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Brandon Davies is well on track for a special senior season at BYU.
Even with difficulty staying on the court due to foul trouble during the final Coaches vs. Cancer Classic weekend tournament last month in New York, the BYU forward still managed to score a combined 31 points in 39 minutes.
If anything, Davies' early foul trouble exposed the Cougars' lack of depth inside the key, something that has drawn BYU coach Dave Rose's full attention.
"When we're playing a lot of young and inexperienced guys, I rely a lot on our older guys," Rose said after the loss to Baylor on Friday. "Brandon played his heart out tonight and again had an amazing night, but we need players around him. That's basically what it comes down to — he just needs help."
Rose, who has voiced confidence in his 8-4 team, has two games remaining before the start of West Coast Conference play to smooth out some of the rough spots. The Cougars host Northern Arizona on Thursday at 7 p.m. before playing Virginia Tech on Saturday in EnergySolutions Arena.
Right now, Davies, despite a flurry of double teams, averages a team-high 19.8 points with 8.1 rebounds. The 6-foot-9 post is even adding nearly three assists a game.
"This season is all about focusing in and finishing every shot I take," Davies said. "I want to do everything I can for this team."
Davies' double-double against Baylor — 26 points and 17 rebounds — was his third this season and 16th in his career. The 26 points, two games after recording a career-high 33 at Weber State, extended his streak of double-digit scoring to 19 games in a row.
Davies and guard Tyler Haws give BYU a dynamic one-two punch, with both at nearly 20 points a game. In fact, Davies and Haws have combined to take nearly one half of the Cougars' field-goal attempts.
Haws finished the Baylor game with 13 points, which was his 11th double-digit performance in 12 games.
"We're looking forward to [this] week," Haws said. "We still have a lot of games to play and a long season ahead of us. We're excited to keep getting better."
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