In the first half of BYU's 81-66 victory over Wyoming on Wednesday, Cougar freshman Tyler Haws was fouled going to the basket. One of his contact lenses fell out as he was fouled, but he caught it before it hit the ground. He popped the lens back in and the home fans cheered.

Then he made both free throws.

Everything is going right for Haws in his freshman campaign and against Wyoming, he was at his precocious best. Haws was 8-for-12 from the field, including 4-of-5 from the 3-point line, and scored a career-high 24 points. Right now, he's dead even with San Diego State's Kawhi Leonard as a leading contender for Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year.

But Haws' impact is deeper than that.

Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer, a former BYU assistant under Steve Cleveland, knows a little about Cougar basketball. He said Haws reminds him of Travis Hansen, who went on to play in the NBA and has carved out a nice career for himself playing professionally overseas.

"I think Haws is eventually going to be the player of the year in the league," Schroyer said. "He's really good. I'm really glad he's going on a mission next year."

It's BYU's version of "one-and-done."

When it comes to freshmen at BYU, one name is head-and-shoulders above all others: Danny Ainge. When he was a freshman in 1977-78, Ainge averaged 21.1 points per game and eventually went on to win the Wooden Award as a senior.

But I would say Haws is the best freshman to put on the blue and white since.

There's reason behind my madness. I will start by comparing him to other freshmen of impact.

Mark Bigelow averaged 15.0 points in 1998-99 as a true freshman. Shawn Bradley averaged 14.8 points per game in his freshman year (1990-91) and also had a huge impact on the defensive end. Fred Roberts averaged 14.3 points per game his freshman season (1978-79) sharing the floor with Ainge. Mekeli Wesley (1997-98) averaged 13.5 points per game and Devin Durrant (1978-79) scored at a 13.2 clip his freshman season.

I think Haws is surrounded by more talent than any of those guys, which makes his contribution even more impressive.

He's averaging 12.2 points per game, eighth best for a freshman since 1973. He's led the team in scoring four times, even with Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery taking most of the shots. Haws is shooting 55 percent from the field, 89 percent from the foul line and after a slow start is up to 40 percent from the 3-point line. He's averaging 4.7 rebounds per game.

That's what makes Haws so special: He has so few holes in his game. Schroyer said Haws is an underrated rebounder and has the best mid-range game he's seen since, well, Hansen.

But Haws' numbers don't tell the whole story. Some players make everyone else around them better just by being on the floor. Haws has that. He's averaging 27.7 minutes per game (Trent Plaisted averaged 28.2 minutes a game as a redshirt freshman in 2005-06, by comparison) and played 35 minutes against Wyoming.

Here's the key: He's so valuable Dave Rose doesn't like to take him off the floor. Haws is playing so well that when he misses a shot, Rose is genuinely surprised.

The biggest compliment I can give Tyler Haws is he's never looked like a freshman. Nothing phases him.