Haws's 20 and Davies' double-double pace BYU to 81-62 win

BYU vs. UTSA box score
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BYU vs. UTSA photo album

PROVO, Utah – Senior Brandon Davies and sophomore Tyler Haws led the BYU men's basketball team to an 81-62 win over the UT-San Antonio Roadrunners Wednesday night at the Marriott Center.

“I thought we did a lot of things really well tonight," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "We shot the ball really well, shot free throws really well, rebounded the ball really well and competed really well. UTSA runs a lot of interesting action and it’s hard to guard. You have to have your rules down and be pretty sound in how you execute defensively, and I thought our group of guys executed that well for us. All in all I’m really pleased with the win. It’s a good way to bounce back from a tough weekend and we’re looking forward to the game on Saturday.”

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Davies dropped his first double-double of the season and 14th of his career, with 22 points and 10 rebounds. The senior also recorded three assists, one block and went 8 of 8 from the charity stripe while drawing two charges.

Haws scored 20 points, including 13 in the first half to go along with six rebounds and three assists. The sophomore has scored at least 20 in every game to start the 2012 season.

“Our focus is always the same, we’re trying to play on attack," Haws said. "I feel like when we play good defense and get a few stops, that’s when we play really well. We get out in transition and that’s when we start to have those long runs.”

BYU shot 51.7 percent for the game and held UTSA to 39.3 percent. The Cougar defense limited the Roadrunners to a 26.7 percent clip from behind the arc while shooting 42.9 percent themselves.

Both teams started the game even, taking a few possessions deep into the shot clock and creating extra shots with offensive boards. The Roadrunners took an 8-6 lead before a Cory Calvert steal-and-score evened things up at 8-8 with 14:31 remaining in the first half.

In just under a two-minute span midway through the first half, Haws fed off the midrange jumper and drained four buckets in a row for the Cougars to give BYU an 18-13 edge.

Following Haws’ buckets BYU went on an 8-0 run, knocking down two threes during the stretch. Brock Zylstra drained one trey, Agustin Ambrosino drove and dished to Ian Harward for an easy layup and Ambrosino drilled another three. Ambrosino landed another trey on BYU’s next possession to stretch the Cougar lead to 29-17.

BYU kept the pressure up, getting offensive rebounds and turning them into points. The Cougars took a 38-19 lead when Josh Sharp grabbed a missed Matt Carlino jumper and the team found Haws for a 3-pointer with 5:46 left until halftime.

Junior Raul Delgado scored his first points as a Cougar off a baseline fadeaway with 1:54 on the clock in the first half. The shot gave BYU its largest lead of the half at 46-23.

The second half started out with UTSA and the Cougars trading baskets, and the score at 54-36 BYU. Davies scored the Cougars' first eight points in the second half while the Roadrunners’ Kannon Burrage picked up six of his own in the first four minutes.

UTSA put together a 7-0 run midway through the second half to cut the lead down to 58-45. BYU was 0 for 5 shooting during the run until a block from Sharp led to a fastbreak dunk from Davies to end it.

Craig Cusick picked up the Cougars’s first 3-pointer of the second half off an assist from Davies down low to make the score 71-54 with 5:25 remaining. Cusick was doing most of the assisting on the night, finishing with a game-high five dimes.

The Cougars cleared the bench in the final two minutes and all 12 players to see time on the floor scored when Anson Winder connected on a free throw with under one minute to play as BYU rolled to a 81-62 win.

Up next, the Cougars will host Cal State Northridge on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Marriott Center. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv and KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM and KSL.com.