BYU basketball: Reserves play big role in Y. win

Published: Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 12:26 a.m. MST
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
PROVO — In playing three straight down-to-the-wire games the past two weeks, the BYU Cougars haven't been going very deep of late into their bench.

Tuesday's home game against Western Oregon, a team BYU routed by a school-record 62 points two years ago, was supposed to be an opportunity for coach Dave Rose to get his reserves some experience.

"We need to expand the depth of our team," Rose said.

What he didn't expect, however, was that he'd need those reserves to play a significant role in securing the 85-64 win.

"I would have preferred a more inspired and consistent effort, but all in all the players played to a level where we can be successful if we get a consistent effort," Rose said.

All 12 Cougars saw action, with nine of them scoring. The 34 bench points were a high for BYU this season, and 22 of those came in the first half. Even though the Cougars were led by junior forward Jonathan Tavernari's 22 points, with Jimmer Fredette adding 13 and Lee Cummard chipping in 12, reserves Lamont Morgan Jr. and Archie Rose both had career-high scoring games. Morgan tossed in 12 and Morgan 11. Freshman forward Noah Hartsock, playing a season-high 17 minutes, added seven points, four rebounds, three blocks and a steal.

Story continues below
"Those (kind of bench efforts) are all things that will help us down the road," Rose said.

The Cougars and Marriott Center fans seemed shell-shocked early when Western Oregon stormed out an 11-0 lead. The Wolves drilled their first five shots while BYU missed its first nine shots.

"It's always fun to shut the crowd up early, so that was neat. Unfortunately, it didn't last very long," Western Oregon coach Craig Stanger said.

And it wasn't just one Wolfe that was hurting the Cougars. Even though guard Travis Kuhn drilled two early 3-pointers, hit four for the game and scored a team-high 15 for the Wolves, four Western Oregon got on the board in the game-opening spurt.

"When you get six, seven, eight shots in a row that miss, it's hard to find the energy to keep guarding at a consistent level," Rose said.

The Cougars' first point came at the 15:23 mark when Tavernari hit one free throw. But eventually, the Cougars did notch up the intensity and slowly closed the margin. The momentum really turned when Morgan, Rose and Hartsock entered the game. "I think the guys who came off the bench gave us a great lift," coach Rose said.

Still, it's hard to ignore the effort that Tavernari contributed to the comeback. When the Cougars went on a 9-0 run to make it an 11-9 game, Tavernari scored six straight points.

Recent comments

re: UNLV Grad,

How was scamwow's comment false advertising? BYU...

John Lambert | Jan. 8, 2009 at 5:34 p.m.

Why all the hate? BYU and Utah both need to do well so the MWC can...

Zelph, the Sport Guru | Jan. 8, 2009 at 5:19 p.m.

false advertising; more than likely scamwow is still working on that...

re: UNLV Grad | Jan. 8, 2009 at 2:46 p.m.

Image

BYU's Archie Rose (5) puts up a shot and is fouled by Western Oregon's Tyler Blok (33) as BYU thumped Western Oregon on Tuesday night.

Related content
previousnext

Latest comments

Look who's calling the kettle black.

BYU is a tradition of arrogance on and off the field. BYU is a tradition...

Clearly the writer and supporter do not understand the economy. The lag...

TCU showdown has big implications

Still under the delusion that BYU beating Wyoming by 50 somehow lessens the...

Cougars' execution flawless

...BYU is a tradition on and off the field... On the field... they are...

Seniors helped BYU regroup

Bobkins, you are absolutely right. These boring games between the Big3 and...

Letters: Gale's been taken in

Beck, Limbaugh, and all the other radio talk show hosts are nothing except...

TCU showdown has big implications

Utah feeds off of games like this. They will show up and it will be a close...

Letters: Talk-radio swindlers

Does any of this sound familiar?: 1) Speaking using flattering words 2)...

While I empathize with the letter, I side on sharing grief, for many reasons....

Advertisements
Advertisement