Davies Leads BYU to WCC Win

BYU vs. San Diego Box Score

PROVO, Utah – Junior Brandon Davies led the BYU men’s basketball team to an 88-52 victory over West Coast Conference foe San Diego with 21 points and a career-best 22 rebounds Saturday at the Marriott Center.

Davies’ performance puts him into the elite 20-20 club and gives him his seventh career double double. Davies came up just short of the Marriott Center rebound record of 23, which was set in 1982.

Seniors Noah Hartsock and Charles Abouo also scored in double figures and contributed 15-points apiece. The win gives BYU, 12-4 overall and 1-1 in league play, its first WCC victory in its inaugural season in the conference.

The Cougars started the game with a 13-0 run following the opening bucket by the Toreros. Hartsock scored the first eight points for BYU and Davies put an exclamation point on the run with a strong one-handed dunk at the 16:24 mark.

Strong defense helped BYU maintain a double-digit lead for the majority of the first half as San Diego missed 12 of their first 13 shots. The Cougars had their biggest lead of the half following an Abouo trey at the 10:26 mark that put BYU up 18-5.

Freshman Matt Carlino helped the Cougars finish the half strong with eight points in the final three minutes. Hartsock led BYU with 13 first half points while Davies snagged 14 first half rebounds to give BYU a 34-24 halftime lead.

Senior Brock Zylstra sparked a 20-4 BYU run out of the locker room when he converted a four-point play to give BYU a 40-26 lead. Craig Cusick and Nate Austin each hit a three during the run, which gave BYU a 54-28 lead with 13:09 left on the clock.

Abouo scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half to help secure the win. Davies capped his 20-20 performance with a deep two-point field goal with just under two minutes left and the Cougars ended the game on an 11-0 run.

BYU will continue WCC play on Jan. 5 in Los Angeles against Loyola Marymount. The game is scheduled to tipoff at 6 p.m. PST and will be broadcast on KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM.