BYU vs. Santa Clara postgame notes and quotes
BYU vs. Santa Clara box score
BYU vs. Santa Clara photo album

PROVO, Utah – Matt Carlino scored a season-high 28 points and three more Cougars scored in double figures as BYU men’s basketball took down Santa Clara 96-79 on Saturday night at the Marriott Center.

In a game that was just a one-point contest at halftime, BYU (18-6, 8-2) outscored the Broncos (17-7, 5-4) 49-33 after the break to fuel its victory. 

Carlino shot 10 of 17 from the field and 3 of 6 from behind the arc. The sophomore also dished out six assists and had three rebounds, two steals and one block.

Tyler Haws scored 24 points with five dimes and Brandon Davies recorded his third double-double in a row with 16 points and 11 boards. Sophomore Josh Sharp tied a career high with 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting. Brock Zylstra just missed out on a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds.

BYU shot a season-best 58.3 percent from the field en route to its highest point total in a West Coast Conference game since joining the league last season.

Santa Clara was held to 38.1 percent shooting for the game. The Broncos made 7 of 12 treys in the first half but the Cougar defense limited them to just 2 of 12 in the second.

Both teams traded baskets for the first 10 minutes of the game until BYU went on a 9-0 run and Santa Clara went nearly four minutes without a basket. The Cougars led 22-16 with just over nine minutes left until halftime.

The Broncos weren’t going away anytime soon, however.

Three foul shots for Santa Clara tied the game at 26-26. Carlino drilled a long 3-pointer for BYU and the Broncos answered right back with one of their own.

Carlino wasn’t done though as he drained one more trey to give the Cougars a 32-29 lead with 6:22 to go in the first half.

Both teams battled back and forth into the locker room going score-for-score until the final minute when two free throws from Davies gave BYU the one-point, 47-46, lead heading into the break.

In the second half, BYU put together a 14-1 run early on for almost five minutes to take over the game.

At the 14:59 mark Davies stuffed a dunk attempt and Haws converted on a step-back jumper. Davies picked up an offensive board on the Cougars’ next possession, dished it to Carlino who knocked down his third triple of the game and gave BYU a 63-53 lead.

Zylstra hit another trey for the Cougars to add to the lead just minutes later, stretching it to 68-54.

Santa Clara hit back-to-back buckets to answer and try to spark a comeback but Davies and Haws made sure the Broncos wouldn’t get back in it.

Davies hit a jumper, grabbed a board on the defensive end and dished it to a streaking Haws for a fast-break dunk. Haws hit a midrange shot and Davies threw down another dunk for an 8-0 run with 8:02 to play, giving BYU a 76-59 lead that Santa Clara never recovered from.

The Cougars built up a 23-point lead at one point and cruised the rest of the way to a 96-79 victory.

Up next, BYU travels south to take on San Diego at 7 p.m. PST. The game will be televised live on BYUtv and broadcast on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM.

Game notes: BYU vs. Santa Clara

BYU basketball returns home after playing its last three games on the road to take on Santa Clara on Saturday at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM and televised on BYUtv.

BYU Cougars (17-6, 7-2 WCC)

• Head Coach: Dave Rose
• Alma Mater: Houston, 1983
• Division I Career Record: 202-60 (8th)
• Record at BYU: Same

Santa Clara (17-6, 5-3 WCC)

• Head Coach: Kerry Keating
• Alma Mater: Seton Hall, 1993
• Division I Career Record: 91-95 (6th)
• Record at Santa Clara: Same

Player and team notes

• Dave Rose earned his 200th career victory with a 74-57 win over San Diego on Jan. 19, 2013. Stan Watts is the only other coach in BYU history with 200-plus wins. Watts won his 200th game during his 12th season at the helm on Feb. 2, 1961 at New Mexico. It was his 329th career game (Watts’ career record was 371-254 in 23 seasons). Rose is in his eighth season and earned win number 200 in his 259th game.
• Prior to the game at Gonzaga, Tyler Haws had scored 20-plus points in seven-consecutive games, the longest such streak in his career. He opened the year with six-straight 20-point games and has 15 20-point games this season.
• Matt Carlino has scored in double figures in nine-straight games (all WCC games), a career-best streak. During that stretch he is averaging 15.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.1 steals while shooting .444 from the field and .386 from three. His assist to turnover ratio during that time is 2.3 to 1.
• BYU has completed four comebacks after trailing at the half this season. The Cougars trailed Utah and San Francisco by nine at the half and won 61-58 and 80-76. BYU trailed Pepperdine by five at the half at home and came back to win 76-51. The Cougars trailed at Pepperdine 31-20 but bounced back in the second half to win 63-61.
• BYU played its best defensive game of the season at home against LMU, limiting the Lions to 51 points and 30.8 percent shooting — both season bests for the Cougars. The first half was BYU’s best defensive half as the Cougars limited LMU to 20 points and 23.5 percent shooting. BYU’s 57 second half points are the most scored by the Cougars in a half all season, one more than the 56 scored against Virginia Tech in the first half.
• Tyler Haws hit 10 of 10 from the free throw line vs. Weber State, his third game this season shooting 100 percent from the line while attempting at least 10 free throws. Haws has four such games in his career, tied for the most in BYU history with Jimmer Fredette. Haws is tied with Russell Larson (1993-94) and Roberts (1994-95) for most perfect days from the line (minimum of 10 attempts) in a season with three. Danny Ainge, Lee Cummard, Larson and Roberts are tied for second on the career list with three.