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Photo Credit: Daily Herald
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During the course of a basketball season, some nights will be good and some nights will be bad. Some nights your shots will fall and some nights you'll draw nothing but iron. Some nights the calls go your way and some nights your best players get mired in foul trouble. The difference between the good teams and the mediocre teams is that the good teams find a way to win when they have bad nights. They figure out how to get it done.
After tonight, it appears that BYU just might have what it takes to be a good team.
The Cougars rebounded from a horrific first half performance to snatch a thrilling 80-76 road victory over San Francisco from the jaws of defeat — but not before giving me about 17 heart attacks. The boys in blue did most of their damage with their best player, Brandon Davis, stuck on the bench with persistent foul trouble, which makes the feat even more impressive in hindsight.
The game certainly didn't start off impressively, though. BYU was terrible in the first frame on both ends. Gone was the hot shooting of the last few games, with only Brock Zylstra (surprise!) showing any ability to score the ball early on. Davies went to the bench with his second foul after six minutes of play, then came back and promptly picked up his third foul, sitting him down for the rest of the half. With Davies out, Tyler Haws seemed to be forcing the issue, trying to overcompensate for his partner-in-crime's absence. The tough shots didn't fall, and the offense sputtered.
But as bad as the Cougars' offense was, their defense was far, far worse. The Dons came out on fire, shooting an astounding 9-for-13 from deep and shredding BYU's zone defense in the first half. However, the hot shooting wasn't the biggest problem — it was the lack of effort. Cougar defenders repeatedly got beat back down the floor in transition, leading to wide open layup after wide open layup for San Francisco. That's not being out-schemed or out-played, that's just pure laziness — and BYU trailed by 9 points at the half because of it.
The second half didn't start much better, with the Dons still spreading out BYU's zone and using good ball movement to hit guys for open looks. The Cougars started to score a little better, but they failed to make a serious run at the lead because they couldn't produce stops on the other end. Every time they cut the lead to a few points, San Francisco would respond with a flurry of baskets to extend it back to a comfortable margin. It was disheartening, and when Davies picked up his fourth foul and went back to the bench, I was about ready to throw in the towel.
Then Matt Carlino happened.
With Davies on the bench and Haws fading in and out of the offense, the much-maligned Cougar point guard took over the game on both ends. It all started with his defense, as Carlino hounded San Francisco's perimeter players into turnovers and turned hustle plays into fast break opportunities going the other direction. Twice he picked a ball-handler's pocket clean at mid-court to set himself up for a wide-open dunk.
With his defensive mojo in full swing, you could almost see Carlino becoming more confident and assertive on the other end. He attacked the paint time after time, either scoring at the rim or kicking out to an open teammate. And as Matt started to heat up, so did the Cougars. It was like he single-handedly willed his team back into the game. Soon enough, Haws was firing on all cylinders and BYU had recaptured the lead. It was truly an exciting thing to watch — it was like we were seeing Carlino become the leader we all hoped he could be in real time.
BYU had a few chances to push the game out of reach, but refused to take advantage. Davies missed a few point-blank shots before fouling out, Haws did the unthinkable and missed the front end of two one-and-ones at the free throw line, the Cougars turned the ball over a couple times against pressure defense, and then USF's Cody Doolin essentially morphed into Michael Jordan and scored at will for about two minutes. After all that, BYU was up just 2 with less than 30 seconds remaining and the Dons in possession of the ball.
Dave Rose made the brilliant decision to put Josh Sharp, the unsung hero of the game, on Doolin for the final possession, gambling that his length would be enough to bother the San Francisco star's inevitable shot attempt. He gambled right. Doolin drove past Sharp and got to the rim for a contested layup attempt, the kind of shot he had made in handfuls all throughout the second half. However, whether it was due to Sharp's challenge or just dumb luck (or both), Doolin's shot rimmed out and the ball wound up in Carlino's hands. Two made free throws later, the game was over.
It was a wild one, and definitely ugly at times, but this is what good teams — or teams that are becoming good teams — have to do. You have to figure out how to win on the nights when everything seems to be going against you. Almost nothing went BYU's way tonight, but they found a way to get it done. It was a huge win for that reason. If the Cougars are going to be a good team come February and March, they had to learn how to do this at some point. They certainly know now.
Stray Thoughts:
• Carlino's final line: 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals, and only one turnover. He played 38 of the game's 40 minutes, the most on the team. Do you think Dave Rose believes in Matt Carlino? With that kind of production, it's kind of hard not to.
• Not to put a damper on things, but it bears mentioning how much BYU tried to choke this game away. The endgame execution was just horrible in every way. And who was the worst offender? Surprisingly, Tyler Haws. Not only did he miss his free-throws, but he also turned the ball over against the press and took a really bone-headed shot early in the shot clock rather than running it down. Thankfully Sharp was there to bail him out with a big offensive rebound, but it wasn't Tyler's finest few minutes.
• Then again, when you have one of your worst games of the year and still finish with 22 points, that means you're pretty good at basketball. So congratulations to Tyler Haws on being amazing.
• Rose should probably work up a new press break before the next game, because the one they used tonight was pretty awful. They struggled mightily to inbound the ball in a good position.
• As great as Carlino was, Sharp has to get his fair share of kudos in this one as well. His production doesn't always show up on the stat sheet, but he played a crucial role in this one, particularly by grabbing a ton of clutch offensive rebounds to give BYU extra offensive possessions — which, in a 4-point game, is a huge deal. He also played great defense on Doolin on the final possession as mentioned above. Sharp just does the stuff that needs to be done for his team to win.
• The two stats that best reflect Carlino and Sharp's impact on the game: 1) BYU had 19 points off turnovers, many of which were keyed by Carlino's rabid defense; 2) BYU had 12 second chance points, while Sharp had 4 offensive rebounds and countless tip-outs to keep plays alive. All good stuff if you are a Cougar fan.
• Davies was terrible tonight. The fouls were obviously the worst part — he has to learn not to reach or bite on pump-fakes when he gets a couple fouls on him, or he'll be sitting a lot going forward — but he didn't even play well while he was on the floor. Similar to last year at USF, he finished with 6 points on 2-for-8 shooting, including a couple missed layups that could have helped put BYU up big down the stretch. If he ever figures out how to dropstep and finish with his left hand, I will give him $5. I am entirely serious.
• With his team reeling, Rose went to Bronson Kaufusi early in the first half. The big man played only four minutes, but seemed to do pretty well. He scored on a put-back and didn't injure himself, so I suppose everyone will be happy with that. He does struggle staying in front of people defensively, though. Not so great on the lateral movement. Who'd have thought?
• I think Rose would like to play Anson Winder more, but he just can't justify playing 4-on-5 every time BYU has the ball. He subbed Winder in for Carlino for two minutes in the first half when he was trying to find a spark, and the offense effectively died. In one of the dumbest sequences I've ever seen on a basketball court, Anson passed up a wide-open three at the top of the key to instead drive into a lane packed with five USF defenders, drawing an inevitable charge. Unsurprisingly, he was out of the game at the next dead ball.
• BYU got nothing from the bench tonight — only 8 points. However, a lot of that could be due to lack of opportunity. Four BYU starters played more than 34 minutes, and only Craig Cusick and Nate Austin played more than 10 off the bench. It was interesting to see who Rose really trusted in a tight game. (All that aside, Cusick's three-pointer to stretch the lead to six after coming in cold off the bench? Clutch.)
• San Francisco from beyond the arc in the first half? 9-for-13. In the second half? 2-for-11. The Dons just picked the wrong time to go cold, and BYU was the beneficiary.
• Let's take a moment to hear it for Brock Zylstra. The guy has gotten so much grief this year from fans —and, at least lately, rightfully so — but he came to play tonight. Heck, he was the only guy who came to play in the first half. He kept BYU from being blown out early, and he was pretty solid all night, finishing with 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals. As such, he was rewarded with 34 minutes, more than he has played in a long time. And that's probably fitting, because this was the best he's played in a long time. Nice to see you again, Brock. Come back soon.
UP NEXT: BYU vs. Pepperdine, 7:00 p.m. MST
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