SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — BYU men’s basketball defeated San Francisco 72-63 on Saturday night in a back-and-forth battle until the Cougars (11-3, 2-1) pulled away with a dominant second-half performance for the second straight game.

“I’m telling you, if we could put more weekends like this together, where these guys are just this tough, and their resolve is this sure, and they’re able to manage frustration in such a focused way, it bodes well for the possibilities of this team," said BYU head coach Mark Pope, "because we will keep getting better, if we can always rely on this toughness, we can get something done. I could not be more proud to be associated with this basketball team right now with what these guys did this weekend."

It was a dominating performance from the bench, with Gideon George and Richard Harward leading the way. The two combined for 23 points, with George scoring 10 points and Harward scoring 13. Harward finished the game with a season-high 11 rebounds and picked up his second double-double this season.

BYU outscored USF (9-7, 3-3) in the paint with a 40-18. All of Harward’s points came in the paint and a majority of George’s. Matt Haarms added nine points down low. He also had seven rebounds and two blocks.

The Cougars outrebounded the Dons 45-28. Harward led the way. Along with Haarms, Caleb Lohner also had seven rebounds.

At halftime, BYU trailed 27-26, with seven first-half turnovers quelling the Cougars’ momentum. Midway through the second half, the Cougars went on a 22-4 run that would eventually put them up for good. BYU had a similar stretch on the road at St. Mary’s two night’s earlier to help secure that WCC road win.

While the Dons outshot the Cougars from three in the first half, San Francisco went cold for the remainder of the game, until Shabaz shot four  triples in a row in the final minutes, that were ultimately too little too late. 

Alex Barcello ended up leading the Cougars in scoring with 19 points. Ten of his points came in the final 1:48, all from the free-throw line, going 10-for-10 to ice the game away.

At 2-1 in West Coast Conference play, BYU now sits third in conference standing behind No. 1 Gonzaga (4-0) and Pacific (2-0). 

“I’m really proud of these guys and how we fought back in both games and came out with the road sweep," Barcello said. "It really speaks to our toughness, how to battle through and continue to get stops, put stops together. We say three continuous stops is a kill, and we had a lot of those tonight, and I was extremely proud of our guys.”

The Cougars will return home for more conference play against Portland on Thursday. Tip-off time is still to be announced. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network and broadcast on the BYU Sports Networks on BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143/89.1 FM HD2 and KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM.

Box Score
Postgame Notes and Quotes

PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s basketball will face San Francisco (9-6, 3-2) on the road on Saturday. Both teams are coming off road victories in WCC play. Earlier this week, BYU defeated Saint Mary’s, while San Francisco won at Portland. 

The game will be broadcast on ESPN (this changed today after a cancellation moved the game to ESPN from ESPN2) at 5 p.m. PST. It will also be broadcast live on the BYU Sports Network on BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143/89.1 FM HD2 and KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM.

BYU Notes (10-3, 1-1 West Coast Conference)

• The Cougars are 10-3, most recently picking up a road victory over Saint Mary’s 62-52. It was BYU’s first win in Moraga since the 2013-14 season.
• BYU has wins over Saint Mary’s, Weber State, Texas Southern, No. 18 San Diego State, Utah, Utah State, St. John’s, Utah Valley, New Orleans and Westminster. The three losses were to USC, Boise State and No. 1 Gonzaga, who are now a combined 35-3 this season.
• BYU is led by senior guard Alex Barcello who is averaging 16.1 points, 4.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game. Barcello is 30-for-51 from beyond the arc. The 59% clip is No. 1 in the nation among players who have shot 20+ threes. 
• Sophomore guard Trevin Knell made his first career start for the Cougars against Saint Mary’s. He made the lone three-pointer for BYU on the night, scoring seven points on 3-5 shooting, while also pulling down three rebounds. He led the team in minutes and had a game-high +/- of +16.

 Head Coach – Mark Pope

• Alma Mater: Kentucky, 1996
• Division I Career Record: 111-67 (6th season)
• Record at BYU: 34-11 (2nd season)

San Francisco Notes (9-6, 3-2 West Coast Conference)

• San Francisco is 9-6, after beating Portland 79-63 on Thursday. It was the Dons’ third conference win, which is second most only to Gonzaga (4). 
• The Dons have wins this season over Portland (twice), San Diego, Grand Canyon, Cal State Long Beach, Cal Poly, Nevada, No. 4 Virginia and Towson. Their losses have come to Loyola Marymount, No. 1 Gonzaga, Oregon, Cal, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts-Lowell. 
• After dropping their season opener to Massachusetts-Lowell, the Dons shocked No. 4 Virginia 61-60. The Dons currently have a five-game home win streak, with their last loss coming against Pacific on Feb. 6, 2020. 
• The Dons have three players averaging double digits in scoring — Jamaree Bouyea (18.0), Khalil Shabazz (14.7) and Dzmitry Ryuny (10.3). Shabazz came off the bench in the Dons’ home win over BYU last year, going 10-10 from the field, including 6-6 from three. His 32 points were the game high, as well as a career high for the redshirt junior guard. 

Head Coach – Todd Golden

• Alma Mater: Saint Mary’s, 2008
• Division I Career Record: 31-18 (2nd Season)
• Record at San Francisco: 31-18 (2nd Season)

Series Information

• All-Time Series: BYU leads 19-9
• Last Meeting: BYU won 90-76, 2/8/2020
• BYU won 14 of the first 15 matchups as a WCC member, but USF has won three of the last four. The Cougars haven’t defeated the Dons on The Hill since the 2017-18 season. 

Broadcast Information

• TV: ESPN
• TV Talent: TBA
• Radio: BYU Sports Network, BYU Radio Sirius XM 143/89.1 FM HD2, KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM
• Streamed Audio: BYURadio.org, BYUCougars.com/LiveRadio and the BYU Radio, BYUCougars and BYU Gameday apps
• Radio Talent: Greg Wrubell (play-by-play), Mark Durrant (analyst)
• Live Stats: BYUcougars.com