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Dayton, Ohio • The BYU Cougars picked an awful time to get conservative offensively in the second half of Tuesday's 94-90 loss to Ole Miss in an NCAA Tournament First Four game, and it cost them dearly.

"We weren't as confident with the ball [coming out of halftime]," said BYU coach Dave Rose, "and getting the ball to the right guys' hands."

Indeed, it was a tale of two halves, both coaches said, as the Rebels outscored the Cougars 62-41 in the second half to take the nail-biting win.

"They were really good in the second half, and they got past us for easy baskets," Rose said.

After scoring 49 points in the first half and shooting 60 percent, including 66.7 percent (10 of 15) from 3-point range, the Cougars slowed it down to start the second half, running more of a motion offense.

Rose said that wasn't the plan, but guys passed up some open shots and Ole Miss started trapping to throw the Cougars out of sync.

"We made a few adjustments [at halftime] with how we were guarding some of their ball screens," said Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy. "And then we just wanted to show that we belonged here."

Four-point underdogs, the Rebels (21-12) scored 25 points off turnovers — 18 of those in the second half — as the Cougars got sloppy with the ball after five first-half turnovers, three on offensive fouls.

"We didn't really have an answer for them defensively, and they made some big plays," said Tyler Haws, who led all scorers with 33 points.

Haws and Chase Fischer, who added 23, missed 3-pointers the first two minutes of the second half, and then got a bit tentative as the Rebels chipped away at the deficit.

The Cougars had to play long stretches without point guard Kyle Collinsworth, who was in foul trouble and played just 26 minutes.

"You know, it hurts to end it this way," Haws said, having finished with 2,720 career points, the most in BYU history.