BYU vs. Santa Clara Game Recap
Player Notes
Yoeli Childs recorded 27 points, including three treys to match his career-high. This was his 12th time this season and 27th in his career that he scored over 20 points. Defensively, Childs grabbed six rebounds and two steals.
Luke Worthington scored a season-best 13 points after shooting 5 of 6 from the field and adding three free throws. He also grabbed three rebounds and tied a career-high two steals.
TJ Haws contributed 16 points, five rebounds and two steals while tying his career-best eight assists.
Team Notes
In the first half, the Cougars shot 48.1 percent from the field while the Broncos shot 48 percent.
On the game, BYU shot 49 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from beyond the arc and 70.6 percent from the free throw line. Santa Clara recorded 45.1 percent from the field, 45.8 percent from 3 and 73.9 percent from the charity stripe.
Postgame Quotes
BYU guard TJ Haws
On his sequence at the end of the game
We called one of our plays. It was two guards coming off two screens, and I happened to be open. I had a great look at it, and I felt confident shooting it. It felt good the whole way.
On what’s prepped him to take big shots
I’ve been preparing for that my whole life and I feel like I’ve been doing that since I was a kid. You know, early mornings at the church, late nights in the church, shooting in high school gyms. I’ve been shooting those shots my whole life.
On what this win can do for the team
It’s great for us. It gives us a lot of confidence. It was great to be home for two games and get a lot of confidence that way too. I feel like we have good momentum heading into next week and going on the road. Those games are good for any team, and it feels great to win like that and be tough down the stretch.
BYU forward Luke Worthington
On Santa Clara staying close the entire game
They’re a really good team, bottom line. They’ve been playing well lately. They’ve won multiple games and have gotten a confidence to them. They came in here with a lot of confidence and they shot the ball really well. It was a battle until the very end, and fortunately we were every bit as tough down the stretch and were able to pull it out.
On what was going well for him
Fortunately I just got open. My teammates draw a lot of attention, so I was able to be in the right spot at the right time and put the ball in the basket. I was just happy that we were able to click offensively. I felt like tonight we were together on both ends of the floor the whole way through. It felt good that there were some open looks for everyone tonight, and fortunately I got a couple of them.
BYU head coach Dave Rose
On tonight's game
It was a hard-fought game. I’m happy for the win. I told the guys at the end of the night there will be two teams in the league with three wins, one will be us. I think it was a good response to a tough game last week, but our guys came back and battled. We got two big home wins and I look forward to taking this out on the road and see how we can do. I thought our guys played hard. I’m so happy for the win.
On TJ’s big shot at the end
What goes through my mind is that I hope it goes in. It was a great play and was executed perfectly. It was a big shot, a really big shot. I’m just happy for the guys to be able to grind out a win like that. We have got into some close games lately and this was a good way to finish off a game and a week.
On other team’s 3-pointers
We changed late in the game. They are just really good at isolating, running a lot of false motion and running the clock down. They have three or four guys that can space and make 3s. We tried to not give help and give up the two rather than the 3. He’s got himself a good young team.
On defensive play
I thought overall, we did a nice job, but they did a really good job at isolating the guy they wanted to take to the basket. They’re really good offensive players and can spread the floor and make three’s.
On grinding out this win
I believe after a long stretch of being away and being able to play two games at home, it is a real positive energy-builder for our group.