Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
The BYU Cougars went on the road Saturday to Santa Clara and shut down the Broncos, 82-64, to secure their sixth straight victory and improve to 14-4 overall and 3-0 in the West Coast Conference.
A strong defensive effort during the second half helped the Cougars earn that victory. BYU's defense powered an 18-0 second-half run that lasted seven minutes and gave the Cougars a lead they would not surrender.
BYU forced Santa Clara into 11 missed shots and three turnovers during its big run. At the other end, BYU's offense scored on nine straight possessions, with many of the looks coming in transition or as a result of turnovers.
Six players scored for the Cougars during the run — Brock Zylstra, Matt Carlino, Anson Winder, Brandon Davies, Nate Austin and Tyler Haws. Winder was excellent on defense, holding Santa Clara’s leading scorer, Kevin Foster, to five missed shots while forcing one turnover. Foster did score 22 points overall but was held scoreless for the final 16 minutes of the game.
Winder led the bench in minutes and finished with 10 points, four rebounds, a steal and a block. Haws led the team in scoring, finishing with 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting.
Coach Dave Rose used a short rotation, with four of the five starters playing more than 33 minutes. Winder, Austin and Craig Cusick were the three reserves who received the most time, which may be indicative of the rotation Rose will use throughout the rest of the season.
BYU plays its next game at home against Saint Mary's on Wednesday night at 9 pm MST.
Daniel Lewis is an intern with KSL.com, and covers the BYU men's basketball team. He is a student at Brigham Young University, and is studying communications.
