People give names to their pets and their boats. Some folks place names on their plants or cars.
Hawaii guard Tess Whitlock has a name for his outside jump shot. He calls it "Tracy" - as in "Tracy was with me" if he has a hot night like when he scored 37 points against Seton Hall, or "I don't know where Tracy was tonight," like when he struggled to score seven against UTEP.Tracy almost did BYU in late Saturday night, but she bailed on Whitlock in the end. The Cougars held off the Rainbows, 74-67, in the Marriott Center - despite Whitlock's 20 points and five three pointers.
BYU, now 14-3 overall, remained unbeaten in the WAC at 5-0 with the win, while Hawaii fell to 7-7 and 1-5.
"That was a hard-fought, physical, strong, intense game," said Cougar coach Roger Reid after the game that ended just before midnight.
While the ever-consistent Kenneth Roberts led the way for the Cougars with 20 points against the Rainbows, it was an unusual source of production that made several big hoops in the second half. Jeff Campbell, a sophomore forward who averages 1.1 points per game, scored eight after halftime and 10 overall to boost the Cougars to victory.
"Jeff Campbell had a great game," said BYU forward Russell Larson, who had 15 points himself. "We all know he has that in him because he plays like that every day in practice."
The Cougars struggled in the first half and trailed by as many as 10 points. Excluding Roberts' 3-for-7 from the field in the first, the Cougars starters went 1-for-15. Fortunately for BYU, Craig Wilcox and Shane Knight came off the bench to score five first half points each the team went 8-for-9 from the foul line and the Cougs were able to go into intermission tied, 32-32.
The Cougars jumped ahead by as many as nine points in the second half, but a Whitlock trey pulled the 'Bows to within a bucket with 4:13 to remaining. Larson scored five straight points and BYU made 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to put the game away.
"I like BYU's club," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "They know how to win. They've got good guards and they've got big men who work. That's why they're on top."
The Cougars will next put their perfect WAC record on the line Thursday against Colorado State in Fort Collins.
Although the WAC race is still early, it appears to be a four-team race for the title. BYU (5-0) and UTEP (6-0) are unbeaten, while Utah (4-1) and Wyoming (4-1) each just have one league loss. The other six WAC teams each have at least three losses.