BYU vs. Gonzaga box score
BYU vs. Gonzaga postgame notes and quotes

SPOKANE, Washington – BYU men’s basketball lost for the second time in West Coast Conference play this season, falling 83-63 at Gonzaga on Thursday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Josh Sharp led the Cougars (15-6, 5-2 WCC) with a career-high 14 points, alongside Brandon Davies who scored 12 points in the second half to also end the game with 14. Matt Carlino was also in double-digits with 11 points and had a game-high four steals for BYU. Gonzaga (17-2, 5-0 WCC) was led by Kelly Olynyk and Elias Harris with 26 and 25 points, respectively. Olynyk was a perfect 9 of 9 from the field and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line.

Gonzaga was fired up in the first two minutes of the game, capitalizing on fast-break points and team defense to take an 11-3 lead over BYU. Out of the first timeout, Carlino knocked down a shot from the top of the arc to stop the bleeding and cut the Gonzaga lead to five with 17:36 remaining.

From the 17:03 to the 13:15 mark, neither team was able to find the basket. BYU was the first to score, ending the four-minute draught, when Carlino fed Sharp for the easy lay in. However, the Bulldogs answered quickly on their next possession to raise the score to 15-8 in their favor.

Davies scored his first points of the game at the 9:43 mark to finally put BYU in double-digit scoring, down 17-10. Two minutes later, Gonzaga extended its lead to 11 at 21-10 with two-straight field goals from Harris.

With five minutes remaining in the half, Carlino stole the ball and finished at the basket to cut the Gonzaga lead to 10 at 24-14. However, the Bulldogs extended their double-digit lead to 22 with a 12-0 run heading into the two-minute mark.

At 1:54, Sharp executed on a three-point play and then followed with another shot in the paint to become the only Cougar in double-digit scoring for the half with 10.

On the next Gonzaga possession, the Bulldogs were given four free shots due to a called personal foul and a technical foul on Sharp.

Heading into the locker room at halftime, BYU found themselves 19 points down at 40-21. BYU owed the deficit to poor shooting from the field. Gonzaga held BYU to only 8 of 31 shooting and didn’t allow Tyler Haws, who leads the WCC in scoring, to score a single point.   

The second half started where the first left off as Brock Zylstra was called for a flagrant foul to give Gonzaga two shots and another possession to go up 44-22. Zylstra made up for the foul offensively when he hit BYU’s first 3-point shot since the 17:36 mark in the first half.

On the next BYU possession, Sharp used a three-point play to grab a new career-high in points at 14.

Gonzaga held its 20-point lead through the first seven minutes of the second half, but Carlino cut it to 18 with a steal and fast-break to spark a 5-0 run for the Cougars.

With 9:07 remaining, Davies finished at the basket and then Nate Austin followed through on Davies' missed free throw to bring the Cougars within 13 at 59-46.

At the 7:35-mark, Haws hit one of two free throws for his first and only point of the night to cut the Zag lead to 12 at 64-52.

Winder hit his first 3-pointer of the night with five minutes remaining and hit another two points on the next possession to put the score at 72-59. After that shot, Gonzaga took an 11-4 run to the buzzer to take the 83-63 victory.

BYU will travel to Portland on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. PST matchup. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU, KSL 102.7 FM and 1160 AM and BYU Radio-Sirius XM 143. 

Game notes: BYU at No. 10/10 Gonzaga

BYU basketball will play at No. 10/10 Gonzaga for share of first place in the West Coast Conference. The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. PST and will be broadcast on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM and televised on ESPN2.

BYU Cougars (15-5, 5-1 WCC)

• Head Coach: Dave Rose
• Alma Mater: Houston, 1983
• Division I Career Record: 200-59 (8th)
• Record at BYU: Same

No. 10/10 Gonzaga (17-2, 4-0 WCC)

• Head Coach: Mark Few
• Alma Mater: Oregon, 1987
• Division I Career Record: 359-92 (14th)
• Record at Gonzaga: Same

Player and team notes

• Dave Rose earned his 200th career victory with a 74-57 win over San Diego. Stan Watts is the only other coach in BYU history with 200-plus wins. Watts won his 200th game during his 12th season at the helm on Feb. 2, 1961 at New Mexico. It was his 329th career game (Watts’ career record was 371-254 in 23 seasons). Rose is in his eighth season and earned win number 200 in his 259th game.
• Tyler Haws has scored 20-plus points in seven-consecutive games, his longest such streak this season and in his career. He opened the year with six-straight 20-point games and has 14 20-point games this season. During the last seven games, Haws is averaging 25.7 points while shooting .516 from the field, .458 from three and .878 from the free throw line.
• Matt Carlino has scored in double figures in six-straight games (all WCC games), a career-best streak. During that stretch he is averaging 16.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.8 steals while shooting .449 from the field and .406 from three. His assist to turnover ratio during that time is 2.9 to 1.
• In the second half against Pepperdine, BYU out-scored the Waves 46-16 to earn the 76-51 victory. The 30-point scoring margin was the biggest in a half this season for the Cougars and the 16 points are the fewest allowed in a half this season by BYU.
• BYU has completed three comebacks after trailing at the half this season. The Cougars trailed Utah and San Francisco by nine at the half and won 61-58 and 80-76. BYU trailed Pepperdine by five at the half and came back to win 76-51.
• BYU played its best defensive game of the season against LMU, limiting the Lions to 51 points and 30.8 percent shooting — both season bests for the Cougars. The first half was BYU’s best defensive half as the Cougars limited LMU to 20 points and 23.5 percent shooting. BYU’s 57 second half points are the most scored by the Cougars in a half all season, one more than the 56 scored against Virginia Tech in the first half.
• Tyler Haws hit 10 of 10 from the free throw line vs. Weber State, his third game this season shooting 100 percent from the line while attempting at least 10 free throws. Haws has four such games in his career, tied for the most in BYU history with Jimmer Fredette. Haws is tied with Russell Larson (1993-94) and Roberts (1994-95) for most perfect days from the line (minimum of 10 attempts) in a season with three. Danny Ainge, Lee Cummard, Larson and Roberts are tied for second on the career list with three.