Individual Notes
Alex Barcello was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from 3-point land for 13 points. He also added three assists, two rebounds and a steal.
Yoeli Childs recorded his first double-double of the season after scoring 13 points and grabbing a season-best 14 rebounds. Childs is now third all-time in career double-doubles at BYU with 38. He also added a pair of assists and blocks in the game.
Dalton Nixon had a career night as he went 3-of-3 from behind the arc and scored a new career-best 17 points. This was the fourth time this season he has scored in double-digits.
Coming off the bench, Connor Harding went 3-for-3 from behind the arc to start the game, tying his career-high 3-pointers made in a game. Harding ended the game with a season-best 12 points.
TJ Haws contributed a season-high seven assists while adding seven points and two rebounds.
Team Notes
With its biggest lead of the season at halftime of 21 at 46-25, BYU shot 60.7 percent from the field and 69.2 percent from 3 compared to UNLV’s 35.7 and 30.8 percent.
On the game, the Cougars recorded 54.7 percent from the field, 51.9 percent from 3 and 84.6 percent from the free-throw line. Defensively, BYU held the Rebels to 35.1 percent from the field, 29.2 percent from beyond the arc and 37.5 percent from the charity stripe.
The team combined for 14 3-pointers, tying for the fourth-best single-game total in Cougar history.
BYU forced 11 turnovers and was able to score 24 points off the turnovers, a new season high.
The bench combined for a season-best 42 points.
BYU has won its last 14 games played at Vivint Smart Home Arena and is 19-4 all-time.
Postgame Quotes
BYU forward Yoeli Childs
On what was going well in the first half
"Two things: we were playing together really well and making the simple play, and the other is our transition defense. We made a big emphasis after the Utah game to get back in transition defense, to build a wall and communicate and I think we did that."
On having a lot of players who can make 3s
"It’s so fun to play with these guys. In my opinion, we always have the best five guys on the court, so whoever’s open we can give them the ball. It’s pretty simple for me, if I see someone open, I’ll give it to them."
BYU forward Dalton Nixon
On what was going well in the first half
"Today we wanted to come in and we wanted to play with force. We wanted to play on attack and coming off the tough loss to Utah, we wanted to find ourselves again. Early on, we established ourselves on the offensive end and then did a really good job at controlling the game on the defensive end."
On the team’s defense
"As we reflected on the Utah game, we looked at it and we told ourselves, 'that’s not us'. We are capable of being a really good defensive team and I thought that we showed signs of that throughout the game tonight. Communication is a huge key defensively and having the energy, being in the right spot and making plays on the defensive end. I think we’re capable of being able to guard teams, so that’s what we’ve tried to recommit ourselves to."
BYU head coach Mark Pope
On the 3-point shooting
"Well, guys are sharing the ball and we made shots. That is what we do, so I don’t think they were surprised by it. We work hard to shoot the ball. Guys were working to get other shots and were really unselfish. Our leading scorer was just deferring to get shots the whole night long. Those guys didn’t get attempts because guys were overloaded so much, so they just passed the ball out and our other guys made shots. They made Dalton Nixon and Zac Seljaas feel like they are never going to miss. Most important for us, the guys paid attention to the defensive end and that was crucial for us responding to the debacle we had on Wednesday against Utah. Our defense was super good, we handled things in transition, we really protected the rim well and that was probably the best part of this and the guys answering the bell."
On the momentum after the first media timeout
"I feel like our second unit and first unit blur. Dalton Nixon was playing out of his mind. He is every part a first unit guy and so is Connor Harding. He is playing first unit and Zac Seljaas has been a starter for a long time. It helps to have veterans coming off the bench like that. Those guys have certainly taken it upon themselves, Zac and Dalton specifically, have thought we are coming off the bench and we need to bring big time energy.'
On Yoeli Childs being integrated back into the team
"He’s a good player. If we can just keep him healthy right now, he is just a really talented player. He has some ways that he can grow but he just makes my life feel way easier and we can’t be spoiled by that, we have to actually use every minute of that. He was terrific tonight and he is going to continue to improve as he gets his rhythm back and integrates more. It has felt semi-seamless on the offensive side and on the defensive side we have a lot of growing to do integrating him back in. On the glass, he really helped us today."
UNLV head coach T.J. Otzelberger
On today's game
"It was an unacceptable effort by our guys. I know we've had a heck of a stretch of games and an emotional win on Wednesday. That's not good enough. Effort wasn't good enough. Energy wasn't good enough and I'm excited to get to practice on Monday and we will address all of those things wholeheartedly."
On why the team lacked effort
"BYU is really good. They have Yoeli Childs back. He's dominant. They really know how to pass and move the ball. We were shocked by their pace. I don't know why other than that. If you really want to win, you compete in everything you do. That was a non-competitive effort. We have to make sure that our guys understand what that looks like."
"When you play a team with the skill and passing ability and ball movement of BYU, if you allow them to just move the ball and settle in, they're going to be really good. They were really good and we allowed them to be really good and do whatever they wanted. I think it went hand-in-hand, they were great and we contributed to that."