BYU basketball: Davies' sprained ankle could be a concern for Cougars

With sophomore guard Tyler Haws scoring a career-high 42 points and becoming the ninth player in BYU basketball history to score 40 or more points in a game, senior forward Brandon Davies didn't have to carry as much of the scoring load as he usually does in the Cougars' 97-71 win over Virginia Tech on Saturday at EnergySolutions Arena.

Davies scored 17 points and played only 25 minutes, but it wasn't because he was in foul trouble.

The 6-foot-9 product of Provo High who is averaging 20.3 points per game sprained his ankle midway through the second half and hobbled off to the locker room for a quick examination, never to return to the game.

"It is kind of a high-ankle sprain on the outside, and we will evaluate him again tomorrow and see what we can do with him the first of the week," coach Dave Rose said in his postgame remarks to reporters. "Right now, we don't really know much until probably Monday."

It could potentially be a big blow to the 10-4 Cougars, who begin West Coast Conference play on Thursday at home against Loyola Marymount. The Cougars travel to San Francisco on Saturday.

A BYU representative, after conferring with trainer Rob Ramos, said Davies could have gone back into the game if he was needed.

However, when asked the same question a few minutes later, Rose said Davies was done for the day.

"No. He was pretty sore, pretty tender," Rose said.

With Davies watching the final 10 minutes or so, Rose got some good looks at redshirt freshman Ian Harward and junior college transfer Agustin Ambrosino, among others.

"Probably the best part about this win was the fact that our guys have understood that we have played well against some pretty good teams and haven't finished the game," Rose said. "Being able to play consistently throughout the whole game, and being able to finish it, and get a lot of help from a lot of guys [was big]. I thought Nate Austin [six points, eight rebounds] came off the bench and played well. Josh Sharp [10 points, three rebounds] had one of his better nights for us, too."

The Cougars shot 7 of 19 from 3-point range, but take away Haws' 6-of-8 effort from downtown, and the Cougars were 1 of 11 from long range.

"We needed a guy to lead us out, and Ty did a good job of making some big shots," Rose said.

drew@sltrib.com

Twitter: @drewjay