Davies’ big second half lifts Cougars

There have been a few nights this year where Brigham Young has missed Jimmer Fredette. It appeared Friday was going to be another one.

But just as the large BYU contingent was about to go looking for a ledge to jump from, Brandon Davies saved the Cougars and their fans from despair as he delivered 12 of his 16 points in the second half to help push the No. 3 Cougars past San Diego 73-68 in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference tournament at Orleans Arena.

BYU (25-7), will face No. 2 Gonzaga at 8 p.m. today in the semifinals, looking to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume. USD, the No. 6 seed, ended its season 13-18.

"I told Brandon he'd have to play more than 10 minutes in the second half for us to win," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "I have a lot of confidence in Brandon, and all our veteran guys. They did a great job in helping us find a way to win this game."

BYU had to survive a final scare as the Toreros had the ball with 26.7 seconds to go trailing by three. But Dennis Kramer's 3-point attempt from the top of the key with eight seconds left was way off the mark and a pair of free throws from Noah Hartsock sealed the win.

The Cougars juggled their lineup Friday as Hartsock, the team's leading scorer at 16.8 points a game, was held out of the starting five after his sprained left knee gave him trouble in warmups.

Hartsock did play and had 19 points in 27 minutes, but he clearly wasn't 100 percent. However, there's enough depth on Rose's bench and BYU got a nice early lift from Brock Zylstra, who had 10 first-half points as part of a 12-point effort.

But it was the 6-foot-9-inch Davies who came through when BYU needed it the most. A year ago at this time, Davies was on the outside looking in after the school suspended him for violation of BYU's honor code. But he has had a strong junior season after being reinstated last fall and has been one of the team's leaders.

"Brandon has bounced back strong," Rose said of Davies.

Davies had a big second half and he helped the Cougars build a nine-point lead with 5:38 to go, 68-59. However, BYU had to sweat it out as Kramer, who had 17 points, and Christopher Anderson, who had 14 points, six assists and four steals, kept the Toreros in it until the end.

■ No. 5 San Francisco 67, No. 4 Loyola Marymount 60 -- The Dons survived a cold shooting night from Rashad Green to advance to tonight's semifinals against No. 1 Saint Mary's at 6 p.m.

Green was only 3-for-15 shooting, but junior Michael Williams had the hot hand with 19 points on five 3-pointers for USF (20-12). Loyola Marymount, which swept the season series with USF, was unable to win a third time. The Lions struggled offensively, making only 40 percent of their field-goal attempts while turning it over 17 times.

The back-and-forth game, which produced six lead changes and five ties, finally swung USF's way as the Dons went on a 12-3 run over a 4½-minute span in the second half, putting them ahead 57-49 with 7:34 remaining. The closest the Lions got after that was 61-58 with 1:39 to go.

Green, who averages 11.9 points and was coming off a 19-point performance in Thursday's win over Portland, struggled virtually the entire game. But his three-point play with 1:07 left helped keep USF ahead, 64-58.

Williams, who averages 10.6 points, picked up the slack. So did Cody Doolin, who had 16 points, double his regular-season average. As a team, USF shot 41.7 percent from the floor, the first team in this year's tournament to win shooting below 50 percent.

But Loyola Marymount was even colder. The Lions (19-12) were led by Ashley Hamilton with 14 points. Anthony Ireland, the team's leading scorer at 15.5 points, struggled Friday, finishing with 13 points after going 5 of 15 from the floor.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.