This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo • When BYU point guard Matt Carlino missed a 3-point attempt with 17:53 remaining in Thursday's West Coast Conference basketball game and Pepperdine's Stacy Davis drained a jumper in the paint at the other end 29 seconds later, the Waves had a seven-point lead.
And the Cougars were officially 9 for 36 from the field, going back to horrendous shooting in the first half.
Little did anyone in the crowd of 14,888 at the Marriott Center know that the tide was about to turn.
The Waves crashed, while the Cougars rolled, eventually taking a 76-51 win to stay perfect (3-0) in WCC play.
"Too bad it is a 40-minute game," said Pepperdine coach Marty Wilson.
Brandon Davies hit a jumper, and Tyler Haws quickly scored after a Davis miss. Pepperdine's Lorne Jackson, who was throwing up in the locker room before the game, momentarily stemmed the tide with a basket, giving Pepperdine a 39-34 lead.
But Haws made a three-point play — he was 7 for 7 from the free-throw line after Saturday's near-disaster (3-for-6) at San Francisco — to start a 20-1 BYU run that pretty much ended it.
The run included a 3-pointer by Carlino, and then the play by Carlino that brought the biggest roar of the night, with the possible exception of a rebound dunk by Davies that ended the first half.
Driving to the basket on a fastbreak, Carlino flipped the ball behind his head to Craig Cusick for an easy layup to give the Cougars a 42-39 lead with 13:30 remaining.
Cusick, who was 4 for 6 from the field for eight points and played 20 minutes because Carlino was in first-half foul trouble, said the Cougars can't afford to start so poorly, especially when they head out on the road.
"It has happened the last two games, but that's not we are trying to do. We need to come out better in the first half. Pepperdine is a great team, but we have a lot of great teams we are going to play the rest of the season, and we can't do that in the upcoming games."
Twitter: @drewjay