BYU basketball: Noah Hartsock earns a living at the foul line

PORTLAND, Ore. — BYU senior forward Noah Hartsock couldn't rent, borrow, lease or buy a field goal Saturday night.

So he got all of his points the old-fashioned way — at the free-throw line — and he earned every one of them.

That was emblematic of the Cougars' night, as they shot a school-record 53 free throw attempts, making 38. Hartsock was 12-of-12 from the charity stripe and 0-for-6 from the field.

In the end, BYU pulled away late and recorded a 79-60 grind-it-out victory over Portland before a crowd of 4,159 at the Chiles Center, including a large and loud contingent of Cougar fans.

"This was a game where we had to dig deep and find a way to win," said coach Dave Rose. "That's the way we had to play to get this done."

BYU improved to 20-6 overall and 8-3 in the West Coast Conference. Portland fell to 6-18 and 3-8.

The Cougars have now won at least 20 games for seven consecutive seasons, all under Rose, which is also a school record.

BYU also set a school record with 18 steals, including eight by forward Brandon Davies, to go along with his team-high 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Guard Matt Carlino scored 13 points while Hartsock, Craig Cusick and Brock Zylstra each had 12.

The Cougars trailed by four, 39-35, early in the second half, when they started to pound the ball inside to Davies and Hartsock.

"They just battled," Davies said of the Pilots. "You've got to give them credit. They had us on our heels for a while."

During one four-minute stretch, Hartsock went to the free-throw line 10 times and hit all 10 attempts to put BYU up by six, 49-43.

"We knew it would be a physical game," Davies said. "We were fortunate enough to get those calls."

In the second half, the Cougars scored 29 points from the free-throw line and 18 points from the field.

Meanwhile, BYU's 3-point shooting woes continued, as the Cougars went 3-of-16 from behind the arc. Cusick hit two of those in the first half, giving BYU a lift.

The Cougars are now 17-of-101 from 3-point range in their last six games.