BYU vs. St. Louis Postgame Notes

PLAYER NOTES

Despite checking out of the game only seven minutes into the first half due to early foul trouble, Mika had a huge second half, logging the eighth double-double of this career, his third this season. He went 7-10 from the field and 6-7 from the stripe, and he ended the game with 20 points.

The sophomore has recorded at least one block in each of his four games this season, which included tying a career-high three blocks tonight with one in the first half and two in the second.

L.J. Rose

Rose recorded a career-high 12 rebounds, with 10 of them coming in the first half. He finished the game with five points and a game-high eight assists.

Jamal Aytes

Junior Aytes scored a career-high 12 points against the Billikens, shooting 100% from both the field and the free-throw line and also logging five rebounds.

TJ Haws

Freshman Haws has hit a 3-pointer in each game this season. He finished with nine points, three rebounds and three assists.

Yoeli Childs

The freshman has logged a block in all four games this season, including two against the Billikens in the first half.

TEAM NOTES

The matchup

BYU most previously played St. Louis in 1954 in which the Cougars defeated the Billikens by a score of 85-74. The Cougars now lead the series 4-1.

Starting lineup

This was the fourth game in a row that Coach Rose has gone with a Mika-Davis-Haws-Rose-Emery starting lineup. The starters accounted for 65 of BYU’s 92 total points.

Big games from the BYU big men

Mika and senior Kyle Davis were the first two Cougars to reach double figures, and despite early foul trouble, the two big men combined for 17-23 shooting from the field. Big men Mika, Davis, Childs and Aytes all combined for 60 points. The four athletes collectively shot 22-28 from the field and 14-16 from the stripe.

Attacking early

BYU has scored first in all four games this season. Davis claimed the first point of the game off a free throw, and Emery followed that shortly with a 3-pointer. The Cougars reached a double-digit lead of 11, 11-0, just four minutes into the game.

Racking up points

The Cougars went on a 16-0 spurt with 9:44 remaining in the second half to claim a 23-point edge over the Billikens, 80-57, with just over 6 minutes left.

BYU finished the game with a game-high lead of 30 and claimed the victory, 92-62.

BYU never trailed against the Billikens. The closest the contest got was 1-0 for the Cougars in the first 20 seconds of play.

With a 40-33 halftime score and the 92-62 final score, the Cougars have scored at least 40 points in every half of play this season except one. The only non-40 point half was against Princeton in the second half (38 points).

The freshmen

A behind-the-back over-the-shoulder pass from Haws to Childs got the crowd on its feet and gave the Cougars a nine-point lead over the Billikens with almost four minutes remaining in the first half.

QUOTES

COACH ROSE
On the win

It was nice to have our guys battle and compete. The game kind of went back and forth and we went through a lot of things for the first time, some foul trouble issues with our big in the first half and our guards in the second half. But we found guys that stepped up and made big plays for us. The thing I am most pleased with was that it was a quick turnaround. From that Saturday game to Monday, we didn’t know anything about the opponent. To be able to put a game plan together quick, have our guys go through it this morning, and the number one thing on our offensive game plan was to play inside out. To get the ball to our big guys, to let them touch it and feel it, and let us get used to this arena. We didn’t get here until 70 minutes before the game tonight, and then to have our big guys play like they did is a good thing. It may seem like a small, little thing, but to have your actually guys come out—young team—and execute in a manner which was such a short turnaround shows that they really care. They care about winning, they care about each other and about doing the right thing.

On big men, particularly Jamal Aytes

Obviously, that is the best he has played for us in the time he has been here. All his time is spent in the training room and in the weight room. He is really diligent and responsible. This was the first time he got some time on the floor where he could feel it and then help his team. He hit big free throws and really had some nice baskets. Nice low post moves. His physical presence is really good for us. When Eric got those two fouls, we brought in Jamal and immediately he got a foul, but he is just another physical guy, and that is a good thing for a team. Jamal has lot a little bit of his explosion, but that is made up with his physical presence. I just feel good for him. 13 minutes—solid minutes, and Eric knowing that we got a good solid guy behind him will make him a better player. This can all grow on each other.

On the big men being leading scorers

I really believe that we are going to have a better floor game on Wednesday. We’ll practice in here tomorrow, and with the time that we spend here, it’ll feel better for our guards. L.J. had a good floor game with 12 rebounds and eight assists. I love the way our guards kept giving the ball to the bigs. We are not really chasing points, but scoring in the 90s from only scoring three 3-pointers is huge for us.