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In a game that was never really in doubt, the Cougars took care of business in a tune up game before taking on the University of Utah this Saturday. The Cougars used a 15-0 run in the second half to put the game completely out of reach and went on to win 100-52. BYU got great play from their starters and Dave Rose was able to get playing time for a lot of his bench players.
Haws set the pace for the Cougars by hitting his first 5 shots and scoring 19 in the first half. Mika also chipped in with a bunch of big buckets inside and continues to get better. The freshman big man is on many top 10 freshmen lists and has been an effective scorer. The usually aggressive Carlino opted to be more of a facilitator in the first half as he had 5 first half assists without taking a shot.
Defense and free throws have been a concern for the Cougars during the last few games and although the free throw percentage wasn’t significantly better the defense did look really good although Prairie View didn’t pose much of a challenge. Dave Rose was able to experiment with zone and man to man defense, which hampered the Panter’s ability to get into their offense.
The Panthers looked cold and overmatched much of the night as the Cougar man to man defense proved effective. Montrael Scott, the Panter’s leading scorer, didn’t play during the second half due to an injury, which also limited Prairie View’s ability to score. It wasn’t all BYU’s defense however, Prairie View only made 4/27 shots from downtown, a mere 15 percent from behind the arc.
Frank Bartley IV continues to earn playing time as a reliable bench scorer and facilitator. The freshman made some incredible first half passes that set up huge dunks for teammates. Rose has showed increasing trust in the young Bartley, who has played with confidence and maturity so far this season.
Collinsworth scored a career high 19 points and Andrew Johnston hit a bank shot 3 pointer to get the Cougars to the century mark.
BYU next plays this Saturday against the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The Cougars have won 11 of the last 12 verse the Utes.
