San Diego coach Bill Grier grimmaces after a bad call in the West Coast Conference quarterfinals in Las Vegas Friday, March 2, 2012.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
LAS VEGAS — BYU hung on for a closer-than-anticipated 73-68 win over University of San Diego. Grades are in for every position and for the team as a whole.
Frontcourt
Brandon Davies had a slow start but was key in the second half as BYU built its lead. He finished with 16 points on 6-9 shooting while dominating the middle on both ends of the court. He had a lot of struggles from the line, however, converting just three of eight attempts.
Noah Hartsock came off the bench but started the second half looking like his old self, seemingly not bothered by his knee injury. He finished the game scoring 19 points on 8-13 shooting.
Nate Austin saw just 13 minutes of play, finishing with two points, but he did pass out three assists. Grade: B+
Wings
Charles Abouo played under control, finishing with an efficient 11 points on 4-4 shooting from the field. He was able to keep the Toreros' sharpshooting freshman Johnny Dee in check, limiting him to just nine points on 3-11 shooting. Abouo also finished with a team-high seven rebounds.
Brock Zylstra got the start in place of Hartsock and responded well, getting BYU off to a fast start with a couple of 3-point baskets. He finished with 12 points on 5-8 shooting.
Anson Winder struggled with his shot and spent a lot of the second half on the bench as a result. He finished with just three points on 1-5 shooting from the field. Grade: B+
Point
The good news for Matt Carlino was his seven assists. The bad news was his nine turnovers, unacceptable for a team's point guard. He was noticeably bothered by Torero point guard Christopher Anderson for the entire game and finished with just eight points on 3-9 shooting.
Craig Cusick didn't make much of an impact off the bench, finishing with just two points on 1-2 shooting. Grade: D
Overall
The Cougars looked sluggish, struggling on the defensive end while letting the Toreros stick around all night. Turnovers were a huge problem in a game that was much too close considering the quality of the opponent.
A win is a win, but they'll have to do much better to beat Gonzaga in the next round. Grade: C
Email: bgurney@desnews.com
Twitter: @BrandonCGurney
DeseretNews.com encourages a civil dialogue among its readers. We welcome your thoughtful comments.
— About comments
- USA Rugby: 'What BYU won ... was a mythical...
- The offseason status of NFL players with Utah...
- Utes football recruiting: Polynesian players...
- Mormon NFL safety Eric Weddle: Balancing...
- High school football: Riley Nelson hired as...
- High school track: Ogden's Sarah Feeny breaks...
- Orem football player remains in...
- Ryan Teeples: Ziggy Ansah's story priceless,...
Subscribe
Mobile
RSS
- Considerable work, planning has gone...
71 - Mormon NFL safety Eric Weddle:... 65
- Ryan Teeples: Ziggy Ansah's story... 58
- Utes football: No changes imminent for... 55
- USA Rugby: 'What BYU won ... was a... 54
- Utes football recruiting: Polynesian... 51
- High school baseball: 5A, 4A, 3A state... 49
- BYU football to receive 6-figure payout... 41
I agree, our point guard play was atrocious, and that is what kept SD in the game. Anderson owned Carlino all night long and he was pretty much given the green light to mug Carlino non-stop.
"Charles Abouo played under control."
That's debatable. I read that and instantly thought of a situation in the 2nd half when he tried to go 1 on 3 and gave the ball right back after the Cougars had forced a turn over. If he was More..