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Portland, Ore. • The BYU Cougars win basketball games by outscoring opponents. It's what they do. It is seemingly in their DNA.
But on a freezing, wintry night in Spokane, Wash., when their shooting was as frosty as the car windshields outside, coach Dave Rose's team somehow managed to win a game with its defense. Holding No. 25 Gonzaga to its lowest shooting percentage of the season — 36.8 percent — the Cougars took a 69-68 upset win to scratch their way back into the West Coast Conference title chase.
"This was a good win in a real defensive fashion that our guys can hang their hat on," Rose said.
Will it last?
If it does, the Cougars (13-5, 4-1 WCC) will have a chance to hang with Saint Mary's (15-2, 6-1) and the Zags (13-4, 5-1) in a race that suddenly becomes more interesting with Gonzaga losing a WCC game at home for just the fourth time since the McCarthey Athletic Center opened in 2004. Two of those four losses were to BYU, which is slowly making a case to be a Gonzaga rival.
"It was just a huge win," said Kyle Collinsworth, who earlier in the week failed to make the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 list despite being one of the most well-rounded players in the country, if not the most. "To finally get a big road win was big for us."
Led by 6-foot-10 senior walk-on center Nate Austin, who had two of BYU's seven blocked shots, both in the final minute, and Kyle Davis' four blocks, the Cougars' defense pulled it out. Gonzaga contributed, though, as the only Zag who shot better than 50 percent was Ryan Edwards (2 for 3).
"The reason we were able to come out with a win was because it was reachable [when GU took a 13-point lead], because of our defense," Rose said. "That size is good for us in there. We were fortunate that [Domantas] Sabonis got in foul trouble. We didn't spend a lot of minutes tonight having to guard both [Sabonis and Kyle Wiltjer] on the floor at the same time, which I think was an obvious advantage for us."
Another key stat: After committing nine turnovers in the first half when the three main ball-handlers all had two fouls apiece, BYU had just two in the second half, and one of those was the traveling call on Collinsworth when he rebounded Wiltjer's missed free throw with eight seconds left but couldn't land on his feet.
"That's a tough call, but when you go to the floor, and they don't believe you are fouled — there's no contact — that's the correct call," Rose said of the call that gave possession back to the Zags. "The interesting thing is, how come he didn't end up on his feet? That's a judgment call, and we didn't get it, had to play through it. But give credit to our guys. We had to guard again, and we got another stop."
Austin blocked Wiltjer's shot from the weak side, a splendid moment for a four-year scholarship guy who is paying his own way this year to be a part of the team and spent the first 11 games coming off the bench. Also, Austin took an unintentional blow to the face from Sabonis in the first half and "was a little groggy" for a bit.
Last year, Austin, who was injured, and Davis, who was ineligible after transferring from Utah State, watched the 73-70 win over GU from the players' lounge at the Marriott Center.
"Obviously, it is big," Austin said. "It is a win that no one expected, a win that nobody thought we could get. But it means nothing if we go out to Portland and lose, or we don't finish business down the road. But right now it puts us in a good position to achieve our goals, which is to win a conference championship."
Tipoff for the BYU-Portland game at Chiles Center on Saturday is 4 p.m. MST, and the game will be televised by the ROOT Sports Network. The Pilots (8-11, 2-4) lost 82-71 to San Diego on Thursday night, but feature two of the top scorers in the league in Alec Wintering and Bryce Pressley. Wintering had 23 and Pressley 20 against the Toreros.
"You beat a nationally ranked team [on its home floor]," Rose said. "For us, we are in a position now where we really can compete for a league championship. That's what we are focused on. Obviously, you got a day, and then to make this valid you've got to do it on Saturday. But every game is going to be big."
The win bumped the Cougars' Sagarin rating to 40 and their Pomeroy rating to 43. Saturday's game is the second in a four-game road swing which continues next week at Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine.
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU at Portland
P Saturday, 4 p.m. MST
TV • ROOT