Report Card: BYU 85, San Francisco 84

Brigham Young Cougars

85

Final

84

San Francisco Dons

STARTERS

	Matt Carlino, PG 13-19 FG | 4-7 3PT | 0-1 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 30 PTS Obviously the star of the evening. Carlino started off hot (and I mean Jimmer hot), matching his career high with 22 — in the first half! Matt struggled reading the defense a bit in the second half, but he played solid defense (4 steals) and showed up when it counted most. While it might get overshadowed by fan anger about clock management, Carlino's game-winner was monumentally clutch.
	Anson Winder, SG 3-5 FG | 0-0 3PT | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 8 PTS Winder doesn't have to score much to be extremely valuable to the Cougars. He adds plenty of value as a excellent defender who understands the game and picks his spots wisely on offense. His coast-to-coast drive (finished with a deft Eurostep move) was a thing of beauty. The decision to swap Anson into the starting five for Zylstra may be Rose's smartest of the season.
	Charles Abouo, SF 6-11 FG | 3-6 3PT | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 4 AST | 15 PTS Oh, Charles. You got a little excited, didn't you? With time running out quickly and BYU nursing a small lead, Abouo hoisted up a few ill-advised deep balls very early in the shot clock, giving USF the extra possessions it needed to crawl back into the game. Not so good. However, Charles actually played extremely well up to that point, so I can only justify knocking him down half a grade. But if BYU had lost...
	Noah Hartsock, PF 7-13 FG | 0-0 3PT | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 16 PTS This was a tough one for Hartsock. BYU shot only 9 free throws as a team the entire night, so obviously the whistles weren't going his way down low. He also had a surprising amount of trouble anticipating double-teams in the post, which I wouldn't have expected. But at the end of the day, Noah is still Noah and he made some tough shots down the stretch, providing a huge boost to the sputtering Cougs.
	Brandon Davies, C 3-7 FG | 0-0 3PT | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 6 PTS Davies very well may be the most dominating post player in the WCC, but that doesn't matter much if he can't stay on the floor. He struggled with fouls early again Thursday, and played only 21 minutes as a result. (When he was in the game, Brandon tried his best Magic Johnson impression with mixed results. It was weird.) All in all, not his best game, but not a complete disaster either. Simply below par.

BENCH

	Nate Austin, C 3-4 FG | 0-0 3PT | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 6 PTS I love Nate Austin. I do. And he hit some ridiculously tough jumpers tonight that quieted the USF crowd at the most opportune moments. Nevertheless, Austin fouled far too much and somehow managed to foul out in just 18 minutes, leaving Rose short-handed down the stretch. Nate has become an important cog for BYU on both ends, but he needs to be able to stay in the game long enough to really shine.
	Craig Cusick, PG 0-2 FG | 0-1 3PT | 1-2 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 1 PTS Cusick didn't get into the game as much as usual on the Hilltop, due largely to the fact that Carlino was literally lighting the world on fire. I can't argue with Rose's reasoning there, but the byproduct of that decision was that Craig never really got into a rhythm or impacted the game. Cusick will certainly have numerous other opportunities, but tonight was Carlino's party and he stayed largely out of the way.
	Brock Zylstra, SG 1-5 FG | 0-3 3PT | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 3 PTS I can't help but think that Zylstra is regressing. It may be partially attributable to his ankle injury, but Brock has just looked worse and worse in recent weeks. On Thursday he turned in his magnum opus of disappointment by somehow managing to badly brick a three, grab his own rebound, and pass it directly to a USF player — all in approximately 4.5 seconds. Rose's Winder move is looking smarter every day.