BYU basketball: Cougars lead Portland Pilot..

BYU basketball • The Cougars will try to bounce back after a loss to Gonzaga.

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Portland, Ore. • A balanced scoring attack has given the BYU Cougars a 39-29 lead over Portland at halftime in the Chiles Center on Saturday night.

Brandon Davies scored 11 points in the first half to lead the Cougars, while Matt Carlino chipped in eight and Anson Winder, Tyler Haws and Josh Sharp have six apiece.

Unlike Thursday in Spokane, the Cougars shot the ball well early, and never trailed in the first half. Making nine of their first 14 shots, the Cougars took a 23-17 lead with 11:46 remaining on a basket by Davies.

Portland shot the ball well early, too, going 8 for 13 from the field in that stretch.

Some poor free-throw shooting, 5 for 9, early in the first half kept the Cougars from pulling away. But they finished 8 for 12.

Portland's leading scorer, Ryan Nicholas, went to the bench with his second foul midway through the first half with seven points. He now has 11.

Sharp's two-handed slam dunk gave the Cougars a 30-21 lead with 5:54 remaining.

The Cougars led by as many as 12 points in the half.

drew@sltrib.com

Twitter: @drewjay —

BYU basketball: Cougars lead Portland Pilots by 10 at halftime