This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

Spokane, Wash. • BYU may have finally found the rivalry it has been looking for in the West Coast Conference.

The Cougars pulled off the unthinkable on Saturday night at the sold-out McCarthey Athletic Center, stunning No. 3 Gonzaga, 73-70, to snap the Bulldogs' 41-game home winning streak.

If they didn't have the powerful Zags' attention before, they do now, spoiling Senior Night and ending Gonzaga's 22-game winning streak, a school record.

"It is quite a rivalry after four short years," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "And if you can get a win on your rival's home floor, it probably turns into more of one."

Mission accomplished.

Kyle Collinsworth scored 20 points, including a rebound basket of his own miss with 17 seconds remaining to give the Cougars a five-point lead, while Skyler Halford chipped in 14 and Chase Fischer dropped 13.

The team's top scorer, Tyler Haws, struggled before finishing strong with 10.

The Cougars just might have punched their NCAA tournament ticket with the improbable win as 13-point underdogs, emerging victorious at a place where they had never won before as members of the West Coast Conference.

"It is a good win," Rose said. "A really good win. You get into February and March, and you beat a team that is top five in the country, that says a lot — especially beating a team that is on a roll and has been winning some games."

The Cougars improved to 13-5 in the WCC, 23-8 overall, and moved into the No. 2 seed for the WCC Tournament next week because Saint Mary's was upset at Santa Clara.

Haws, who had 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting, missed a pair of free throws that would have iced it with 6.6 seconds remaining, but seldom-used freshman Ryan Andrus had his back.

Gonzaga's Eric McClellan made two free throws with 2.6 seconds left to get the Bulldogs within a point, but Andrus hit two free throws with 1.5 seconds left.

Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer took a desperation heave at the buzzer from half court, and it drew the back iron before falling off.

"We were all extremely confident," Halford said. "We knew we could come in here and get a win."

The Cougars never trailed and led by as many as 11 points before Gonzaga rallied late.

BYU led 60-50 with 8:02 remaining after a driving layup by Fischer and seven quick points by Haws, who had just three in the first half on 1-of-5 shooting and sat for long stretches in both halves.

Defensively, the Cougars were as good as they've been all season, Rose acknowledged.

"We were on edge defensively," Halford said.

The Zags were held to 44-percent shooting from the floor and missed seven big free throws. The Cougars were 16 of 29 from the line, but won the rebounding battle, 41-39, and are now 19-0 when they outrebound their opponent.

"We were the aggressors from the start," Collinsworth said.

But the Zags (29-2, 17-1 WCC) almost pulled it out.

After a Halford layup gave BYU its biggest lead of the game, 62-51 with 7:36 left, the Zags roared back with a three-point play by Byron Wesley and five straight points from Damontas Sabonis to trim the deficit to six at the under-four-minute media timeout.

Halford made a free throw with 3:56 remaining to give BYU a 66-59 lead, and when Collinsworth added a three-point play with 2:52 left, the Cougars led by eight.

But Gary Bell Jr. hit a huge 3-pointer moments later to get the Zags within five, and Wilter's free throws with 7.8 seconds left trimmed it to three.

The Cougars got off to a great start, taking a quick 11-2 lead and holding the advantage until the last second of the first half, when the Zags went on a 7-0 run to knot the score at 36-36 at halftime.

The Cougars won the first-half rebounding battle, 21-18, nine of those on the offensive end, which they turned into 13 second-chance points.

At one stretch of the half, the Zags made six straight shots, and 9 of 10, but the Cougars generally had an answer for the run — until the final two-and-a-half minutes of the half.

The Cougars, the third-best free-throw shooting team in the country, were just 4 of 9 from the free-throw line in the first half.

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

Twitter: @drewjay —

BYU 73, No. 3 Gonzaga 70

R The Cougars snap No. 3 Gonzaga's 41-game home winning streak with an improbable victory at McCarthey Athletic Center.

* Kyle Collinsworth leads BYU with 20 points, and Skyler Halford adds 14.

* The Cougars move into a tie with Saint Mary's for second place in the WCC, and will get the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament by virtue of beating the league's first-place team, Gonzaga.