Player Notes
Yoeli Childs tied his season-high 31 points tonight while grabbing seven rebounds and a career-high five steals. He also tallied one assist for the offense. He has scored 62 combined points in the last two games.
Nick Emery made his 2018-19 debut against Utah State. Within 30 seconds of being subbed in, he recorded a 3-pointer, a steal and an assist. On the night he tallied 11 points, two assists and two steals to set the bar for season-highs.
Connor Harding contributed 14 points on 5 of 6 shooting for a new career high. He added one rebound and an assist during the game as well.
TJ Haws netted 20 points after hitting four treys and added seven assists, four rebounds and one block.
McKay Cannon earned his first start in a BYU jersey and tallied one rebound and one assist.
Team Notes
The Cougars scored 53 points in the first half, one shy of tying the season-best, after shooting 57.6 percent from the field.
On the game, BYU recorded a season-high 22 points off of turnovers as the defense forced 16 turnovers.
The bench contributed 31 points, a season-best, as three players tallied at least two buckets.
Postgame Quotes
BYU guard Connor Harding
On the home win against a rival
It means everything to us. We bounced back big time this week. We played with passion tonight and I think that showed. It feels good, but we can’t be satisfied with just one win. We’re going to celebrate tonight and then we’re on to the next game.
On importance of getting offense from 3-point range
It’s really important for us because we have to open up the floor for Yoeli and TJ. They make a lot of plays and a lot of people focus on them. If we can do our part and hit a few shots, then our team is really good and that changed the game. If we hit a couple 3s and get out and run, then we’re in a good place.
BYU guard TJ Haws
On the difference between last week's game and tonight's
The difference started on Monday in practice. We came out with a lot of energy in practice. We talked about building habits so this whole week we put a lot of effort into our playing and that showed in the game tonight right at tip off. We were ready to go.
On Nick Emery’s comeback
It doesn’t surprise me at all. Nick stepped in and knocked down big shots for us and guarded the ball really well. I knew he was going to come ready to go. It’s been a long ride for him. I’m extremely proud of him after everything he’s gone through. To be able to bounce back like he has, was a confidence boost for him and all of us.
On staying connected as a team
The first thing that comes to my mind is defense. For us to be a really good team, we have to be connected on defense. We have to be able to guard the ball for 30 seconds. We’re going to be up against a lot of great players. We have to be able to guard those players and be connected at all times. I thought we did that well tonight.
On energy from the crowd
It was nice to see that 20 minutes before tip off, the ROC section was filling up. It’s always fun to have a big student section. When you make big shots and get big stops, it’s huge to have a crowd that gets involved and helps bring energy to the team as well.
On the Utah game this Saturday
I’m excited. It’s a huge rivalry. It’s going to be a great atmosphere and a great game. Hopefully we can have a strong practice tomorrow and continue to build on this energy to help us be ready to go again for Saturday.
BYU head coach Dave Rose
I think that there was a lot of emotion from our team tonight. I was happy to see but I expected that tonight. I want to thank the fans that showed up. It was a live gym all night and it was a good atmosphere. That was a well played college game and I am glad that we won.
I’ve always had an unbelievable respect for the teams that we have coached here and how they stay together. It was a tough run for this group, especially in the heartbreaker the other night. I knew there would be some outward determination tonight. Utah State has been playing, maybe as well as any team in the country as far as their results from the last weeks, and our guys were ready from the start. We have been a team with some flat spots at times, even in our wins. I think this is a group of really determined guys that really wanted to change things. So, I’m proud of them.
On starting McKay Cannon
It was all to slow down Sam Merrill. He has had a great career but especially this year. The first minutes we wanted to tire him out as best we could and McKay did a tremendous job during the game. Sam got loose a couple of times but he really only had two buckets in the first half. That was a real emphasis with our group to not let him get the numbers that he is capable of. He still had a great game.
On Nick Emery
I thought Nick was probably better than I thought he would be. Not that I don’t think he is capable of playing like that but I just know everything from day one until now that he has been through and how emotional this was for him. I knew how much he wanted this to happen. Now that it’s over, we will just move forward. We are happy to have him. Hopefully he can bring some of that BYU bounce back us.
Utah State Head Coach Craig Smith
Thoughts on the game
Credit to BYU, I thought they played fantastic basketball. I can’t speak for them, but I thought that was their best game of the year. They played with a lot of confidence. They have been struggling shooting 3-pointers constantly. We were obviously hoping tonight was not the night they broke out of it because it was going to be a matter of time. Of course, they nailed a 3-pointer in that first possession and they made some plays. This is a very difficult place to play. It can get to the point where it feels like they are swarming you. Tonight, we showed some of our youth and inexperience.