Gonzaga Basketball: 2018-19 keys for a Bulldogs victory at BYU
3. Limit TJ Haws
Childs has certainly been the most elite player for this up-and-down BYU team, but TJ Haws, the Cougars’ sure-handed guard has been crucial for this squad this year, and in years prior. Haws, a junior, is second on the team with 17.6 ppg and leads in assists with 5.2. Haws is a fantastic shooter, averaging 47.6% from the field, a red-hot number considering he attempts more than five three-point shots a game.
From deep, Haws is averaging 37.1% this season. Like Childs, Haws has the ability to run up the stat line from practically any part of the court. Haws has eight 20 or more point games and has recorded at least 30 twice thus far. In one 30-point outing, Haws scored nine different field goals, including five from three-point range.
In his 34-point scoring fest against Pepperdine Jan. 17, Haws made 18 of 22 free-throw attempts. Haws has shot 85.1% from the charity stripe this season. In BYU’s notorious upset of Gonzaga two years to run the Zags’ perfect season, Haws, then just a freshman, dropped 17 points. In his five career games against Gonzaga, Haws averages 15.6 ppg, with a wide-spread. His career high against the Bulldogs is 29, but his career low is just four.
When Haws is not at his best, neither are the Cougars. In BYU’s nine losses thus far, Haws has averaged 15.9 ppg, nearly two under his season average. Limiting Haws’ scoring abilities will be one of Mark Few’s two targets against the experienced player. The other will be forcing turnovers.
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Haws averages the second most turnovers per game for BYU behind, coincidentally, Childs, with 2.1 per game. More importantly for the Zags, in his five career games against the Bulldogs, Haws has turned the ball over 15 times. With Josh Perkins and Zach Norvell Jr, the likely primary defenders for Haws, each averaging 1.5 spg, the Zags should have this statistic in their advantage.