Cougars soar past Eagles 96-59

PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s basketball earned it second-straight victory with a dominating 96-59 win over Coppin State Thursday night at the Marriott Center.

“I think the biggest takeaway from this game is that it was good to get a lot of players out there – get them their first real minutes of the season," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "I think that there are obviously a couple of things that really concern us from this game. We turned the ball over way too many times and they had quite a few offensive rebounds. I think defensively you’re trying to defends 50-60 misses and they did a better job at tracking those balls down, especially in second half. But, it’s a good win for us. We have a challenge for us on Saturday and we look forward to that, we’ll move on, watch some film tomorrow and get ready for a good game Saturday night.”

Eric Mika led the Cougars with 18 points, followed by Nick Emery’s 13 and TJ Haws’ 11. Elijah Bryant contributed 11 points and Yoeli Childs added eight points and 15 rebounds off the bench. BYU also outshot the Eagles 52 to 26 percent overall from the field.

The Cougars opened the game on a 9-0 run, including back-to-back 3-pointers and eight points from Haws to take the early lead 14-2 four minutes in.

Propelled by jumpers from Mika and Kyle Davis as well as a pair of L.J. Rose free throws, BYU took a 15-point lead, 20-5, with 13:41 left in the half.

A Coppin State 3-pointer from Terry Harris Jr. gave the Eagles some momentum as the teams traded baskets back and forth, keeping the score within 10 points for two and a half minutes. The Cougars maintained their double-digit lead with a score of 28-18 and 7:55 left in the half.

BYU capitalized on successful free throw shots, as well as 3-pointers from Emery and Rose, extending its lead to 16 points, 40-24, with 3:55 on the clock.

The Cougars went on an 8-3 run via more trips to the charity stripe and jumpers, creating a 48-32 lead going into halftime.

BYU held Coppin State scoreless in the second half for over four minutes as part of a 13-0 run, increasing its lead to 27 points, 59-32 with 15:59 left.

Four players off the bench earned ample playing time in the second half, as Bryant, Braiden Shaw, Payton Dastrup and Davin Guinn combined for 10 points and two 3-pointers in three minutes. Their effort gave the Cougars a 92-51 lead with 3:51 left in the game.

The Eagles fought back but it wasn’t enough to break the BYU’s consistent offensive and defensive play. The Cougars continued to dominate, building a game-high 42-point lead, 96-52, with 2:34 left in the game. BYU ended the night with a final score of 96-59 over Coppin State.

The Cougars host Coastal Carolina as part of the MGM Grand Main Event Saturday, Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on BYUtv and and audio broadcasts can be heard on the Cougar IMG Network, KSL Radio (1160 AM and 102.7 FM) and BYU Radio (Sirius XM 143).

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