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Provo • Portland marched out three players who were 6-foot-10 or taller on Monday night against BYU.
Naturally, Cougars coach Dave Rose countered with his smallest lineup of the season, replacing the 6-foot-10 Isaac Neilson with 6-3 Anson Winder.
"That was a little weird," BYU guard Tyler Haws said, commenting not on his coach's decision, but facing three giants in a West Coast Conference game.
Score one for the little guys, however, as guards accounted for all but two of BYU's points and the Cougars bounced back from Saturday's difficult loss to Gonzaga and ran past the towering Pilots 97-88 in front of 17,452 winter storm-braving fans at the Marriott Center.
"Without a lot of time to prepare, we just wanted to see if we could get off to a better start, and we did," Rose said of the lineup change. "So, mission accomplished."
The Cougars, who stayed in the four-guard lineup most of the night, were out-rebounded 36-35, mostly because they gave up a bunch of offensive boards in the final five minutes. But they outscored the visitors 44-22 in the paint, thanks to a 16-0 advantage on fastbreak points and an attacking style led by Winder.
"We went with the lineup that we have been playing the most [minutes] in the last couple of games that were doing pretty well and executing pretty well in the guts of the game," Rose said.
The Cougars (1-1, 11-4) led by as many as 22 points in the second half before Portland guard Bobby Sharp - remember him? - caught fire after an 0-for-5 start and made three three-pointers in the final 10 minutes. The much-improved Pilots (1-1,10-4) cut the deficit to seven three times in the final two minutes, but a driving layup by Winder, who finished with 22 points, ended the threat with about a minute left.
Portland's 5-11 Alec Wintering was 15 of 17 from the free-throw line and led all scorers with 30 points, but 6-11 Thomas van der Mars, 6-10 Riley Barker and 6-10 Volodymyr Gerun got in foul trouble and were unable to dominate inside with much regularity.
The Pilots played zone defense early, which doesn't happen much against BYU, and the Cougars made them pay. They finished shooting 50.8 percent from the field.
Fears that Tyler Haws would struggle on a gimpy ankle while playing twice in 72 hours didn't materialize, as the senior scored 24 points on 8 of 20 shooting and also had six assists and five rebounds.
"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" before he was injured against Weber State.
"I'm feeling better and better each game," Haws said.
Kyle Collinsworth added 21 points and eight rebounds as three Cougars scored 20 or more points for the first time since a win over Washington in the NIT in 2013, while Chase Fischer chipped in 16 and Skyler Halford 12.
About the only downer for the Cougars was allowing too many offensive rebounds down the stretch as Portland clawed back. The Pilots had just six second-chance points and 11 offensive rebounds, but those fueled the comeback.
"We were playing great defense in the second half, until about the seven-minute mark," Rose said.
The Cougars will now head out on the road and face Santa Clara on Thursday afternoon before taking on San Francisco on Saturday night.
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU 97, Portland 88
PORTLAND (10-4)
Pressley 4-10 0-0 10, Wintering 6-12 15-17 30, van der Mars 4-6 2-2 10, Barker 5-6 0-0 10, Gerun 6-10 2-2 14, Tyson 0-5 0-0 0, Todd 2-5 0-0 5, Sharp 3-9 0-0 9, Hartwich 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-63 19-21 88.
BYU (11-4)
Fischer 5-7 4-4 16, Haws 8-20 7-8 24, Collinsworth 6-8 9-13 21, Winder 10-14 0-0 22, Worthington 0-2 0-0 0, Toolson 0-2 0-0 0, Halford 3-10 4-5 12, Bartley IV 0-0 0-0 0, Nixon 0-1 0-0 0, Neilson 0-0 0-0 0, Kaufusi 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 33-65 24-31 97.
Halftime—BYU 43-37. 3-Point Goals—Portland 9-23 (Wintering 3-3, Sharp 3-8, Pressley 2-4, Todd 1-3, Tyson 0-5), BYU 7-21 (Fischer 2-3, Winder 2-4, Halford 2-6, Haws 1-5, Nixon 0-1, Toolson 0-2). Fouled Out—Barker, Sharp. Rebounds—Portland 36 (Barker 8), BYU 35 (Collinsworth 8). Assists—Portland 19 (Todd 7), BYU 22 (Halford, Haws 6). Total Fouls—Portland 25, BYU 21. A—17,452.