BYU Basketball Pull Out Wins 3-0

Another great week and a half for BYU men's and women's basketball with a 3-0 record over three games.

Men's Basketball (Now 10-3)
#1 December 20, 2014 vs. Stanford (Won 79-77)
#2 December 23, 2014 vs. University of Massachusetts (Won in overtime 77-71)

Women's Basketball (Now 8-3)
#1 December 22, 2014 @ Utah State (Won in double overtime 62-58)

These were the last non-conference games for both teams. Starting Saturday, they will be playing WCC foes for the rest of the regular season starting with Gonzaga for both teams...Gonzaga is the best team in the WCC for men's and women's. For both men's and women's BYU basketball they've have pretty decent non-conference records with only 3 losses each. Men's losses came to three good teams in San Diego State, Purdue, and Utah. San Diego State and Utah are both currently ranked. Women's losses came also to three good teams. One is currently ranked and undefeated...Oregon State ranked at #10.

Here's to a successful run in conference games this season starting at their first tough games against one of the best teams in the WCC historically, Gonzaga.

Men's Basketball
With two close wins, I would think they would have gained some more national recognition after beating two well-known universities in Stanford and Massachusetts. With the Stanford game, game #1, One thing that helped BYU stay in the game was 21 of 29 on free throws. They were otherwise pretty even with field goals when compared to Stanford. The lead changed 8 times throughout the game which shows how close it was. Also BYU dominated in 2nd chance points. With the Massachusetts game, the free throws made the difference again...especially in the overtime play. Overall BYU was 26 of 32 on free throws compared to Massachusetts (12 of 17). Otherwise, again, BYU and Massachusetts were even on field goals. Also Anson Winder was a big playmaker in that game when Tyler Haws was struggling. Anson scored a big 25 points off the bench along with Skyler Halford with 8 and Corbin Kaufusi with 6. With those three guys contributions along with a big game by starter Kyle Collinsworth, BYU was able to stay in the game and defeat Massachusetts.

Men's Game #1
Tyler Haws: 24 points; 4 assists
Chase Fischer: 16 points; 2 steals
Kyle Collinsworth: 15 points; 10 total (7 defensive) rebounds; 7 assists; 2 steals
Anson Winder: 13 points; 4 defensive rebounds
Isaac Neilson: 6 rebounds; 2 blocks; 6 points

Men's Game #2
Anson Winder: 25 points; 5 rebounds (4 defensive)
Kyle Collinsworth: 18 points; 15 rebounds (10 defensive); 4 assists; 3 steals
Chase Fischer: 8 points; 2 steals; 2 assists
Skyler Halford: 8 points; 5 rebounds (4 defensive)
Corbin Kaufusi: 6 points; 1 block; 2 steals

Women's Basketball
The BYU Women's team had a very closely fought game with Utah State...a fabulous and intense rivalry game. During the first half BYU struggled with three-pointers with 0 made out of 8 but still got the lead at half-time with 5 free throws. The score at halftime was 23-18 with BYU ahead The second half had Utah State catching up a couple more field goals than BYU (including one more three-pointer) to tie the game. In the first overtime, only 4 total points were scored between the two teams, and then in the second overtime, BYU was able to finish it ahead by two with a lone three pointer between the two teams and 5 for 6 on free throws whereas Utah State was only 2 for 2 on free throws and no three-pointers.

Women's Game #1
Lexi Eaton: 29 points; 8 rebounds (7 defensive); 4 assists; 2 steals
Morgan Bailey: 19 points; 22 rebounds (17 defensive); 2 assists; 1 block; 3 steals
Makenzie Morrison: 4 points; 3 steals
Ashley Garfield: 4 points; 7 rebounds; 2 assists; 2 steals
Kylie Maeda: 2 assists; 1 defensive rebound
Team: 8 rebounds