Brandon Davies has Wildcat for dinner, BYU takes down Weber State

Too much Davies. BYU's Brandon Davies scored a career high 33 points as he led BYU to a 78-68 victory over Weber State in Ogden tonight. Davies was helped by a 23 point night from Tyler Haws. The Wildcats made the game close early in the second half but BYU staved off the Wildcat run and answered with a run of their own to pull away for good.

Here are some random thoughts on the game:

• Davies came out on fire. Weber State had no answer for him. Dunks, layups, post ups, shots off the glass -- he had it all going tonight. WSU refused to double him early and paid for it as Davies scored 16 points in the first 12 minutes of the game. In the second half Davies looked like a man among boys as he ripped rebounds away from Wildcats and got put-back buckets over and over.
• Tyler Haws played early on like he knew he was the best player on the floor. He was either hitting jumpers or getting fouled or both. He cooled off later but in characteristic style still scored 23.
• Weber State came out strong with two of their first 5 buckets being big dunks. The Wildcats started the second half strongly as well but just didn't have enough to slow down BYU.
• BYU has been going to the zone defense early and often. This team pretty much stinks at man defense so it is no surprise that the zone is employed liberally.
• The only two Cougars to even attempt a shot in the first 7+ minutes of the game were Haws and Davies. But BYU was leading 16-12 when Delgado finally took at shot so that wasn't a bad thing.
• Cusick and Carlino started at the guards. Delgado was the first guard off the bench in this one and showed some impressive defense in BYU's zone.
• Cory Calvert was next in at guard and he had several nice aggressive drives to the rack and jumpers for BYU. The freshman might have earned himself even more playing time tonight.
• Oddly, Anson Winder was didn't see any time on the floor at all. It is looking like he is now competing with Cusick and Delgado at the 2 spot.
• Brock Zylstra didn't see action until halfway through the 1st half and when he did come in it was at the 4 spot as Dave Rose went small ball for a while. In the second half Zylstra subbed in at the 3 spot at first and then finally got a few minutes at the 2 spot. I won't be surprised if this becomes a common pattern for Zylstra going forward -- less time at the 2 spot and more time at the 3 and 4.
• Ambrosino was the first sub off the bench tonight. He came in for Sharp at the 4 spot less than four minutes into the game.
• The snow out there in Ogden looked beautiful. Glad I don't live in it. (I warned you that this would be random...)
• Harward came in for Davies with about 3:30 left in the first half. (He managed to get a dunk attempt blocked while in.) He was the 11th Cougar to play in the game. Dave Rose is clearly not ready to shorten his bench just yet. Based on the way BYU played tonight that seems wise.
• BYU hit 12 for 12 free throws in the first half. The Cougs are hard to beat with stats like that. BYU led by 10 at the half without hitting a single three point shot.
• Weber State was horrendous at the free throw line in the first half. The Wildcats finished with an embarrassing 14 of 25 performance even after shooting better from the line in the second half.
• Carlino looked generally solid at PG again. Some excellent ball handling, passing, and decisions (mixed in with some head-scratcher turnovers). He didn't shoot often but he had some pretty drives to the rim in the second half.
• Weber State's best player in this game was Davion Berry. He single-handedly kept WSU in the game in the early part of the second half. He finished with an impressive 25 points on the night.

Overall it was an encouraging night for BYU fans I thought. The bench is looking deep again with new guys like Calvert and Delgado really shining. Those two are quick and aggressive and BYU's zone seems to be looking better than ever with the guards moving better.

While it would be nice if BYU could find a consistent third scoring threat, having two consistent big scorers and a lot a able-bodied other guys ain't bad. This BYU team could be good if they keep playing defense.

What say you?