This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

BYU coach Dave Rose wasn't biting.

I asked the 10-year head coach — who just signed a new five-year deal — where Saturday night's 73-70 win over No. 2/3 Gonzaga at the Kennel ranks on his coaching wins list shortly after Kyle Wiltjer's half court shot nearly went in.

"That's a good one," was all Rose would say.

It was BYU's first win against an opponent ranked third or higher since it beat No. 2 UCLA 79-75 on Nov. 27, 1981. That was the second game of the season, so UCLA really hadn't proved it was deserving of the ranking. The Cougars went on to finish 17-13 that year under coach Frank Arnold.

This one was against a Gonzaga team that had won a school-record 22 straight games, and was playing at home in front of 6,000 fans, where it had a 41-game home winning streak.

It has to rank up there as Rose's biggest win, at least outside of the NCAA Tournament.

"I am really happy for our guys. We have had a nice little run the last few weeks.

We have played a few games this year and weren't able to finish. Tonight, being able to finish and actually get the win, that's good not only for their confidence but just as a group, to be able to trust each other, trust their game plans, to just build at a really important time of the year," Rose said.

Speaking of the NCAA Tournament, Rose was asked what the win does for the Cougars' chances to make the big dance.

"It is a good win. It is a really good win," he said. "You get into February and March and you beat a team that is one of the top five in the country, that says a lot — especially beating a team that is on a roll and has been winning some games and playing well. So hopefully we can keep it up."

The win vaulted the Cougars into the second seed for next week's WCC Tourney. They tied with Saint Mary's after the Gaels lost Saturday at Santa Clara, but get the better seed based on their win over the league's top team, Gonzaga.

The Cougars will play in the late quarterfinal on Saturday in Las Vegas against the USF-LMU winner.

But Rose said it was more important to the program for other reasons.

"The best thing for us is we got a win here, and that's finally [done]," Rose said. "Four years in the league, and we have won in every venue. That was something that was out there all the time. So that is probably the best thing about this win is that we were able to win on the road and finally finish. The first year in the league your goal is to beat everybody at your place and beat everybody on the road [as soon as possible].

It is pretty interesting. It is quite a rivalry after four short years. And if you can get a wins in the other people's building, it turns into even more of a rivalry, so that's good."

More comments from Rose; Comments from Kyle Collinsworth and Skyler Halford will come in a later post:

Rose on BYU's defense and whether it was best defense it has played this season:

"We made some mistakes, but we were so engaged in each play. I mean, we didn't take plays off and we didn't let someone else go try and get a loose ball. We had three or four guys involved in every play, offensively and defensively.

We left a lot of things out there. We didn't shoot free throws very well. But we just fought. The group of guys were really together. Whatever lineup was in there, I felt comfortable with the group as a whole, and that's a good feeling when they are all dialed in like that."

Rose on when it sunk in that BYU could win the game:

"Probably after the Portland game, when we started to get prepared. We started thinking that we had a really good chance to win the next game that we play. In this game here, I think we led from wire to wire. We were really intent on getting it and finding a mix there where you want to keep attacking, but you also want to play time and score.

We didn't manage the last few minutes as well as we would have liked, but we were good enough to win."

Rose on why Tyler Haws played just 31 minutes:

"We were trying to rest him a little bit. And I think we got him some really good minutes because he had a nice little streak when he came off that bench and hit two or three nice little shots and got to the free throw line. There was just a lot of emotion in what he has been through the last couple of weeks, really, and I felt some time was needed to just watch the other guys go.

We actually could afford to do that tonight, because the rest of the group, whatever guys I had in there, were pretty dialed in."

Rose on his emotions when final buzzer sounded:

"I was pretty relieved, because the last two minutes were pretty tense. We were trying to figure out all sorts of strategy — like should you foul with a three-point lead. What we could do to get the ball in. All those things, we were trying to figure out.

The debate was whether we should foul with 1.5 seconds left, up three. And we let Wiltjer shoot that and it about went in. So we are pretty relieved."

Rose on whether he wanted Nate Andrus to make the second free throw:

"Yeah, I thought, 'whatever crazy thing can happen late, we would be much better as a tie than as a loss in that situation.' He stepped up there and made them both. Young kid, didn't play a lot of minutes, and those were two big shots right there."

Rose on what Gonzaga coach Mark Few said to him in handshake line:

"We had a really good conversation yesterday. Mark is right in the middle of coaching his team, and he is trying to get better at this time of the year. He was really gracious when I talked to him after the game. He complimented us, as you would think he would.

If we get a chance to play them in Vegas, it will be a pretty quick turnaround for another pretty hotly contested game. Mark is as good of a coach as there is, and as good of a person, too, I think.

I love his team. They are good. We were fortunate tonight. We will see how this tournament goes."