Recap: BYU 97, Virginia Tech 71

Photo Credit: BYU Photo

Somewhere in Salt Lake City, Tyler Haws is probably still hitting jump shots.

The BYU sophomore exploded for a career-high 42 points on Saturday, leading his team to a big 97-71 win over hapless Virginia Tech at EnergySolutions Arena. Haws started fast, dropping 29 points in the first half on 9-for-13 shooting, including six three-pointers. And while he cooled off considerably after halftime, he still found a way to break his father Marty Haws' previous family record of 40 points in a Cougar uniform.

It was a breathtaking offensive display. Haws made virtually everything in that first half — open shots, contested shots, impossible shots. Everything was going in. It was almost enough to make a fan harken back to the days of Jimmer. Almost. But lest we forget, Haws is only a sophomore. He has plenty of time to turn in a few more of these performances and etch his own name in BYU lore.

Recap: BYU 85, Montana 60

Photo Credit: BYU Photo

It's amazing what happens when you play a little defense. BYU found that out first-hand Wednesday night, using their first really solid defensive outing of the season to create offensive opportunities on their way to an 85-60 victory over Montana in Salt Lake City.

If the Cougars' main problem so far has been defending the perimeter, they showed great improvement against the Grizzlies. Their closeouts were more under control, leaving them in better position to move laterally to cut off dribble penetration. With a few exceptions, BYU was able to keep Montana's guards almost entirely out of the lane, and the visitors from the north notched just 16 points in the paint on the evening as a result.

Furthermore, because the guards could not penetrate deep into the heart of the defense, the Cougars' back line did not have to rotate over to help protect the basket, allowing them to stay home and successfully challenge perimeter shooters when the ball was inevitably kicked it. Montana still got some looks from three — and even made a few of them — but they simply weren't as high quality as the Grizzlies would have preferred. As such, they shot only 37.5 percent from deep, rather than the 46.5 percent they had been averaging for the year. This was an excellent all-around effort from BYU on the defensive side of the ball.

Recap: BYU 87, Cal State Northridge 75

Photo Credit: KSL

If you weren't aware, Tyler Haws is really good at basketball. The sophomore guard dropped 32 points and grabbed 6 rebounds on Saturday in an 87-75 win over Cal State Northridge.

Haws was doing it from all over the court against the Matadors, shooting 52 percent from the floor and going a perfect 12-for-12 at the charity stripe. He also took over the game when it mattered. When Northridge took the lead with just over three minutes left, the Cougars essentially turned the offense over to Haws, who responded by scoring 10 points in the closing minutes to secure the victory.

But as good as Haws was individually, the win was not without its dark clouds on the periphery. I won't caterwaul about BYU needing a herculean effort at the end of the game to finally put away a team from the Big West. Northridge is a greatly improved squad, and they should have a solid season. There is talent there. Nevertheless, the Cougars again showed a complete inability to consistently get stops on the defensive end, particularly because they cannot stop dribble penetration (as I lamented earlier this week.)

Recap: Florida State 88, BYU 70

Photo Credit: BYU Photo

After a three-year experiment dividing the game into four 10-minute quarters, in the 1954-1955 season the powers that were in college basketball reverted the structure of the game back to its previous form of two 20-minute halves, a rule that has remained unchanged since that time. Unfortunately this meant that on November 16, 2012, BYU Basketball fans had to endure 38 minutes of meaningless basketball in a game that was over two minutes in.

Once Brandon Davies picked up his second foul just two minutes in to BYU's semifinal matchup of the Coach's vs. Cancer Classic, the game was all but decided. The numbers weren't pretty — without Brandon Davies on the floor, BYU is a borderline incompetent basketball team.

Not that they were world-beaters with him on the floor. BYU's road three-point shooting woes from last season seemed to have carried over, affecting this year's squad. The Cougars were just 6-for-27 from the land of plenty, an icy 22 percent. Meanwhile BYU's opponents, the Florida State Seminoles, were an NBA Jam-esque 11-for-20 (55 percent) from behind the arc. The Seminoles' Devon Bookert continued the time-honored tradition of an unknown guard coming off the bench and setting the nets on fire against BYU. (The freshman scored 15 points, including going 3-for-4 from behind the three-point line). Ian Miller and NBA prospect Michael Snaer were also on fire, each going 3-for-5 from downtown.

Recap: BYU 103, Southeastern Oklahoma State 57

Photo Credit: BYU Photo

Well, that got out of hand quickly — not that we expected anything different. When a Division II team comes to your house for what is essentially a pre-arranged slaughter, good teams take care of business and use the opportunity to get better. BYU did that tonight and, despite the massive scoreboard disparity, there were a number of interesting developments worth noting.

In lieu of a full recap (this is still the preseason after all), I will include some quick thoughts and instant reaction to BYU's 103-57 blowout of Southeastern Oklahoma State after the jump.

Recap: Cougar Tip-Off

Photo Credit: BYU Photo

Man, it's good to be back. Even though it was sloppy at times and defense was clearly a mere afterthought for many players, the Cougar Tip-Off gave me everything I wanted — namely, BYU basketball.

There is nothing quite like a fresh new season — full of limitless possibilities and unsullied by disappointment — to make you feel even better than usual about the greatest game ever invented. Nights like tonight encapsulate that feeling. It may not represent the sport at its highest level, but there's just something fun about rolling the balls out for the first time and letting the fans finally get a glimpse of what lies in store in the months ahead. In the words of the great (fictional) coach Norman Dale, spoken at a similar event, "This is your team."

Since this was just an intra-squad scrimmage, I'll forgo a more comprehensive recap and just share some quick thoughts that popped into my head as I soaked in the action.