BYU at Gonzaga: Game Notes and Quotes

Player Notes

• Brandon Davies and Charles Abouo both recorded double-doubles in the loss. The last time two Cougars had double-doubles in the same game was in 2008 against Wyoming when Trent Plaisted and Jonathan Tavernari were able to accomplish the feat.
• Davies recorded his seventh double-double of the year, finishing with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
• Abouo scored in double-digits for the 17^th time this season and recorded his third double-double in the season with ten points and ten rebounds. The performance gave Abouo just the fourth double-double of his career.
• Freshman Nate Austin grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds.
• The Cougars were led in the first half by freshman Matt Carlino who scored 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting. The freshman has now scored in double figures in 13 games. He has hit a 3-pointer in 16 of 20 games. Carlino finished with 18 points.
• Noah Hartsock started despite being plagued by a knee injury but played just seven minutes in the first half and did not take a shot. It marked just the third time this season the senior forward did not score in double-digits and the first time this season the Oklahoma native did not score or attempt a shot. Freshman Josh Sharp started the second half in Hartsock’s absence.

Team Notes

• Only three players scored for BYU in the first half as Matt Carlino, Brandon Davies and Charles Abouo combined for all of the Cougars 27 first half points. Gonzaga had seven players put points on the board. The BYU bench scored just seven points in the loss.
• The Cougars showed their desire to win on the offensive boards as BYU grabbed a season high 23 offensive rebounds. Their previous high was 19 against Baylor earlier in the season. The Cougars grabbed 15 offensive boards in the first half alone.

Game Trends

• After both teams struggled offensively in the first two minutes of action, Charles Abouo made the first shot of the game with 17:49 remaining in the first half.
• With the score tied 5-5, Brandon Davies was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim. Kevin Pangos made both free throws, sparking an 6-0 Gonzaga run.
• While BYU trailed by as many as 13 in the first half, four straight points by Charles Abouo cut the Bulldog lead to eight but with five seconds remaining in the half Sam Dower made a jumper to send Gonzaga into the locker room with a double-digit lead.
• The Bulldogs extended their lead in the second half to 15 with 17:12 remaining.  
• An old-fashioned three-point play by Carlino with just under ten minutes remaining cut the Gonzaga lead to ten.
• BYU struggled to cut the lead to fewer than ten but with just under five minutes the Cougars cut the lead nine off a lay-in by Davies. Davies followed the basket with another shot in the post to reduce the Bulldog lead to seven but BYU was unable to overcome the deficit. 

Head Coach Dave Rose

“There was a lot of fight in our guys. I feel bad for them because it was a big game and everyone of them wanted to do something to put our team in a position to win.”

“We didn’t really find ourselves until the middle of the second half when we had been through some really tough stretches but going forward if we have to play a lot of games without Noah we’ll know who we are now.”

“We’re not leaving this gym wondering where our guys are. Our guys are here and they’re determined to play hard. Sometimes in a game like this you get frustrated and wonder where your guys are but they battled. They left it all out there trying to win another conference championship.”