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BYU basketball head coach Dave Rose talked about the ups and down of the preceding week during Tuesday night's KSL Newsradio broadcast of Rose's weekly show at Legends Grille.
Reflecting on a last-second home loss to St. Mary's and a comfortable weekend win over San Diego, Rose said it was a "good week," but only "a couple of seconds from being a great week."
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"Anytime you can get a win in conference, and you come back after a disappointing loss, its shows a lot of character, a lot about your team," Rose said. After the much needed bounce-back win versus San Diego, Rose and the team now look forward to Thursday night's matchup with Gonzaga at "The Kennel."
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Rose had high praise for four Cougars who currently lead BYU's squad, beginning with wing Tyler Haws, who paces the Cougars in scoring to the tune of 21.6 points per game.
"Tyler is a sophomore, and he's a guy who might be having one of the best sophomore years of any player we've had for a long time," Rose said.
Rose also talked about the improved play of Brandon Davies and Matt Carlino over the weekend. He referenced Davies' zero-rebound effort against St. Mary's and Carlino's turnover trouble against the Gaels, noting that both players recovered nicely with Davies grabbing seven boards and Carlino having an error-free night with six assists and zero turnovers versus USD.
"Matt is a really talented player, but the key for Matt is to be consistent," Rose said. He explained the more consistent Carlino is, the more the team can rely on him and have success.
Lastly, coach touched on the important of Brock Zylstra's shooting. Rose said Zylstra's stroke helps to stretch team defenses and that he has a knack for hitting big shots. In league play, Zylstra ranks second among WCC players in field goal percentage, at 55.3%.
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Rose touched on his career milestone 200th win over the weekend, and quickly passed on the credit to those around him.
"I'm just grateful to the players and I think we've talked about, the coaches that have worked for me and my family," said Rose. "I mean, my wife puts up with a lot of stuff, there's a lot of people involved in trying to make this happen and hopefully we can just keep it going."
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The coach previewed the big week ahead with conference games--both on the road--versus Gonzaga and then Portland. Rose said his team is excited to get another crack at the Zags on their home floor, after last season's 74-63 setback in Spokane.
"This is why you play college basketball, to get yourself in these kinds of positions for these kinds of games," Rose said. He said the team's strategic plan is set, and all that is left if to go out and play a good game.
Hopefully for the Cougars, this upcoming week will be a 'great week' instead of merely 'good.'
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