khaner | Posted: 7 Jan 2017 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020

Balanced attack leads BYU past Pacific, 91-62

main image
Image

BYU vs. Pacific Box Score

BYU vs. Pacific Postgame Notes

PROVO, Utah – With five players scoring in double digits for the first time this season, BYU basketball roared past Pacific 91-62 in the Marriott Center on Saturday night.

"I’m proud of the guys," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "I think they responded well to a missed opportunity the other night. I thought defensively we had a good start to the game. Second half, we did really well offensively and we shared the ball well. There were a lot of things I thought the guys were good at, and I’m happy for the win."

BYU improves to 12-5 overall and 3-1 in West Coast Conference play. The Cougars outshot the Tigers (7-10, 1-3 WCC) 51 percent to 34 percent. The BYU bench had a big contribution in the win, scoring 30 points.

Sophomores Eric Mika and Elijah Bryant led the team in scoring with 17 points apiece, a career-high for Bryant. Mika earned his ninth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds. Freshman TJ Haws notched 15 points, including three treys, along with a career-high seven boards. Yoeli Childs had 15 points and eight rebounds in the winning effort, while Nick Emery chipped in 12 points.

BYU jumped out to an early 8-1 lead at the 17:36 mark after threes from Haws and Emery. The defense held Pacific without a field goal in the first three minutes of the game.

Bryant scored six points of a 10-2 run, including a 3-pointer, to push the Cougars to their first double-digit lead, 25-14, with 10:05 left in the half.

The offense kept rolling, going on an 8-2 run highlighted by Mika’s four points and an assist to Steven Beo. That put BYU up 33-18 with 6:57 until the break.

With 3:30 on the clock, Bryant euro-stepped his way to a layup, extending the lead to 40-25. In the last two minutes before halftime, Childs and TJ Haws went a perfect 4 for 4 from the free throw line. Bryant’s trey with 35 seconds left gave the Cougars a 47-29 lead at the break.

BYU came out strong in the second half, jumping to a 9-2 run in the first two minutes to push the lead to 56-33. During that run, a 3-pointer from L.J. Rose in the corner rolled in for the Cougars’ first 20-point lead of the game.

Haws connected with Mika for back-to-back alley-oops to spark an 8-0 run for BYU, putting the home team up 64-35 with 14:53 to play.

After a couple of buckets from the Tigers, the Cougars scored seven unanswered points, led by four points from Childs. A 3-pointer from Emery in that run gave BYU a 32-point lead, 74-42, with 10:43 on the clock. It was the first time the Cougars went up by more than 30 in the game.

Two-straight 3-pointers from Colby Leifson and Haws extended the lead to 86-52 with 6:38 left. BYU was held scoreless for three minutes until Leifson drilled another three from the corner, making it 89-55. A jumper from Beo made the final score 91-60.

BYU remains in the Marriott Center for its next game against San Francisco on Thursday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv, along with a radio broadcast on the Cougar IMG Sports Network, KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM and BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143.

File Attachments

Recent Stories

Image
2023 NABC Team Academic Excellence Award
BYU earns NABC Team Academic Excellence Award

The NABC announced the recipients of the 2022-23 NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards and NABC Honors Court on Thursday…

Image
Coach Pope Weber State 2022-23
Pope set to participate in “Big 12 Hoops in the Park”

The Big 12 Conference announced on Thursday morning that BYU men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope will help lead youth…