BYU vs. UC Santa Barbara: Game Notes and Quotes

• Noah Hartsock shot 6 of 7 for 12 points in the first half, finishing two points shy of his career high with 21 points. Hartsock also shot 7 of 8 from the free throw line for the game; he hasn’t missed more than one free throw in a game for 10-straight games, going 36 of 42 (.857) over that span.
• Matt Carlino finished with a team-high 22 points, the most in his three-game career. Carlino scored 10 points in the first half, putting him in double-figure scoring all three games of his BYU career.
• Brandon Davies set a career-high with four steals. Davies had three steals midway through the first half.
• Charles Abouo had a career-best game from the free throw line, converting 9 of 9 from the stripe.

• Head coach Dave Rose went with a starting lineup of Matt Carlino, Brock Zylstra, Charles Abouo, Noah Hartsock and Brandon Davies for the second-straight game and second time this season.
• Brock Zylstra scored six points in a row before UCSB could have an offensive possession, converting a layup, making a free throw following a flagrant foul, then converting a 3-pointer following the free throw, giving BYU a 64-49 lead with 12:17 left in the second half.  
• Four players scored 85 of BYU’s 89 points. 
• BYU made 11 free throws without converting a field goal over the course of more than eight minutes in the second half. The Cougars led 64-49 at the beginning of the streak and 78-67 when Carlino hit a 3-pointer to end the streak. 
• BYU’s four bench points were its fewest of the year while UCSB’s nine bench points tied for second-fewest allowed by the Cougars this season.

• BYU scored 50 or more points in a half for the third time this season with 51 in the second period. 
   

• UCSB made its first four shot attempts of the game to take an early 9-7 lead. 
• BYU scored just two baskets in six minutes during the first half, going from tied, 9-9, to down, 17-13
• Only six players – three for each team – scored in the game’s first 9:30.
• After a Carlino three-point play to start the BYU scoring, Davies made three straight baskets, then Hartsock made the next two, Abouo made the next two and Hartsock made the next two.
• BYU’s first bench point came with 52 seconds left in the game when Anson Winder hit the second of two free throws. Neither team had any bench points until UCSB’s Alan Williams made a layup with 20 seconds left in the first half.

• Twenty of BYU’s last 25 points of the game came from free throws, including each of its last nine points.

BYU Head Coach Dave Rose

“Santa Barbara did a good job of trying to interrupt the flow of the game. They did a really good job of scouting our team. That’s one thing that the young guys need to realize is that when you have a really good game, the next time out you’re going to be a higher priority on the scout board of the next team.”

“I’m really pleased with our effort, coming off an emotional loss on Saturday and playing a tough Tuesday, Thursday schedule.”

“We’re into starting our fourth point guard. That’s a real challenge. We’ve got guys playing different positions, we’ve got guys that are hurt, and we don’t have a lot of practice time. That will be a real emphasis when we get back. We need to get better defensively.”

In response to the upcoming WCC play, “It’s going to be a new experience every night and I’m actually looking forward to it.”

UCSB Head Coach Bob Williams

“BYU is a very good team. They can hurt you inside and out and they are very hard to guard. They have a lot of good players, and all of them are very productive.”

“I thought we shot the ball well at times, but then we quit being productive, and we have to perform at a much higher level. We battled a lot harder and were more competitive tonight than in our previous game. We didn’t take care of the ball which traditionally we do very well, and we had way too many turnovers.”