This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Malibu, Calif. • Matt Carlino's late-game heroics carried BYU to a 63-61 win over Pepperdine on Thursday night at Firestone Fieldhouse.Carlino's free throws with 1:03 remaining gave the Cougars a 60-59 lead, and his 3-pointer with 12 seconds left sealed the win - almost. Pepperdine's Jordan Baker was fouled by Anson Winder while attempting a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left, and made two free throws before intentionally missing the third.Pepperdine's Stacy Davis even got a hand on the miss, but couldn't tip it into the basket, and the Cougars escaped with their seventh West Coast Conference win.The Cougars put together a 9-0 run early in the second half after trailing by 11 points at halftime to get back in the game.Tyler Haws and Anson Winder made a pair of 3-pointers each, and when Nate Austin made two free throws with 11:15 remaining, the Cougars trailed just 42-41.BYU finally caught the Waves 45-45 with 9:34 left on a basket by Davies, but Jett Raines' jumper barely beat the shot clock to give the Waves the lead again.It stayed tight from there.Another 3-pointer from Haws, with 4:34 left, gave the Cougars a 54-50 lead heading into the homestretch.But the Waves regained the lead with some nice offensive execution, and a bit of luck. Jordan Baker's desperation 3-point attempt to beat the shot clock found nothing but net with 1:10 left and gave Pepperdine a 59-58 lead.Pepperdine took advantage of BYU's horrible shooting early in the game to take a 31-20 halftime lead.Pepperdine led BYU 35-30 at halftime three weeks ago in Provo, but the Cougars dominated the second half 46-16 en route to an easy win.Not so this time.Davies had 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting in the first half, but the rest of the Cougars were 4 of 20 from the field.Pepperdine's Nikolas Skouen was 3 for 3 early from 3-point range, and his third bomb gave the Waves a 13-8 lead with 12:31 left in the first half, forcing BYU coach Dave Rose to call a timeout and adjust his defense.Skouen, who averages seven points a game, had 13 at halftime.The Cougars pulled within a point, 13-12, on a dunk by Davies, then made just one field goal in the next six minutes and fell behind by double digits, a deficit they carried into halftime.
drew@sltrib.comTwitter: @drewjay