BYU vs. Portland postgame notes and quotes

Player Notes

Tyler Haws finished with 28 points, a high in conference play this season, for his 18th game scoring 20-plus points and 25th in double digits. Haws also contributed a team-high 8 rebounds, one shy of his season high.
Tyler Haws now has 964 career points, just 36 shy of joining the 1,000-point club.
Brandon Davies finished with 23 points for his 11th game scoring 20-plus points and 26th in double digits. Davies is now 12th all-time at BYU for his 1,529 career points, passing Kresimir Cosic and Jonathan Tavernari in tonight's game against Portland.
Matt Carlino finished the game with 10 points for his 15th game in double digits. Carlino also added 7 assists for his 5th career game with at least 10 points and 7 assists.
Craig Cusick finished the game with 10 points for his third game in double digits, going 3 for 5 from the 3-point line for his second-straight game making three or more 3-pointers.
Tyler Haws reached double-digit points at the 9:46 mark of the first half with a jumper to put BYU up 24-12.
Brandon Davies reached double-digit points with 58 seconds left in the first half on a free throw to put BYU up 43-25.
Craig Cusick reached double-digit points at the 18:12 mark of the second half with a 3-pointer to put BYU up 49-30.
Matt Carlino reached double-digit points at the 11:28 mark of the second half with a free throw to put BYU up 65-45.

Team Notes

Dave Rose started Brandon Davies, Tyler Haws, Brock Zylstra, Craig Cusick and Matt Carlino tonight for the first time this season.
Tonight’s lone dunk came from Brandon Davies at the 6:10 mark in the second half.
BYU led Portland 46-25 at halftime for its 18th halftime lead this season. The 21-point lead is the second largest halftime lead of the season for BYU.

Game Trends

Brandon Davies (4) and Tyler Haws (6) combined for 10 of BYU’s first 13 points, giving BYU a 13-6 lead at the 13:46 mark of the first half.
Between 11:10 and 7:34 in the first half, BYU went on a 10-0 run to take a 27-12 lead.
Between 3:32 and 1:59 in the first half, BYU went on a 6-0 run to take a 41-22 lead.

Head coach Dave Rose
"I’m really pleased with how we shared the ball on offense. Our emphasis in the last week was to try to get our guys to compete together as a group on both ends of floor. Defensively we were really together as a group in man and zone. In the first half they were 10 for 30 from field and we had a lot of contested shots. The guys came to play and trusted each other. You can see it on other end offensively. In the first half we 14 assists on 17 baskets and ended with 26 assists on 34 baskets, which is good for us. That’s how we play. We move and share the ball and get others involved on offense. In the second half we weren’t as good but offensively we shared well. Now we look forward to a day off and a big day Monday to prep for Utah State."

On shooting more effectively after time off:
"Give our coaches credit; they managed the week well. Our players have a lot of fight in them, which is really positive for our staff. A huge part of trying to be consistent and being successful is to compete and continue to compete as a group. Setbacks are disappointing but I am really pleased with the result of tonight’s game and look forward to a competitive game on Tuesday."

On Cusick starting:
"We knew it would be a physical game. Portland’s guards are physical, their post is physical and Craig is one of the guys who consistently mixes it up with most of any of our guys, especially on the perimeter. He’s good at throwing his body around and getting in there and making something happen."

Tyler Haws
On defense:
"I thought our defense was really good in the first half. We had some lapses in the second but we were really focused in on being a better team defensively and not give up easy baskets. We are able to get a good lead that way."

Craig Cusick
On having a week off:
"At our age we should always have fresh legs. We had a whole week off and any time you have that you have more energy. You sit around and practice and you are ready to come out and play again."

Portland head coach Eric Reveno
"We’ve been a sporadic team but the guys do a nice job of hanging in there. I’m not sure what we were doing well in the first half; we were struggling in most aspects of the game. I was actually appreciative of the 20 minute halftime once it came so we had a little extra time to talk about our game plan. We responded well in the second half."