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Provo • After BYU's 78-74 win over San Francisco on Thursday night in front of a late-night crowd of 12,452 at the Marriott Center and an ESPNU television audience, coach Dave Rose referred to the Cougars as "a work in progress" and a team still trying to find itself.
Later, the coach acknowledged that he's probably never had to use those words before to describe one of his teams this late in the season, but that is the reality of the situation. Rose continues to tinker with his starting lineup, alter his rotations and search for answers despite having played 23 games, winning 16 of them.
"We've made some big changes late in the season over the course of the 10 years, but this one, because we are playing so differently than what we have done in the past, I would say that this is [still mostly a work in progress]," Rose said. "But again, I like the potential of the team, because we are in every game. We are right there."
The Cougars are 6-4 in the West Coast Conference, tied for third place but three games behind second-place Saint Mary's (9-1) heading into Saturday night's home game against Santa Clara (11-11, 5-5 WCC).
With at least 10 more games to play, the Cougars are in a constant battle to reinvent themselves and make their four-guard starting lineup work, even when they are shooting poorly, as they have the past two games. Thursday's grinder against the Dons illustrated how unsustainable the live-by-threes approach is over the long haul.
"You try to figure out a way to win a game," Rose said. "We were 15 for 28 [from 3-point range] over at [San Francisco]. We figured that it would be a little bit tougher tonight, and it was."
Similarly, the Cougars expect Saturday's game against the Broncos, who had won four straight before losing 69-64 at San Diego on Thursday, to go differently than the one on Jan. 1 at Santa Clara when they won by 35 points, 81-46.
Teams have found ways to slow down BYU's high-scoring offense and attack its vulnerability inside. Against USF, Tyler Haws was 9 of 20 for 28 points, but his teammates were a combined 17 of 45. BYU shot 15 percent (3 of 20) from 3-point range, a season-low. The Dons scored 34 points in the paint.
"I definitely think [teams] change up their lineup [against BYU]," Haws said. "They are adjusting to what we are doing, and that's kind of what we want. We want them to adjust to our style. … When we can play our style and get the game at the right pace, we can be pretty good."
In an effort to find better production from his only starting big man, Rose gave the starting nod to freshman center Corbin Kaufusi on Thursday, ending Luke Worthington's 15-game starting streak, and the changes worked. Kaufusi had five points and five rebounds in 22 minutes before fouling out, while 6-foot-10 freshman Isaac Neilson had four points and two rebounds and drew a momentum-changing charge in six minutes.
"We got a lot of good minutes from a lot of guys," Rose said. "Corbin gave us great minutes in his new role. Isaac came off the bench late and gave us some great plays down the stretch. And I thought Ryan Andrus gave us some good minutes in the first half. Hopefully we can build on this with another good game on Saturday."
Twitter: @drewjay —
Santa Clara at BYU
O At the Marriott Center, Provo
Tipoff • 7 p.m. MST
TV • BYUtv
Radio • 1160 AM/102.7 FM
Records • BYU 16-7, 6-4 WCC; Santa Clara 11-11, 5-5 WCC
Series history • BYU leads, 21-5
Last meeting • BYU 89, Santa Clara 67 (Feb. 6, 2014)
About the Broncos • They are coming off a 69-64 loss at San Diego on Thursday night, a loss that snapped a four-game winning streak. … Brandon Clark scored 22 points and became the 15th player in school history to score 1,400 career points. … They are the only team in the WCC that has not defeated BYU since it joined the league in 2011-12.
About the Cougars • They have defeated the Broncos 10 straight times, dating back to a win in 1986. … Tyler Haws scored 28 points in Thursday's 78-74 win over San Francisco and now has 2,465 points. He will pass Danny Ainge for second on BYU's all-time scoring list with three points on Saturday night.