PROVO — During BYU’s current five-game winning streak, guard Matt Carlino has been coming off the bench.
Carlino has embraced his role, and he’s playing his best basketball of the season.
In the last three games, Carlino is averaging 16.5 points and nearly five assists per game. He had just two turnovers in 51 minutes in victories at San Francisco and Santa Clara last weekend.
And during that stretch, he’s knocked down 9 of 16 3-pointers.
“Matt’s been playing awesome,” said guard Tyler Haws. “I feel like he’s making everyone around him better. He’s making good decisions in transition. He’s getting us into our offense and shooting the ball well. When he’s playing well, everyone else plays well.”
NO HIGH SCHOOL REUNION: BYU guard Anson Winder was looking forward to facing Santa Clara’s Evan Roquemore last Saturday.
“I actually grew up with Evan. We played on the same AAU team in fifth through sixth grade,” Winder said. “I know him really well. I know his family really well.”
However, Santa Clara announced just before tipoff that Roquemore, and another starter, John McArthur, would not play “for failure to uphold academic responsibilities.”
Roquemore, who averages 11.6 points per game, did not attend the game “due to a violation of team rules.”
“We went in expecting all of those guys to play,” Winder said. “When I heard (Roquemore) wasn’t going to play, I was a little disappointed because I love playing against him. But at the same time, I knew it would help us because he’s such a great player.”
LESSON LEARNED?: Haws drew two personal fouls in the first minute against Santa Clara, forcing him to the bench for the rest of the half.
It’s something Haws said he’ll learn from moving forward.
“It’s hard to get a feel for the way the refs are calling the game,” Haws said. “Each crew calls a game so differently, especially in league. I definitely have to be smarter and kind of get a feel for it in the first couple of minutes.”
NOTES: Haws eclipsed Lee Cummard Saturday for 12th in career scoring and Mark Bigelow for 10th in career free throws made. … Haws also scored in double figures for the 33rd straight game, which is tied for the eighth longest streak in BYU history with John Fairchild. … Freshman forward Eric Mika scored in double figures for the 17th straight game. That streak is the second longest by a freshman.