The following notes and quotes are from BYU’s 90-61 win over Lindenwood on Tuesday evening at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah.
Series Results: BYU leads the series 1-0
Attendance: 12,180
TEAM NOTES
Leading at Half
BYU is now 62-9 in the Mark Pope era when leading at halftime, including 7-2 this season. The Cougars held a 39-25 lead at the intermission tonight.
Winning Ways
In Mark Pope’s 51st game at the Marriott Center, the Cougars improved to 44-7 at home. BYU under Pope has won 86.3 percent of games played at the Marriott Center with BYU holding an all-time mark of 81.0 percent.
How May We Assist You?
BYU dished out 24 assists, marking the fourth time in the past games the Cougars have eclipsed 20 assists. To put that into perspective, BYU had 20-plus assist once in its first 10 games.
Pound the Paint
The Cougars had a healthy dose of interior scoring in the 90-61 win as they matched a season high of 46 points in the paint. BYU shot 67.6 percent from inside the painted area, with Fousseyni Traore going 8-for-13 for a season-high 21 points.
Shooters Shoot
BYU shot a season-high 55.6 percent from the field in tonight’s win marking the first time they have shot over 50.0 percent against NCAA Division I competition this season.
3-Point Clinic
Lindenwood had not allowed any opponent to shoot over 40 percent from deep this season. The Cougars snapped that streak as they knocked down 12-of-28 attempts from downtown to shoot 42.9 percent on the night. Three Cougars were perfect from behind the arc in the win, with five Cougars knocking down a triple.
Good To Be Home
BYU has won the opening three games of its four home stand that concludes on Thursday evening against Weber State.
PLAYERS NOTES
Spark Plug Fouss
Fousseyni Traore continued to pace the Cougars as he scored eight of the first 14 points for the Cougars in the opening stanza.
After going 4-for-6 in the opening 20 minutes, the sophomore hit 4-of-7 shots in the second half, including a perfect 5-for-5 night from the charity stripe. With 13 second-half points, Traore matched his season high of 21 points while grabbing six rebounds and a steal.
The Waterman Splash Zone
Noah Waterman notched his third double-figure scoring game of the season as the forward finished with 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting. Waterman knocked down a season-high five shots, including three triples on a season-high seven attempts from 3-point land. The junior also recorded a career-high three blocks while grabbing seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Robinson’s Perfect Night
Jaxson Robinson went 4-of-4 from 3-point range, marking the second time this season the sophomore has been perfect from behind the arc (min. 3 attempts).
Relentless Rudi
Rudi Williams scored in double figures for the fourth time in the last five games as the senior finished 13 points. He was 5-of-6 from the field and 3-of-3 from 3-point range.
SEASON HIGHS
- Points: Fousseyni Traore (21)
- Field Goals: Noah Waterman (5), Fousseyni Traore (8)
- 3-point Field Goals: Rudi Williams (3)
- 3-point Field Goal Attempts: Noah Waterman (7)
- Assists: Tredyn Christensen (1)
CAREER HIGHS
- Assists: Dallin Hall (9), Tanner Toolson (1), Richie Saunders (3)
- Blocks: Noah Waterman (3)
- Free Throws: Richie Saunders (2)
QUOTES
Coach Mark Pope
On the team’s focus and current mentality
“There was a lot of little bits that contributed to us not really having the best chance of knowing ourselves as well as we needed to early in the season. I think we’re just getting to understand ourselves a little bit better, in some ways a lot better. We’re learning how to react to certain in-game situations, how to come prepared with a mentality every single night where you play your best game in order to win, how to deal with public criticism and public praise. The list that this group has to learn is endless because we’re just so new, and it’s actually really fun.”
On Dallin Hall
“He’s an unbelievable leader, and he’s like a sieve - he just wants to take in so much information. And incredibly, it’s not overwhelming him which is not very common. Usually, when you have to take in all this information it starts to overwhelm you. It’s super impressive.”
On the team’s progress during this four-game winning streak
“We know that there’s going to be growing pains and we’re walking forward in faith, really believing that this is going to work. We’re starting to see some signs that are super hopeful. I think we’re a little more difficult to scout, I think guys are feeling empowered to think a little more creatively and feeling empowered.”
Dallin Hall
Opening Statement
“We came tonight with a great coaching plan. Shots at the beginning weren’t falling, but we stuck with what we knew. Things were a little shaky defensively, but I feel like coming out of the second half we really dug in defensively and we got out and ran in transition, playing our kind of basketball and not letting them dictate what we did. After that, we really got rolling and locked into the game plan that was given to us as shots started falling.”
On Fousseyni Traore
“Fouss is an incredible player. He's always going to make the right play. He's very unselfish. To know that when we can get it to him in his spot he's going to be able to score, that’s really good for our team. We can shoot the ball really well, we've shown flashes of that. But when we get in tough spells it's amazing to know we've got an All-American player in the post that we can give it to and he can score. I'm super grateful that Fouss is on my team.”