In BYU’s 82-71 defeat at home to No. 1 Gonzaga on February 8, veteran Matt Haarms was goalless and had only one rebound in 16 minutes of play.
During the Cougars’ 10-day layoff after that setback, the coaching staff challenged him to be more physical.
Well, Haarms replied.
At BYU’s California road sweep this weekend, including Saturday’s 88-71 victory over Loyola Marymount, Purdue’s 7-foot-3 grad transfer showed a much more physical side to him.
Against the LMU, Haarms set the team’s record with 21 points – out of 7 out of 8 shots from the ground – grabbed two rebounds, made three assists and blocked one of the five shots, BYU’s career record.
“Matt was at the forefront of one of our three keys during that 10-day break,” said coach Mark Pope. “No. I was becoming more physical and bringing more physicality to the game. Matt took over part of it. He was called up a little bit and it was a fight, but he really accepted that.
“Clearly, he can get much better in terms of physicality, but if you compare his physicality tonight and against Pacific with the physicality that he displayed against Gonzaga, he is different light years. I am very proud of him. He takes the idea of improving every day seriously. He was humble enough to say, ‘I have to do this’, and he was brave and brave enough to face the problem. Dude, he had an unbelievable trip. “
In this week’s two games, Haarms scored 29 points and withdrew nine rebounds.
Pope also praised the way Haarms set the tone for BYU from a defensive point of view and the way he limited LMU star Eli Scott.
“His rim protection changed the whole game in the first five minutes,” said Pope. “He made things really difficult for Eli from the start.”
Haarms gave credit to the coaching staff, including assistant Chris Burgess.
“He really worked with me in defending Eli Scott, not as his main defender, but the guy who is coming out of the dribble,” said Haarms. “We really worked on my time. … Coach Burgess did a great job preparing me for this game. “
Haarms set the season’s record with 23 points against Portland and hit 9 of 9 on the ground on January 21.