I just want to help with this game.' He sure enough did."

Most of the swelling had subsided by Friday and Haws was able to tape the ankle heavily to fight through the injury. Haws rode an exercise bike court side to keep loose when he wasn't in the game. That's where he was when Collinsworth knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Cougars a 32-22 lead.

But after a hot start, Haws and the Cougars went cold briefly.

Haws missed his next four attempts from the field and watched his lone free-throw attempt of the half bounce out of the rim.

That opened the door for Stanford and guard Chasson Randle. Rose and the Cougars expected Randle, Stanford's leading scorer who dropped 31 points on Loyola Marymount earlier in the week, to be a difficult assignment. The point guard scored 11 points in the first half and helped spark an 11-0 run after Collinsworth's free throws to recapture the lead.

Randle finished the game with five rebounds and five assists. He scored 24 points, but needed 22 attempts to get there. Stanford's Stefan Nastic had 20 points.

Freshman big man Isaac Neilson, starting in place of the injured Nate Austin, sparked the Cougars early in the second half, knocking down a pair of free throws, blocking a shot and grabbing an offensive rebound in front of the BYU bench. Neilson finished the night with six points, six rebounds and two blocks.

A three-pointer by Rosco Allen put Stanford up a point at the 15:40 mark of the second half. From, there the Cougars took over, starting with an 8-0 run, capped by a Winder layup, that put the Cougars up 58-49.

The crowd at the Marriott Center erupted when Fischer put BYU up 13 with about four minutes to play.

But Stanford's full court pressure turned into a quick 6-0 run to cut the BYU lead down to five with just under two minutes remaining. Randle's 3-pointer from the left angle cut the lead down to 79-77 with 54 ticks remaining.

"I think a lot of that execution late had to do with [the fact that] Ty is our guy in all those situations and well know how that's going to work," Rose said. "But he was just a little bit, he wasn't himself. He couldn't plant as quick and wasn't as aggressive to the ball. But we'll get through all that."

Haws said after the game that his ankle felt sore, but he felt confident he would continue to feel better and stronger as his rehab progresses.

The guard feels similarly about his team learning how to close out games.

"They hit some shots," he said. " We've got to take care of the ball and just learn how to control the game a little bit better. I don't think we're that far off of doing that and we're going to address those things and get better."

After Randle's big 3, Winder traveled in the corner giving the Cardinal a chance to tie. But Randle missed a three pointer and then, after Winder missed two free throws that could have sealed victory for BYU, Randle missed a tying jumper at the horn.

"We've come close in a couple others," Rose said. "This was really important for us. It was important for us to win a close game against what we consider tone a really good team."

Twitter: @aaronfalk —

BYU 79, Stanford 77

Olendrem eugiamet dio dip et verit, vulpute cor amet velent am volesto odiamcommy nim dipit ut ullutet prate duisi. Rud dolobor suscidunt am, con heniamet illum nismodolore coreet. › XX