Cougar Tipoff Game Notes and Quotes
PROVO, Utah - Matt Carlino finished with a game-high 31 points to lead the White team to victory in both halves of Wednesday’s Cougar Tipoff in the Marriott Center.
"I'm really pleased with the effort we had," BYU basketball coach Dave Rose said. "We played really hard. This was a new situation for a lot of those guys. We saw a lot of good things from the scrimmage and a lot of things to improve on. All in all, I'm really pleased with the guys tonight and their effort."
In the first half, the Blue team started with Tyler Haws, Kyle Collinsworth, Anson Winder, Frank Bartley IV and Luke Worthington, while the White team started with Eric Mika, Matt Carlino, Skyler Halford, Chase Fischer and Nate Austin.
The White team won the first half, 35-34, led by Carlino who scored 14 points to go along with two assists. Mika finished with a near double-double with nine points and eight rebounds, while Halford added seven points and two steals of his own.
The Blue team shot 54.2 percent from the field and was led by Haws who finished with 14 points and two assists. Winder added seven points and two rebounds, while Collinsworth contributed four points, four rebounds and three assists for the half.
Austin was replaced with Andrew Johnston after battling for a rebound and breaking a tooth one minute into the game.
Freshman guard Bartley put the first points up for the Blue team on a free throw and got a first dunk off a steal with 13:13 remaining to give the Blue team a 10-9 lead.
With 4:08 remaining in the first half, Carlino threw a lob to Mika, who soon after added a three-point play to extend White’s lead to 30-26.
Haws threw one down along the baseline off a Collinsworth assist to cut Blue’s deficit to 35-32 with 15 seconds remaining. Bartley added a layup to bring Blue within one at 35-34, the final score of the half.
The second half started with a change in the lineup for the White team as Haws, Carlino, Collinsworth, Mika and Sharp got the start. The Blue team consisted of Fischer, Johnston, Graham Pingree and several practice squad players.
"We wanted to play that second half with our guys," Rose said. "We wanted to put different lineups together and juggle them around a little bit because there are so many new players. We felt this would help our guys the most."
The White team won 60-39 and shot 48.8 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from beyond the arc. Carlino led the team with 17 points (3 of 6 from three) and three rebounds, while Haws added 14 points. Halford and Mika both scored 10 points and Collinsworth finished with four assists and six rebounds in the second half. White dominated the boards, outrebounding Blue 31-17.
Blue was led by Fischer, who finished with 11 points and three assists, while Andrew Topham contributed eight points and three rebounds.
White started the second half on a 4-0 run, which was then extended to 16-8 on Carlino’s second 3-pointer of the half. With 14:03 remaining, Carlino grabbed the offensive rebound off his own miss and scored to give White a 19-14 lead.
Blue got its first lead of the game, 22-21, but was cut short after Carlino scored six straight points to give White a 28-26 lead. At the 5:54 mark, Mika’s second dunk of the game gave White a 32-26 lead.
White then took control with a 12-0 run over a 2:41 span to take a 40-26 lead. Halford’s second 3-pointer of the half ended the game with the final score of 60-39.
"I think we're doing alright," Haws said. "It's a fun group of guys and I feel like the new guys have come in and have done a good job figuring out the system. We are ready to go."
In the two halves combined, eight players scored in double figures, incuding: Carlino (31), Haws (28), Mika (19), Halford (17), Anson Winder (13), Fischer (11) and Johnston (10). Mika led the way with 13 rebounds while Collinsworth added 10 boards and a game-high seven assists.
The Cougars welcome Colorado College to the Marriott Center on Saturday at 7 p.m. MDT for the first exhibition game of the season. The game will be televised live on BYUtv and broadcast on the Cougar IMG Sports Network on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM.