Notre Dame 78, BYU 68: Cougars falter down stretch

BYU shot better, committed less turnovers, and had a second-half lead; but at the end of the Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic consolation game, the Cougars still left with a 78-68 loss at the hands of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday night in Brooklyn.

Tyler Haws has staked his claim as leader of this BYU team. Playing all 40 minutes, Haws scored 21 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and dished 4 assists. Early in the second half, Haws scored seven straight points to give BYU a 49-42 lead with 14 minutes to go.

But there wasn't enough points or defense the rest of the way, as #20 Notre Dame finished the game outscoring the Cougars 36-19.

On the other side of the spectrum from Haws was Brandon Davies -- not that Davies played poorly; rather, he didn't play. Davies was plagued by foul trouble during both games. On Saturday, he played just 18 minutes, scoring 12 points while pulling down 5 rebounds.

Brock Zylstra was the only other Cougar in double digits, scoring 10 points on 4-9 shooting. Matt Carlino's poor shooting continued as the lefty went 1-5 from the floor. Along with Carlino's woes were BYU's team three-point shooting, which is still not improved since last season. Zylstra was 2-4 from behind the arc; everyone else shot 1-10.

The Cougars, now 2-2, play next on Wednesday, hosting the UTSA Roadrunners at 7:00 p.m. MT.