BYU Men's Basketball: Noah Hartsock and Charles Abouo Team Up to Down Nevada

Maybe this BYU team is on to something.  There is no star, no mind-blowing performances from one particular player.  Rather, everybody gets in on the action as evidenced by BYU's 76-55 win over the Nevada Wolfpack on Friday.

Emerging identity?  Depends on how you look at it.  For example, in anomalous back-to-back plays in the first half 6'1" guard Anson Winder threw down a dunk, and on the subsequent play 6'8" forward Noah Hartsock nailed a three.

Confused?  So was Nevada.

BYU climbed all over the Wolfpack as they exploded out to a 24-6 lead on mostly points in the paint that showed off BYU's size.

Nevada then switched to zone defense and nearly made a game of it, creeping back to a 34-27 deficit at the half.

Nevada stuck around most of the second half and even narrowed the BYU lead to nine when Malik Story drained a three with 7:13 left on the clock, but Nevada would get no closer.

BYU closed out the game shooting 54.4 percent, going 8-for-18 beyond the arc, and the Cougars had 40 points in the paint to Nevada's 28.

The usual suspects were very good.  Abouo, despite having four of the Cougar's seven turnovers in the first half, was his normal ubiquitous self as he rebounded, played lockdown defense and finished with 22 points including four three-pointers.

Hartsock continued to fill in the gaps as he was spectacular in the paint and tied his career high of 21 points.

The big news, though, is Anson Winder.

Winder has come from nowhere to become the starting point guard for the Cougars and played 19 minutes in the first half. He finished with nearly that many in the second half.  He had four steals to go with his nine points and four rebounds. 

He finished baskets with guys hanging on his arms.  He protected the basketball incredibly well.  He saw the whole floor and shared the ball accordingly.  If he continues like this, he could be the force that BYU needs to take them to the next level.

Now what does Dave Rose do when Matt Carlino becomes eligible?

Tomorrow BYU will face the winner of the Wisconsin/Bradley game at the Chicago Invitational Challenge.  If its Wisconsin that BYU plays, we should know a lot more about how far BYU has come this year.