BYU vs San Francisco: Report Card

SAN FRANCISCO — BYU hung on for an 85-84 win that was far closer than it should have been. Grades are in for every position group and for the team overall.

Frontcourt

Brandon Davies was saddled with foul trouble throughout and finished with just six points and five rebounds. He did provide some spark early in the second half, but was outplayed by Perris Blackman, who finished with 18 points on 9-11 shooting and 11 rebounds.

Noah Hartsock quietly put together 16 points, but only grabbed two rebounds. The Dons doubled the low post effectively throughout the game, holding both Davies and Hartsock way below their normal numbers.

Nate Austin fouled out of the game, but gave some very good play off the bench, finishing with six points and three rebounds. Grade: C+

Wings

Charles Abouo finished with some nice numbers scoring 15 points on 6-11 shooting while dishing out four assists. His play in the final minutes had to drive Coach Dave Rose crazy, however. On three occasions inside of three minutes, the senior guard missed on shots with almost no time gone on the shot clock — aiding the Dons' furious comeback as a result.

Anson Winder again provided good perimeter defense and finished with eight points and six rebounds.

Brock Zylstra provided little help off the bench hitting on just one of five shot attempts for three points. Grade: C

Point

Matt Carlino had his best game of the year scoring 30 points on 13-19 shooting which included the game-winning basket with 18 seconds remaining. He had been struggling mightily with his shot coming in, but was unquestionably the best player on the court for the Cougars.

Craig Cusick finished with just one point and two assists off the bench. Grade: A-

Overall

The offense was there all night, but too many lapses on defense and bad decisions on offense made this game far closer than it should have been. USF isn't a bad team and any win over them on the road is a good win. Grade: B-

Email: bgurney@desnews.com

Twitter: @BrandonCGurney