BYU Falls in Triple Overtime at Portland, Despite Tyler Haws’ Career Night

Nov 26, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Brigham Young Cougars guard Tyler Haws (3) shoots a free throw during the second half of the game against the Wichita State Shockers at Sprint Center. Wichita won 75-62. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Wow. Did that just happen?

BYU falls at Portland, 114 to 110 in triple overtime.  Never in my life have I seen such drastic momentum swings in a short period of time.  It was a wild game that sadly, BYU ended up on the losing end of this game that had the late night college basketball crowd abuzz on Twitter.

From questionable officiating, Haws’ career night, and the uncanny shooting from Portland’s Bobby Sharp, this game had everything.

BYU went on a 8-1 run in :23 seconds to send the game into a double overtime.  BYU looked deflated in the first overtime, but stormed back led by Haws and some poor decisions from the Pilots, the Cougars sent the game to a double overtime.

In double overtime, BYU was the one who was dominating and then the unlikely Bobby Sharp went off, hitting two clutch three pointers to send the game into a triple overtime.  Sharp scored a career-high 27 points with 24 of those points coming from behind the three point line.

In the third overtime, BYU was gassed.  Nate Austin who pulled down 15 boards and Eric Mika both fouled out and Portland pulled away to win a crazy game.  Speaking of Mika, this was not one of his better nights as a Cougar.  Mika scored four points and was getting outplayed on the defensive end. Portland’s front court led by Thomas Van Der Mars had little resistance from the BYU bigs.

This is a tough loss for BYU who was already walking a thin line to begin with. Heading into today, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had BYU as an 11-seed in his latest Bracketology.  Unless BYU can pull off the upset in The Kennel (which they could; Zags are beatable) the Cougars are going to have go on another win streak to get back in the at-large discussion for the big dance.

Tyler Haws and Matt Carlino combined for 73 points.  Outside of those two, the rest of the BYU squad scored 37.

Haws’ record night tied for the highest scoring performance in a college basketball game this season.  ESPN’s SportsCenter Twitter feed got a hold of it.  Now the Jimmer 2.0 comparisons are starting to fly on Twitter.  Haws deserves it.  You just wish it could have came in a winning effort.

BYU falls to 13-8 on the season and 5-3 in West Coast Conference play.  Gonzaga looms on Saturday night in The Kennel.