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WATCH: Coach Keating, Marc Trasolini and Kevin Foster talk to the media
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Despite Bronco Kevin Foster breaking the West Coast Conference for career threes in the first half, it was not enough as BYU put together an 18-0 second-half run to win 84-62.
Santa Clara is 12-6 and 1-3 in the WCC. BYU is 14-4 and 4-0 in the WCC.
The Broncos will travel to Bay Area rival San Francisco on Thurs., Jan. 17 for a Comcast California television game. After playing at Pepperdine on Sat., Jan. 19 at 7 pm, the Broncos return home to host their final non-conference game of the year vs. CSU Bakersfield on Jan. 23 at 7 pm.
"Your best players have to play their best when we play the best teams in the league and we aren't," said Bronco head coach Kerry Keating. "We have plenty of opportunities left. We can't lose focus on the WCC season because we lost one game. Whether we have won three straight or lost three straight, we have to focus on the next game. There is an entire season and we can't focus on one loss."
Foster led the Broncos with 22 points (three threes), three assists and one steal. Raymond Cowels III added 14 points with eight rebounds, including four three-pointers. Marc Trasolini added his 10th career double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Evan Roquemore led the team with eight assists, but was 1-10 from the field (0-4 from three) and 1-4 from the free throw line.
"I am glad that I broke it, but we are more concerned about the wins and continuing to play this season," said Foster. "BYU is a good team, but we need to turn our attention now to next Thursday."
"We hurt ourselves tonight," said Trasolini. "We have let negative energy get the best of us tonight. BYU is a good team, they are really good."
The Cougars were led by the WCC's scoring leader Tyler Haws, who tallied a game-high 24 points with three steals. Brandon Davies chipped in 13 points while grabbing eight rebounds. Matt Carlino added 11 and Brock Zylstra scored 15. Carlino added eight assists. Anson Winder had 10 points off the bench.
Santa Clara shot 38.5 percent from the field (25 of 65), including 31.8 percent from beyond the arc (7 of 22). The Broncos were 7 of 15 from the free throw line (46.7 percent). They collected 15 assists, 38 rebounds, nine steals, seven blocks and 15 turnovers.
"We are giving the other teams too many possessions with our turnovers," added Keating.
BYU shot 53.6 percent from the field (30 of 56), including 50 percent from beyond the arc (6 of 12). The Cougars were 16 of 22 from the free throw line (72.7 percent). They collected 37 rebounds, 18 assists, 12 steals and 11 turnovers.
Santa Clara struck first with a mid-range jumper from Roquemore. BYU responded with a two-pointer from Haws. Davies took advantage of a Bronco turnover and converted a layup to give BYU a 4-2 lead. The Cougars added two more on a Zylstra layup. Cowels III and Zylstra traded three-pointers before Trasolini added two points in the paint to cut the BYU lead to 9-7. Trailing 11-7, Cowels III pulled Santa Clara within one with his second triple. After the first media timeout, BYU held a one-point lead, 11-10.
After the stoppage, Zylstra added a fastbreak layup to give BYU a 13-10 advantage. Cowels III continued his sharpshooting knocking down his third triple to tie the game at 13-13. Haws converted a layup and the Cougars were up 15-13 at 11:51 in the first half.
Haws added to the Cougar lead before Foster broke the West Coast Conference record for three-point field-goals made with a triple at 10:44. His 364th three broke the WCC record set by Jeff Fryer of LMU (1987-90). Foster's triple cut the lead to 17-16.
After a defensive stop, Trasolini gave Santa Clara a 18-17 lead before Haws responded with a triple of his own. Niyi Harrison sunk two free throws to even the contest, 20-20.
Harrison stole the ball and after he was fouled, Roquemore hit one of two from the charity stripe to give SCU a one-point lead. Carlino hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc to put the Cougars up two. Carlino added four more over two Cougar possessions to extend BYU's lead to 27-21.
Following a timeout, B. Clark drove the lane and found Trasolini who dunked it home to pull Santa Clara within four with 6:13 to play.
Foster cut the BYU lead to two with a layup. Zylstra struck again from behind the arc to make the score 30-25. Foster responded with a jumper before the Cougars struck in transition.
Trailing by 37-31 with 1:28 left in the half, Harrison converted one of two from the free-throw line. Winders sunk two free throws for BYU and Josh Sharp added a layup. At the half BYU led 41-32.
In the first half, Santa Clara shot 41.4 percent from the field (12 of 29), including 40 percent from beyond the arc (4 of 10). The Broncos were four of six from the free throw line (66.7 percent). They collected seven assists, 15 rebounds, three steals, three blocks and seven turnovers.BYU shot 51.7 percent from the field (17 of 32), including 50 percent from beyond the arc (4 of 8). The Cougars were three of four from the free throw line (75 percent). They collected 11 assists, 19 rebounds, five steals, one block and four turnovers.
B. Clark and Cowels III both had nine points in the first half for the Broncos. Trasolini led the Broncos with five rebounds and Foster had four assists. Haws and Zylastra both had 13 points for BYU. Davies and Carlino had four rebounds each.
The Broncos struck first in the second half with a mid-range jumper. After a defensive stop, Trasolini slammed one home for the Broncos, but Josh Sharp responded with a three-pointer for the Cougars. After a defensive stop, Foster pulled up just inside the arc and pulled Santa Clara within six. After Davies was only able to convert one from the free-throw line, Foster hit a triple. Defensively, the Broncos forced a turnover and Foster hit another three from way beyond the arc. After a Davies hit a tough shot in the paint, the Cougars lead had shrunk to 47-44 entering the first media timeout of the second half.
Yannick Atanga hit one of two from the line to pull Santa Clara within two. After Davies hit one free throw, Atanga hit a tough shot inside. Davies responded with a shot inside before Foster drove the lane and added a layup to cut BYU's lead to one. On the next possession, Foster hit one free throw to even the game at 50-50.
The Cougars went on a 18-0 run from 13:11 on a Zylastra jumper to 6:23 when Trasolini converted a layup to start a 5-0 Bronco run. Cowels III knocked down his fourth triple of the contest to cut BYU's lead to 13.
The Broncos were unable to overcome the deficit and ultimately fell 82-64.
