PLAYER NOTES
Yoeli Childs had two blocks, giving him 35 on the year, passing Corbin Kaufusi for third-most by a Cougar freshman. He also grabbed 14 rebounds, giving him back-to-back games with 14 boards and seventh game with double-digit rebounds this season. Childs added seven points, one assist and one steal.
TJ Haws hit three 3-pointers in the game to make it 45 for the season, passing Mark Bigelow for third-most by a BYU freshman. It also gives him 10 games with at least three treys, tied with Zac Seljaas for second-most by a Cougar freshman. Haws finished with 16 points.
Nick Emery extended his BYU-record streak to 30 games with a made 3-pointer. He finished with two threes and eight points.
Eric Mika had two blocks in the first half, giving him multiple blocks in 11 games this year. Mika finished with three blocks. He also scored 17 points, giving him double-digit scoring in all 21 games.
Mika also posted his seventh-consecutive double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds for a total of 13 this year. The most consecutive double-doubles in BYU history are Kresimir Cosic and Bruce Burton with 10 and Mika and John Fairchild with seven.
Corbin Kaufusi put up a season-best two blocks in the first half.
TEAM NOTES
Dave Rose started a lineup of L.J. Rose, Nick Emery, TJ Haws, Yoeli Childs and Eric Mika. The team improved to 11-4 with that starting group.
BYU had just two players score in double figures for only the fourth time this season, moving to 2-2 on the year when that happens.
The Cougars won scoring just 62 points, the lowest output for the season. However, the BYU defense allowed only 47 points, also a season-low. The last time the team held an opponent to 50 points or less was last season’s 91-33 win against San Diego.
Forward Yoeli Childs
“That was a weird BYU score for sure. A 20-point win usually means the other team scores around 60 or 70. We’ll take it and it was a good step up for us on defense. That was really positive.”
“I think we are playing more on attack. Coach has emphasized playing more aggressive and keeping the other team on their heels. I think the last couple of games we’ve done a great job getting the ball up in the net quick and just attacking.”
Head coach Dave Rose
“I thought we were so together in everything we did. I thought our pace offensively was good and our spacing was good. I thought our guys communicated on both ends. They were talking to each other. There are so many factors that go into trying to have a group be able to go out on the road and win games.”
“I think you just saw [the formula to win games]. Sometimes it’s an attacking mentality at the rim to get to the free throw line and tonight that was not going to happen. This was a really physical game. There were only 10 or 12 free throws shot by each team. You still have to be able to attack. We went inside-out and I thought we had some really good plays on offense when that ball went into the post. You saw a lot of individual guys just step up and make big plays. “