Davies' double-double propels comeback victory

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

MALIBU, Calif. – Brandon Davies recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead BYU men’s basketball to a 63-61 comeback win over Pepperdine.

Sophomore Tyler Haws added 21 points on 3 for 6 shooting from downtown while Matt Carlino chipped in 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Davies also added three assists to go along with his double-double.

"I knew this was going to be a real challenge for us, especially after the way we struggled the first time we played them," said BYU head coach Dave Rose. "We really competed tonight though. Once we got that lead I thought our guys got on top of it and it felt good to keep the lead down the stretch and get a good win tonight."

Pepperdine (10-11, 2-6 WCC) held the lead for nearly 28 minutes — from the 14:00 mark in the first half to the 6:24 mark in the second and briefly in the final minutes — but BYU (17-6, 7-2 WCC) rallied, outscoring its opponent 43-30 in the second half to claim the victory.

BYU trailed 31-20 and shot just 31.3 percent in the first half but Carlino got BYU off to a better start in the second, scoring a layup on the team's first possession. He then hit three free throws to get BYU within single digits at 34-25. The three points from the charity stripe started a 19-8 run for the Cougars, highlighted by four-straight 3-pointers from Anson Winder and Haws.

Winder's first trey cut the Waves' lead back to single digits at 38-30. The sophomore from Las Vegas then stripped the ball from a Pepperdine player which led to a 3-pointer from Haws.

With just under 14 minutes left in the game, Haws scored again from behind the arc to bring BYU within two at 38-36. 

Winder hit his second from downtown before Austin drew a foul with 11:19 left in the game. The 6-foot-11 forward converted both free throws to cut the Pepperdine lead to just one point, 42-41.

After another Davies field goal, Austin drew his second charge of the game to give BYU an additional possession with 9:52 to go. The Cougars took advantage of the turnover as Davies laid the ball off the glass for two more to tie it at 45 with 9:36 remaining.

The Cougars and Waves exchanged buckets before BYU took its first lead of the half at 49-47 on a Haws mid-range jumper with 6:24 to play.

A Stacy Davis free throw pulled Pepperdine within one but Haws went on a 5-2 run of his own, driving the lane for a layup and converting a 3-pointer with 4:36 left to give BYU its biggest lead of the night, 54-50.

Davies pushed the lead back to four at 56-52 after a layup with 3:59 remaining but Pepperdine responded with a 4-0 run to tie the game. Haws hit a clutch jumper at the 1:53 mark to break the tie before Pepperdine's Jordan Baker hit a deep trey with the shot clock winding down and 1:12 remaining in the game to regain the lead at 59-58.

On the next possession Carlino drew a foul and drilled a pair of free throws. BYU forced a miss by Baker and Nate Austin came up with the rebound with 49 seconds to go. BYU's last possession ended with Carlino hitting a fade-away 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock to push the lead back to four at 63-59 with 12.9 seconds to go. Pepperdine drew a foul on a three with 1.3 seconds to go and Baker hit the first two before intentionally missing the third. A tip at the buzzer fell short and the Cougars claimed the win.

Davies scored the first four points of the game for the Cougars and a jumper by Haws gave the Cougars an 8-7 advantage at the 14:26 mark, BYU's only lead of the first half.

After a 6-0 run by Pepperdine, Haws hit a jumper and Brock Zylstra dished a no-look pass to Davies on the baseline who pump-faked, got his defender in the air and finished strong with a one-handed dunk to bring the Cougars within one at 13-12.

With BYU mired in a three-minute scoring drought, Nate Austin forced a turnover as he took a charge to give BYU the ball. Davies then put on a series of low-post moves and found the bottom of the net with 8:24 to go in the half and the Cougars trailing 19-14.

With four minutes to go until the break, freshman Bronson Kaufusi found Haws coming off a screen for a deep field goal to end a 6-2 run by Pepperdine, bringing the score to 25-18 in favor of the home team.

Davies got the last two points in the half for the Cougars as he converted a left-handed layup with just over a minute left. The 6-foot-9 senior had 12 points in the first half alone.

BYU went into the locker room down 31-20 with Haws and Davies combining for 18 of BYU’s 20 points up to that point.

BYU returns to Provo Saturday night to host Santa Clara at 7 p.m. MST at the Marriott Center. The game will be televised on BYUtv and broadcast on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM.