BYU basketball: Y. freshman Hartsock coming off big game

PROVO — For the BYU basketball fans that have waited anxiously to see the potential of freshman Noah Hartsock, the wait might be over.

Hartsock, who returned from an LDS Church mission only a couple of months before the Cougars began fall workouts, has for the most part struggled to get his basketball legs back and to regain his comfort on the court. The road back was also detoured some when he suffered an early-season ankle injury that sidelined him for six games.

When he has been healthy, he's averaging only 2.1 points per game in only a handful of minutes per game. He's gone scoreless in 11 of the 21 games that he has played. All of which has contributed to making it a frustrating season at times for the 6-foot-8 former Oklahoma prep star who averaged more than 27 points per game his senior year in high school.

"I've been telling myself that I'm still playing a lot more than I did my freshman year in high school, and that I've still got a lot of time to go here (at BYU) and a lot of time to improve," Hartsock said.

Overall, Hartsock has not played a lot of meaningful minutes in meaningful situations. Still, coach Dave Rose has said all along that Hartsock would help the Cougars this season.

That claim proved to be true Tuesday night in BYU's comeback road win over San Diego State, as Hartsock was an integral part of the Cougar comeback. He came off the bench to play a season-high 25 minutes, score seven second-half points, grab seven rebounds, and finish with two steals and a block. Four of his rebounds were on the offensive end, and he also deflected a few passes and kept rebounds alive for his BYU teammates several times after the Cougars changed to a zone defense.

"That was really good for our team," BYU coach Dave Rose said of Hartsock's hustle contribution against the Aztecs. "And teammates, when they can gain confidence in other players on their team it really helps everybody's mindset. So that was a big lift for us. And then what happens is when you perform like that then the expectations are that you continue to do that, and that's what our expectations are for Noah, that he continue to play like that and help our team."

Most importantly for Hartsock was the confidence Rose showed to keep him in the game during the heart of BYU's comeback, and then to keep him in there to finish the job he helped start.