BYU at San Diego: Game Notes and Quotes

• Brock Zylstra scored 17 points, made five 3-pointers and tied a career-high with 7 rebounds to go along with 3 steals and 1 assist.
• Brandon Davies picked up his fifth double-double of the season and ninth of his career with 12 points and 12 rebounds. It was his second double-double against San Diego this season. In two games vs. the Toreros, Davies has 33 points, 34 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 blocks and 2 steals.
• Matt Carlino scored 14 points of 5 of 9 shooting. He also added 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block.
• Charles Abouo scored 10 points in the first half and finished the game with 14. He led the team with 7 assists to tie a career high and grabbed 7 rebounds.
• Noah Hartsock’s didn't score in double figures for the first time this year, ending a streak of  19 consecutive games with just 7 points on a rough shooting night (2 of 12).

• Head coach Dave Rose went with the starting lineup of Matt Carlino, Brock Zylstra, Charles Abouo, Noah Hartsock and Brandon Davies.
• BYU outrebounded the Toreros 22-14 in the first half while the Cougars collected 7 offensive boards. BYU finished with 46-28 edge in the rebounding column with 15 offensive rebounds.
• As a team, BYU shot 45.2 percent for the game and made 11 of 24 treys for 45.8 percent while limiting San Diego to just 6 of 19 (31.6 percent) from downtown.
• The Cougars had 4 players in double figures. Zylstra led with 17, Carlino and Abouo added 14 apiece and Davies chipped in 12 points.
• Craig Cusick and Zylstra were BYU’s 3-point sharpshooters, going a combined 7 of 10 from behind the arc. Zylstra made 5 of 8 treys and Cusick was a perfect 2 of 2. Cusick is now 9 of 10 from downtown in WCC play.

• BYU made its first field goal with 17:20 left in the first half and struggled to find the basket in the opening minutes. The Cougars were 3 of 14 at the 13:08 mark but trailed just 11-9.
• BYU took its first lead of the game at 19-17 with under 9:47 to play in the first half in the midst of a 9-0 run.
• After opening the game shooting 3 of 14, BYU went on to make 11 of 20 shots before halftime and held a 37-29 lead at the break.
• BYU opened the second half hot, making 4 of 6 shots start and took a 47-34 lead in the first 3 minutes.
• Zylstra made his 3rd trey in a row and stretched the Cougars’ lead to 63-47 with 10:04 left in the second half.
• BYU didn’t make a field goal in the last three minutes but made 8 free throws and took home a 82-63 victory.

Head coach Dave Rose

“This win was kind of special for us. We had a lot of challenges we experienced for the first time as a team this year. Anytime you play a team the second time in league it is a real challenge.”

“When we came in here tonight, San Diego was bound and determined to not to let our two post guys have their way, especially offensively. It kind of surprised us at first. When we got into halftime then everyone could understand this is what we are in for.”

“Brock is the kind of the guy that is at the core of our program. We have had really good players come through the program. There have been guys that have been really successful and always out in front. But Brock is like most of our guys. They come in and help our teams be really good in a secondary type of a role and then they get a night like tonight.”

“These guys (players like Zylstra) pay their dues, know what our program's about and know how important these type of games are. The championships are won in the third, fourth weeks in January and these guys learn that and Brock was big tonight.”

“What a great night for Charles. He was under control and there were a few plays where he could have forced it in there but he skips a pass over to Brock or somebody and that was really big. I really like how he is figuring out to really help us. Tonight we really needed him to score.”

“I really like this team. I like the guys. I like the makeup of them. They know what we need to do and tonight they were able to get it done a different way than we have normally done.”