BYU vs. Georgia State box score
BYU vs. Georgia State: Postgame Notes & Quotes
BYU basketball Facebook album: BYU vs. GSU

PROVO, Utah – Senior Brandon Davies led the BYU basketball team with 28 points as they improved to 2-0 on the year by defeating the Georgia State Panthers 80-62 in the Acura Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Tuesday night at the Marriott Center.

“I’m really proud of our team tonight," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "The guys were really good in their preparation. We came out and we guarded really well. We obviously made a majority of our shots to start the game and I think it actually surprised all of us that the score was what it was early. I was really proud of how our guys took the challenge to attack this team. They got it done on both ends of the court.”

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Davies also grabbed nine rebounds, dished out three assists and tallied three blocks and two steals en route to the victory. Sophomore Tyler Haws added 22 points, including four 3-pointers, a season-high seven rebounds and five assists.

As a team BYU shot 51.7 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from three and 83.3 percent from the free throw line. The Cougars limited Georgia State to 26.5 percent shooting from the field and 13.6 percent shooting from downtown.

The game began with Haws scoring on back-to-back 3-pointers. Davies then added six points and senior Brock Zylstra chipped in three more to contribute to a 15-0 lead to start the game. Three minutes later, the Cougars held a 25-2 lead.

Eight minutes into the first half, sophomore point guard Matt Carlino had consecutive steals which led to easy layups to bring the score to 29-2. Carlino chipped in 11 points, seven assists and tied his career-high with four steals.

After another basket by Haws with 10:32 left in the half, BYU’s starters had accounted for the first 31 points on 13 for 16 shooting, including 5 for 5 from three.

Later in the half, the Panthers benefitted from full-court pressure by breaking double digits with a 16-4 run to cut the lead to 44-26 at the end of the half.

BYU held Georgia State to 26 percent shooting in the first period, including 16 percent from behind the arc, and dominated the battle in the paint by outscoring the Panthers 22-6.

"The start killed us tonight," said Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter. "One of the reasons we wanted to play here and we wanted to play at Duke was to show our young guys what it’s all about. I thought that BYU was ready to go early. We were shell-shocked and had to settle down."

Georgia State trailed by as much as 29 points in the second half but was able to cut the lead to 11 at 56-45 with 9:06 remaining. Carlino pushed the ball down the court and passed to Haws who drove into the lane and kicked it back to Carlino for a three. On the other end, Davies blocked a would-be Panther dunk which led to a Sharp tip-in to extend BYU’s lead to 61-45.

Leading 65-51, the Cougars went on an 8-0 run to put the game out of reach. Davies started and ended the run with jumpers while Carlino hit one of his own and found Josh Sharp under the basket for a dunk. BYU achieved its first 20-point lead since the 15-minute mark in the second half when Davies hit two free throws to make the score 75-54 with 2:54 remaining.

The Cougars will continue to compete in the Acura Coaches vs. Cancer Classic as they travel to New York to take on Florida State at the new Barclays Center on Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast live on truTV and KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM and KSL.com.

Game Notes: BYU vs. Georgia State

Coming off an 81-66 win over Tennessee State to open the 2012-13, BYU basketball (1-0, 0-0 WCC) will host Georgia State (0-1, 0-0 Colonial Athletic Conference) on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. MST. The game is part of the Acura Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and will be televised live on BYUtv and BYUtvsports.com and broadcast live on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM and KSL.com.

BYU Cougars (1-0, 0-0 WCC)

• Head Coach: Dave Rose
• Alma Mater: Houston, 1983
• Career Record: 186-54 (8th)
• Record at BYU: Same

Georgia State Panthers (0-1, 0-0 Colonial Athletic)

• Head Coach: Ron Hunter
• Alma Mater: Miami (Ohio), 1986
• Career Record: 22-13 (2nd)
• Record at Georgia State: Same

Regular season tournament success

With BYU’s 81-66 win over Tennessee State in the season opener and first game of the Acura Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, BYU is now 21-2 under Dave Rose in regular season tournaments. Under Rose, the Cougars have won four regular season tournament titles and taken second twice. BYU continues in the CVC Classic with a home game vs. Georgia State on Nov. 13 before heading to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., for games on Nov. 16 and 17 against Florida State and then either Notre Dame or St. Joseph’s.

Welcome back Tyler Haws

Tyler Haws scored 22 points vs. Tennessee State, his first game since serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines. It was his 22nd career game scoring in double figures, fifth 20-point game and sixth-time in his career as BYU’s leading scorer. As a freshman in 2009-10 he averaged 11.3 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting .498 from the field, .368 from three and .917 from the free throw line.

Davies does it all

Brandon Davies stuffed the stat sheet against Tennessee State, tallying 16 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 blocks and 2 steals while drawing 3 charges. Last season he became the second Cougar in history to average at least one of everything (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks). Davies averaged 15.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.5 steals. Russell Larson is the only other BYU player to produce a ‘one of everything’ season and did so twice, in 1993-94 and 1994-95 (blocks and steals were not tracked until the 1977-78 season). 

Taking charge

Brandon Davies drew three charges in the season opener vs. Tennessee State. Last season Brandon Davies made the opposition pay when they drove to the basket, taking 31 charges. Nate Austin took his fair share of charges as well with a total of 29 last season. He and Brock Zylstra both took a charge in the season opener.

Block party

Brandon Davies (4), Josh Sharp (2) and Nate Austin (2) combined to block eight shots vs. Tennessee State in the opener. The eight blocks is the sixth-highest total in a game by a BYU team. Last season the single-game high was nine vs. Weber State. The program record is 15 vs. Eastern Kentucky in 1990 when Shawn Bradley had 14.

Newcomers hit big shots

Four Cougars — Agustin Ambrosino, Cory Calvert, Raul Delgado and Ian Harward — saw their first NCAA Division I action in the opener against Tennessee State. Ambrosino made his presence felt immediately, hitting a 3-pointer 12 seconds after checking in to break a 25-all tie in the first half. Calvert hit a big three in the second half to extend BYU’s lead to 43-34.