Player Notes
Elijah Bryant recorded 28 points, shooting 8 of 9 from the field and the free throw line, as well as 100 percent (4 of 4) from beyond the arc. He also grabbed seven rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. This was the ninth game this season he has scored over 20 points. He has scored at least one 3-pointer in 23-straight games, the third-longest single season streak in BYU history.
Yoeli Childs added 26 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench for BYU. He scored a single half career-high 20 points in the second half. This was the 21st-straight game Childs has scored in double-figures.
TJ Haws contributed eight points, including four free-throws down the stretch. He also led the team with seven assists.
Jahshire Hardnett tied his career-high eight rebounds while adding five points and four assists.
Team Notes
As a team, the Cougars improved their shooting percentage from 45.8 percent in the first half to 75.0 percent in the second half, shooting 15 of 20 from the field. That is the best second-half shooting percentage this season.
Defensively, BYU held Pacific to 47.3 percent shooting on the game while grabbing 23 defensive rebounds.
Postgame Quotes
BYU guard Elijah Bryant
On what was the difference from their earlier loss to Pacific
"I think having a defensive mindset. Once we got stops and transitions, we pushed the tempo and got those guys moving. They send five guys to the glass, so the transition is hard for them to get back. Once we were able to get stops and get them off the glass to finally get into transition, we got the opportunity to perform on offense."
On his great shooting tonight
"It's just the fact that my teammates were able to find me and I was able to get the open shots. I try to focus on what I can control during the game. Whether I am making or missing, I try to move on to the next play as fast as possible even if it goes in. If it goes in or I miss, either way, I try to move on as fast as I can."
BYU forward Yoeli Childs
On what changed in the tight game
"I think we locked it in on the defensive end. In that first half, we weren't as good on the defensive side and weren't able to push it in transition. But in that second half, we were able to get some stops, string a couple in a row and really just push it on the break and attack their weaknesses. They're a very good team on defense, especially on the first side of the floor and the half court set, but if you can get out running like Eli [Bryant] said, they crash five guys to the offensive glass, so you can get running. That's one of their weaknesses so we were able to exploit that in the second half."
On TJ Haws recent performances
"TJ does whatever you need him to do. He makes great decisions. Just the fact that he shoots the ball so well, makes the defense play him the way they do. It makes them chase off the screens and as you guys could see tonight, he is very patient on the ball screens. He makes the right decisions, to throw it back, to make the pass to the corner or the pass to the roll man. Defensively, he does a great job talking and being in the right spot to guard his man. It's not all about just shooting and your numbers, it's the edge he brings to our team and the mental toughness he brings to our team every night."
BYU head coach Dave Rose
On adjusting in the second half
"With Yoeli being sick the last couple of days and missing practice yesterday, we were trying to figure out how we were going to start the game. They had us scouted really well and made everything really hard for us. We just didn’t have that quickness to anything we did. We were a little sluggish. There are a lot of reasons that could explain why that happened but it shouldn’t happen this far into the season. It was a difficult turnaround for us. Even though we came out and threw the ball away a couple of times in a row, I thought our demeanor and body language was much better and then we competed a lot better."
On defensive performance
"Eli and Yoeli did a good job of being able to score for us consistently, but defensively we had a hard time man-to-man, so we zoned quite a bit. They are a really good offensively rebounding team and we are a really good defensively rebounding team but tonight they got quite a few second looks. I think that is because we were trying to rebound from the zone position when almost 90 percent of our possessions this season have been man-to-man. So that is something that we need to work on. I will give credit to this team though, they played hard, they competed hard. I’m just proud of the guys for finding a way to win."