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PROVO — BYU had its best defensive half of the season, holding Pepperdine to 16 second-half points, in a 76-51 win Thursday to extend its winning streak to five games.
Overall, BYU held Pepperdine to 51 points on 39.6 percent shooting, which tied the lowest amount of points allowed all season, a mark previously set against Loyola Marymount on Jan. 5.
Pepperdine was missing senior point guard Caleb Willis, who was ruled academically ineligible prior to the game. Willis had been averaging a team-high 31.5 minutes per game. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Lorne Jackson.
Without Willis, the Waves relied on Jordan Baker to carry the offense, and Baker turned in a remarkable half of basketball.
“Baker was tremendous during the first half,” BYU coach Dave Rose said after the game. “He really got our attention. He was really good.”
Baker scored 20 points in the half, shooting 7 of 10 from the floor and a perfect 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. After another basket in the paint by Baker with 4:44 remaining, Pepperdine had a nine-point lead, its largest of the game.
Rose tried in vain to find a combination of players that could get something going during the first half, giving 12 players minutes as the team struggled to make open looks against the Pepperdine defense.
Going into the locker room, BYU was down 35-30, with everyone not named Tyler Haws contributing just 17 points on 5-of-24 shooting, "good" for 28.1 percent as a team.
Things changed drastically in the second half, as Rose's team came out playing inspired basketball after halftime.
Following a pair of baskets by the Waves, the Cougars reeled off a 20-1 run that lasted 7:20.
“I think we guarded the ball screens a lot better,” Rose said. “We got the ball out of (Baker's) hands, and I thought we were a lot more active.”
That increased activity came with a lineup of Matt Carlino, Craig Cusick, Haws, Nate Austin and Brandon Davies. That unit would play 7:26 together in the second half, and built a 17-point lead after having been down by seven points early in the second half.
“I thought Nate and Craig gave us a really good lift,” Rose said. “It was all about energy, effort and anticipation. Matt was also great in the second half, deflecting balls and getting steals.”
Carlino had a strong stat line in the second half — 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting, four assists, two steals, two rebounds, and zero turnovers.
“I think the difference was just focus,” Carlino said after the game. “I think we came out a little flat, and we were forced to be focused.”
What might have been the most impressive aspect of Carlino’s second-half play was his defense on Baker, who only attempted two shots in the second half, missing both.
“We didn’t let him (Baker) get easy buckets, shots at the rim or shots without a hand in his face,” Carlino said. “We didn’t do a good job defensively to start off the game on him, and I think that was the difference.”
While BYU wasn’t able to reach the 80-point barrier, the team had a comfortable 25-point lead when the final buzzer sounded that was not reflective of the play during the first half.
BYU will have to rely on strong defensive play Saturday afternoon against Santa Clara, which is led by Kevin Foster and Marc Trasolini, two fifth-year seniors who lead the Broncos in scoring. Santa Clara is coming home after an 84-80 loss to Loyola Marymount on the road.
With the win, BYU improves its record to 13-4 on the season and a perfect 3-0 in the West Coast Conference. BYU also extends its home winning streak to 12 games, dating back to last season.
Daniel Lewis is an intern with KSL.com, and covers the BYU men's basketball team. He is currently attending Brigham Young University, studying communications.
