PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s basketball collected four honors at the annual Y Awards Wednesday night at the Marriott Center.
Tyler Haws nabbed one of the headliner awards as he was named Male Athlete of the Year for the second-straight year. Last season he shared the Male Athlete of the Year honors with Taylor Sander of the volleyball team. Haws finished 2014-15 third in the nation and first in the West Coast Conference in scoring at 22.2 points per game. The Alpine, Utah, native concluded his career as BYU’s all-time scoring leader with 2,720 career points.
Kyle Collinsworth, who turned in a phenomenal junior season after suffering a torn ACL in March of 2014, took home Comeback Player of the Year honors. The Provo, Utah, native rehabbed during the offseason and was ready to play in the Cougars’ season opener. Collinsworth finished the year with an NCAA single-season record six triple-doubles and was the only player in the country among the top 100 in rebounds, assists and steals. The six triple-doubles also tied the NCAA career record.
Skyler Halford received the Dale McCann Spirit of Sport Award, given to the senior male athlete whose participation best exemplifies the true spirit of sport in athletics and in life. The Orem, Utah, native led BYU in 3-point field goal percentage (48.1 percent) and free-throw percentage (88.1 percent) and was third in assists per game (2.3). He played his best basketball over BYU’s last 10 games as he shot 55.3 percent from the field, 55.0 percent from three and 94.1 percent from the free-throw line while averaging 13.2 points per game.
As a team, the Cougars collected Game of the Year honors for the team’s 73-70 upset victory at No. 3/2 Gonzaga in the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Washington, on Feb. 28, 2015. The win was the sixth-straight in what became an eight-game winning streak and helped solidify BYU’s at-large bid hopes for the NCAA tournament. It was the program’s first win against a top 3 team since 1981 and snapped Gonzaga’s 41-game home win streak. Collinsworth scored a game-high 20 points for the Cougars, who never trailed and led nearly the entire game.