In 2016-17, BYU basketball and Dave Rose extended their program record streaks of consecutive 20-win seasons and postseason bids to 12 while also claiming the program’s first win over a No. 1 ranked team.
The Cougars finished 22-12 overall and third in the West Coast Conference at 12-6. For the second-straight season and fourth time under Rose, BYU received an at-large bid to the National Invitational Tournament. With the Cougars securing 22 wins, Rose has coached 12 of the 40 20-win seasons in BYU history. He is also one of nine coaches to have won 20-plus games every year since 2005-06. Rose’s streak of 12-straight seasons with 20-plus wins is tied for the sixth longest current streak in NCAA Division I basketball.
During the 2016-17 season, Rose also reached the 300-win milestone. Rose’s 300th victory came in his 407th game as a head coach, tied for 25th fastest in NCAA history to 300 wins. He remains first in program history in winning percentage at 73.3 percent and second in wins with 305, trailing only Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Stan Watts.
Eric Mika, TJ Haws and Yoeli Childs all collected All-WCC honors. Mika and Haws were named to the All-WCC First Team while Childs and Haws earned spots on the All-WCC Freshman Team. Mika also claimed recognition on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team.
Mika led the Cougars all season long, averaging team highs of 20.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. He also shot 52.8 percent from the field and 76.3 percent from the free-throw line. Mika scored in double figures in all 34 games and posted 17 double-doubles. Mika became the 49th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points.
Haws was second on the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game while adding 3.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He hit a team-best 76 3-pointers, good for second all-time by a Cougar freshman. Childs averaged 9.3 points and 8.2 rebounds while adding 46 blocks. He finished the season second all-time among BYU freshmen in field goal percentage, rebounds, rebounds per game, blocks and blocks per game.
Nick Emery started alongside Haws in the backcourt all season and averaged 13.1 points and a team-best 1.6 steals. He also hit 75 3-pointers and scored a season-high 37 points twice. Emery became the 50th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points.
Newcomers Elijah Bryant and L.J. Rose made an impact on BYU’s backcourt, combining to make 34 starts. Rose started the first 25 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury. A senior transfer from Houston, Rose averaged 5.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists. Bryant, who missed games at different times during the season, played in 23 games and made nine starts in his first season in Provo after transferring from Elon. He posted averages of 11.7 points and 3.6 rebounds. Bryant exploded for 39 points and seven 3-pointers at Portland while adding 14 points two nights later at Gonzaga to earn conference and national player of the week honors.
BYU began the 2016-17 season with four-straight wins, including an 82-73 season-opening win against Princeton. After a pair of back-to-back losses, the Cougars finished with five wins in the final seven nonconference games, including victories against Utah State, Weber State, Colorado, Idaho State and CSU Bakersfield.
Conference play began with a home blowout of Santa Clara and a close win on the road at Loyola Marymount. After suffering a loss at nationally-ranked Saint Mary’s, the Cougars were not able to string together more than two-straight wins in league play, but also never lost two in a row during the conference slate.
In the regular season finale, BYU found itself facing insurmountable odds, playing at undefeated and No. 1 ranked Gonzaga. After falling behind 18-2 and trailing 23-8 with 11 minutes remaining in the first half, the Cougars went on a run and cut the deficit to one (31-30) before trailing 41-35 at the half. Gonzaga pushed the lead back to 12 at 58-46 before BYU went on a 15-2 run to lead 61-60 with 8:38 remaining. The teams exchanged leads several times before Mika hit a jumper with 1:05 remaining to give the Cougars the lead for good, securing the 75-71 win over the No. 1 ranked Bulldogs. It was BYU’s third-straight win at Gonzaga.
BYU claimed an 89-81 win over Loyola Marymount in the quarterfinals of the WCC Championships before falling to Saint Mary’s in the semis. After receiving an at-large bid to the NIT, the Cougars fell to UT Arlington at home in the first round.