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PROVO — The Cougars kicked off West Coast Conference league play Thursday with a win powered by a strong defensive effort over Loyola Marymount University.
BYU held Lions star guard Anthony Ireland, who came into the game averaging 21.3 points per game, to nine points. The Cougars limited Ireland's teammates to 30.8 percent shooting and forced 16 turnovers. BYU turned those turnovers into 19 points, with many of those coming on shots near the rim.
"(Defending Ireland) was a team effort," said BYU guard Matt Carlino. "He's a really good point guard, and we have a lot of good point guards in this league. We just have to contain and guard as a team."
The game started off slow, a common situation for the Cougars this season, and BYU was down 11-5 after six minutes.
"Early, on the boards, we had a few problems; they had a lot of offensive rebounds at the start," said BYU coach Dave Rose.
The next six minutes of the first half were dominated by the Cougars, who went on a 16-0 run and finished the half on a 30-11 streak.
Loyola Marymount came into Provo averaging 14.2 offensive rebounds per game. After giving up seven offensive boards in the first half, the Cougars held the Lions to just two in the second half.
"The last 25, 30 minutes we just limited them to one shot, and I thought that was the difference in the game," Rose said. "They are a really good offensive rebounding team; they can control the boards and score from there. We were able to shut that down, and it led to a lot of fast-break baskets for us."
No one played better in the fast break than Carlino, who finished the game with a 5x4 stat line — 21 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 turnovers.
Carlino had the touch from the perimeter as well, with his best shooting game since the matchup against Utah, shooting 50 percent of 3-point shots and 7-15 from the floor. Carlino is often considered the third option behind Tyler Haws and Brandon Davies, but he led the team in scoring against the Lions.
When asked what the team could learn from the game, Carlino spoke about the importance of limiting the other team's scoring.
"No matter how good you're shooting, when you hold a team to 51 points, you're going to win a lot of games," Carlino said. "We practice a lot of defense during the week. We can score, so if we can figure out defense, that is a good combination."
The Cougar defense limited Loyola Marymount to 18 points in the paint, despite finishing the game with just one block. After Loyola Marymount began the game scoring well, BYU switched looks and the defense started forcing missed shots.
"We started in man, then switched to zone, and that was really effective," Rose said. "I thought that our zone caused them to over-pass a little bit. They had quite a few open shots that they missed, and those long rebounds for us led to good looks on offense."
BYU was also helped by forward Josh Sharp, who finished the game with eight offensive rebounds, one below the BYU record of nine in one game. Sharp leads the team in offensive rebounds with 33.
"(Sharp) reminds me of Dennis Rodman, without the tattoos. He's a great rebounder," Carlino said.
With the win, BYU improves to 11-4 on the season, including a perfect 8-0 record at home in the Marriott Center. BYU also improves to 9-0 on the season when scoring 80 points or more.
BYU travels Saturday to face the Dons of University of San Francisco. The game begins at 8 p.m. MST and can be heard on KSL Radio or viewed on BYUtv.
Daniel Lewis is an intern with KSL.com and covers the BYU men's basketball team. He is currently attending BYU, earning a degree in communications.
