The BYU Cougars came into Spokane on Saturday on a mission. They knew that a win over Gonzaga would be great for their NCAA Tournament hopes but there was also a slight chance that they could take the second seed in the West Coast Conference Tournament with the right results. In the end, they got exactly what they wanted.

Kyle Collinsworth scored 20 points and three other Cougars scored in double figures as BYU upset the Gonzaga Bulldogs 73-70. Skyler Halford came off the bench to add 14 points while starters Chase Fischer and Tyler Haws finished with 13 and 10 points respectively.

The big stars for Gonzaga struggled to get going as Kevin Pangos and Kyle Wiltjer combined for 12 points on 5-of-23 shooting. The best player for the Bulldogs on the night was Byron Wesley who nearly finished with a double-double with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Domantas Sabonis also nearly reached the double-double plateau with 12 points and 8 rebounds.

BYU was the better team from the start using loads of movement on the offensive side of the ball to free up shots and open lanes for layups. Four of their first five baskets were layups as they jumped out to an early 11-2 lead in the first six minutes.

After Frank Bartley and Kevin Pangos exchanged three pointers, Domantas Sabonis made his presence felt scoring the next six points while grabbing two rebounds to cut the Cougar lead down to 14-11 with 12:32 remaining.

BYU coach Dave Rose called a timeout with the lead down to three early drawing up a play for Frank Bartley IV. Bartley missed his three point attempt but Corbin Kaufusi kept the possession alive with a big offensive rebound. Skyler Halford would drain a long three to extend the lead to six at 17-11.

Both teams would start to find their range between the next TV timeouts. The teams combined for six three pointers in the four-and-a-minute stretch. Gonzaga made all six shots attempts during this time to bring the BYU lead down to 27-26 with 6:59 remaining.

The scoring pace slowed down during the next segment of the game as BYU really starting making themselves known on the glass. They earned a three-shot possession with a three-point lead after a missed Fischer three attempt and a missed Haws jumper, Collinsworth benefited from the offensive rebounding clinic to slam home the third effort. The under-four media timeout would come with the score 33-28 in favor of BYU.

After a free throw make from Anson Winder, both teams struggled to keep possession with multiple turnovers. Domantas Sabonis ended a three-minute Zags scoring drought with a free throw. Kyle Collinsworth answered again with a layup after a big pass from Skyler Halford. Gonzaga finished the half on an 7-0 run capped by a fall-away jumped from Kevin Pangos with four seconds remaining in the half to tie the game at 36.

Much like the first half, BYU came out as the better team after the break. Corbin Kaufusi started the roll with an old-fashioned three-point play after a foul on a dunk from Kyle Wiltjer. Byron Wesley and Kyle Collinsworth exchanged layups in the next two possessions. Przemek Karnowski cleaned the glass for and added another bucket to keep the difference at one.

Gonzaga had trouble holding possession after the Karnowski bucket with several turnovers leading to buckets for BYU. Gonzaga would go 1:42 without even taking a shot from the floor. That stretch was broken by a missed layup from Kevin Pangos followed by a missed tip from Wiltjer. BYU held a 45-41 lead going into the under-16 timeout in the second half.

From there it seemed like every time Gonzaga would score, BYU would always have an answer. Karnowski would score, Halford would respond. Wesley would score, Kaufusi would respond. Wesley scored again, Fischer would respond. The see-saw game came to the under-12 media timeout with BYU ahead 53-47.

Gonzaga fell back into a slump going almost four minutes between any points after Byron Wesley's basket with 12:46 remaining. Eric McClellan finally broke the stretch with a bucket at the 8:54 mark. Unfortunately, Tyler Haws had scored a basket and added two free throws to extend the lead to eight at 57-49 BYU.

BYU extended the lead to as eight with two minutes remaining as they just kept responding to any basket scored by Gonzaga. The Bulldogs just could not buy a defensive stop.

Gary Bell Jr started the final push for Gonzaga with the first three-pointer of the second half with 1:57 left to cut the margin to five. After a shot clock violation and a foul from Kyle Collinsworth, Byron Wesley made two free-throws to cut the margin to three.

Kyle Collinsworth would seal the deal with a huge bucket after rebounding his own miss with 17 seconds remaining to extend the lead to 71-66. Gonzaga made it interesting with four made free-throws late in the game. Ryan Andrus made two with two seconds left to make the score 73-70. Kyle Wiltjer had one last look from half-court but the ball rimmed out giving BYU the win.

With the win, the BYU Cougars will be the #2 seed in the upcoming West Coast Conference Tournament. They could have a potential meeting with Saint Mary's in the semi-finals, where a win there could also be huge for their tournament resume.

Gonzaga falls to 29-2 and likely to a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. We still have two weeks until Selection Sunday, anything can happen between now and then.