WCC Championships: BYU vs. Saint Mary's Postgame Notes

Player Notes

Eric Mika's 10 points continued his 34-game streak of scoring in double digits, now the ninth-longest string of consecutive double-figure scoring in BYU history. Tallying a block in the first half of the contest, Mika also broke a tie with former Cougar Noah Hartsock (61 in 2010-11) for fourth-most blocks in a season in BYU history. Mika led the Cougars in rebounds with seven.

TJ Haws extended his streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 15 after hitting his first trey in the opening half. He led all Cougar scorers with 13 points and recorded his 25th game scoring in double figures. He is tied for third most double-digit scoring games by a Cougar freshman with Trent Plaisted (2005-2006).

Corbin Kaufusi recorded his 80th career block for the Cougars in the first half against Saint Mary’s and sits in 15th place all-time at BYU.

Davin Guinn’s six points against the Gaels are the most he has logged since scoring six vs. Gonzaga at home on Feb. 2.

Team Notes

BYU’s starting lineup included Nick Emery, Eric Mika, Elijah Bryant, TJ Haws and Yoeli Childs. The Cougars are now 3-3 with that starting five.

Three Cougars scored in double figures against the Gaels: Haws, Mika and Bryant.

Postgame Quotes

BYU Coach Dave Rose

We were a couple steps slow in everything we did. Jock (Landale) did a really good job of getting the game started. We had a hard time making a basket to start the game. It’s tough when you are trying to keep the guys motivated and encouraged and nothing is going your way. This is a young team that gets a lot of energy from scoring points and it’s hard to score against these guys.

I am disappointed in how we responded to challenges early in the first half. Then when the game kind of got away from us, they were able to pick us apart. It seemed like we got a little slower as the game went on, as far as trying to react to what they were doing. Congratulations to Saint Mary’s and it should be a great championship game tomorrow.

The guys played hard for a while. They were really involved in trying to get the game turned around. We looked like we didn’t practice yesterday, which we didn’t. I hope that our guys can understand that there are real challenges out there that you have to be able to mentally prepare for. You’ve got to be able to get your mind and body to do what has to be done to meet those challenges.

We have a young group, and hopefully we will be able to continue to play. We have to learn the process. You think you can avoid it, but its usually the way you grow. We are in a spot right now where I know the guys want to play again and hopefully we will have the opportunity to do it somewhere.

Davin Guinn

On playing against Saint Mary’s this season
It’s tough because it’s two different styles of play going against each other. We aren’t satisfied with the outcome against Saint Mary’s the last three times we have played them. We need to do a better job in adjusting to how they play and still be able to do what we do at the same time.

Elijah Bryant

I think moving forward we have to let it sting and be able to learn and grow from this. Like coach said, we are a young team, but we still have to allow this to sting so it will motivate us for our next game.

They are a great team. But, we have to be able to make them do something else. They were able to do whatever they wanted to do tonight. We weren’t able to make them do something different. They are tough when they are able to do what they do best.â€‹