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Provo • Star guard Tyler Haws is "day-to-day" with a "moderate" left ankle sprain he suffered in the final minutes of BYU's 76-60 win over Weber State, a BYU basketball spokesman said Monday morning.
Haws, the country's third-leading scorer with a 23.8 average, will be evaluated Friday to determine his status for Saturday's 9 p.m. game against Stanford at the Marriott Center. That is the official word from spokesman Kyle Chilton.
However, BYU coach Dave Rose told ESPN on Monday that the injury is a "bad sprain" and that Haws will likely miss the Stanford game and the Dec. 23 home game against UMass. Rose told ESPN that he hopes Haws is healthy in time for No. 8-ranked Gonzaga's visit on Dec. 27.
Rose did not make himself available to local reporters on Monday and probably won't until Thursday or Friday.
Chilton said an MRI conducted Monday morning revealed the sprain, which happened with 3:29 remaining and BYU leading Weber State 70-52 in Ogden. Haws scored 19 points in 31 minutes in that game for the 8-3 Cougars.
"He could play Saturday, but everything will depend on how his ankle responds over the next few days," Chilton said later Monday when asked for a clarification after Rose's comments were published.
Rose told Katz he wouldn't rule out an "earlier return" than the West Coast Conference opener against the 9-1 Zags, but that BYU team doctor's didn't want to put a set timeline on his return.
The Cougars will also be without starting forward Nate Austin longer that originally expected. Coaches are now saying the 6-11 senior could be out for up to four weeks, instead of at least two weeks. Austin suffered a hamstring tear while stretching before the opening tip against Utah last Wednesday.
Haws, 6-5, was off to the best start of his career. Along with averaging a career-high 23.8 points, he was shooting a career-high 49.7 percent from the field and a career-high 43.4 percent from 3-point range. Only Iona's A.J. English (24.4) and Andrew Rowsey of UNC-Asheville (24.4) are scoring more points per game.
Twitter: @drewjay —
Stanford at BYU
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