PROVO, Utah – Elijah Bryant tied a season-high with 29 points to help BYU to an 82-67 win over LMU Thursday night in the Marriott Center.
"It was a good win for our guys,” BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "I thought we executed well in the first half and handled their pressure well. We turned the ball over a lot in the second half, but we were able to make big plays down the stretch and win the game.”
The Cougars improved to 16-4, 5-2 (West Coast Conference) as the Lions went to 6-12, 1-6. Bryant was 8 of 12 from the field, 5 of 8 from 3-point range and a perfect 8 of 8 from the line. Yoeli Childs had 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.
BYU hit 3-pointers for its first three buckets of the game, as Jahshire Hardnett, Bryant and TJ Haws all cashed in from beyond the arc. Bryant hit his second triple to give the Cougars a 14-5 lead four minutes in.
Bryant scored on back-to-back possessions to put BYU up 31-14 halfway through the first half.
With five minutes left in the first half, Payton Dastrup gave the Cougars a 20-point lead when he cut through the lane and threw down a dunk. LMU battled back to trail 43-29 with just two minutes until halftime.
Bryant buried a 3-pointer with less than a minute left to reach 20 points. BYU led 46-29 going into the locker room.
BYU started slowly in the second half but Zac Seljaas knocked down a 3-pointer and made a layup on consecutive possessions for a 51-34 lead with 16:09 on the clock.
The Lions once again chipped away and trailed 62-50 halfway through the second half. They cut the Cougar lead to single digits before Bryant and Hardnett made four-straight free throws to put BYU up 74-61.
Two more Bryant free throws gave the junior 29 points and made it an 80-64 lead. Childs' putback dunk on the next possession put the Cougars up 18 with two minutes left.
BYU cruised to the 82-67 win.
The Cougars host San Diego on Saturday at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on BYUtv, with radio broadcasts on KSL (102.7 FM and 1160 AM) and BYU Radio (Sirius XM 143).