BYU vs. Utah postgame notes and quotes

Player Notes

• Matt Carlino finished with a season-high 19 points, a career-high 5 3-pointers, a career-high 10 3-point field goal attempts and a season-high 13 field goal attempts.
• Also in double figures for BYU were Brandon Davies with 11 points and Tyler Haws with 14 points.
• Matt Carlino’s points reached double figures (10) with a layup at the 15:44 mark in the second half to cut Utah’s lead to 7 at 41-34.
• Tyler Haws’ points reached double figures (10) with a layup with 2:47 to play in the game and tie the game at 58-58. Haws was fouled on the shot and made the accompanying free throw for BYU’s only 3-point play of the game. The free throw also gave BYU a 59-58 lead and the Cougars led the rest of the way.
• Brandon Davies’ points reached double figures (10) with a jumper at the 14:14 mark in the second half with Utah leading 43-36.
• Matt Carlino made more than one 3-pointer tonight for the first time this season. Carlino finished 5 for 10 from behind the arc, a career high in made threes.
• Anson Winder scored a layup at the 13:48 mark in the second half, just 26 seconds after he checked in, to cut Utah’s lead to 5 at 43:38. The basket was Winder’s first field goal of the season.
• On the season, Tyler Haws is now 4 for 4 from the free throw line when there’s under 2 minutes left on the clock. Against Utah he went 2 for 2 with 16 seconds left in the game to secure the 61-58 victory.

Team Notes

• Dave Rose started Brandon Davies, Tyler Haws, Craig Cusick, Josh Sharp and Brock Zylstra tonight for the third time this season.
• Tonight’s lone dunk came from Brandon Davies.
• BYU trailed at the half for the third time this season, down 35-26 to Utah.
• At halftime, Utah had an 18-6 lead on points in the paint. BYU cut that margin to 22-18 by the end of the game. 
• BYU has now won 11 of the last 12 meetings with Utah. 

Game Trends

• Craig Cusick hit BYU’s first 3-pointer at the 14:42 mark of the first half to cut Utah’s lead to 6-5.
• After Utah took a 6-2 lead, BYU outscored the Utes 7-3 to tie the game at 9-9 with 12:56 left to play in the first half.
• Utah’s largest lead of the second half was 11 points at the 16:47 mark, up 41-30. BYU outscored the Utes 22-11 in the next 12 minutes to tie the game at 52-52 with 4:55 left to play.
• With BYU trailing 52-46, Matt Carlino hit back-to-back 3-points at the 5:45 and 4:55 marks to tie the game at 52-all.
• BYU took its second lead of the game, first since the 14:11 mark in the first half, with 4:21 to play in the game on a Craig Cusick 3-pointer that put BYU up by 2 at 55-53.
• BYU held Utah to zero field goals in the last 7:05 of the game.

BYU Head Coach Dave Rose
“This was a really good win for our team. Every win is a good win, but some are a little more special than others. In this situation it was not a race up and down the floor type of game. It was a slugfest. Our guys were able to figure out a different way to win than we’re used to. I think that's not only good for us right now, it will be good down the road. I’m really proud of our guys. They were able to hang in there and made just enough plays to win the game. We battled on the boards, for loose balls, and I think that was the difference in the game.”

"These guys were really physical, but this was a good night for Ty (Haws) to figure out how he is going to get played and how he can still be effective, because he was a big part of winning this thing tonight."

“I told Utah’s coach after the game he has a great group of guys. They’re tough. They’re playing together and we could see that watching film. They play for one reason, and that is to win. Defensively, they have a really good scheme.”

Matt Carlino on making two 3-pointers late in the game
“They were playing off. They were giving us that shot the whole game, but those times I got up there and stuck it. I have been missing shots but if you’re a shooter, you just have to keep shooting. They were laying off us and stayed glued to Ty so someone had to hit shots.”

Utah Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak
“I was really impressed with our focus and energy coming out. You know the first half was a lot of man defense but we got the ball in the paint. I think we had 20 points in the paint in the first half. In the second half I think the zone affected us a little bit, but still at the end of the day, reviewing a lot of the plays, you know we did have some answers, we had some open looks, we didn’t make them. I really think, as complicated as it might be, even basketball comes down to us hitting one of those three’s or one of those two’s at any point and it changes the complexion of the game.”