BYU vs. UT Arlington Postgame Notes

BYU vs. UT Arlington Box Score

BYU vs. UT Arlington Game Recap

BYU vs. UT Arlington Photo Gallery

Player Notes

Eric Mika scored 29 points against UT Arlington and led all scorers. Mika’s string of consecutive games in double-figure scoring now reaches 35. His 23 first-half points are a career-high for him in an opening period of play.

Emery’s 24 points accompany his 20th game this season scoring in double digits.

With a trey in the first half, TJ Haws has now made a 3-pointer in 16 straight games for BYU. He now has 3-plus 3-point field goals in a 16th game this season.

Colby Leifson’s 10 second-half points were a career-high total for the freshman. Along with Leifson, Steven Beo reached a career-high in assists with four, and freshman Zach Frampton recorded his first-career field goal against the Mavericks and finished with a career-best three points.

Davin Guinn’s start against the Mavericks goes down as his first career start in a Cougar uniform. He started four games as a freshman at UC Riverside in 2012-2013.

Team Notes

Rose’s starting five was comprised of Nick Emery, TJ Haws, Eric Mika, Yoeli Childs and Davin Guinn, Guinn claiming the spot of injured Elijah Bryant.

BYU’s 55 first-half points are the most points scored by BYU in a half this season. Mika and Emery had both reached double digits by the close of the first half (23 and 15, respectively).

Four Cougars finished the game having scored in double digits: Mika (29), Emery (24), Haws (11) and Leifson (10). Childs ended with a game-high eight rebounds, and Mika and Emery both ended with seven. Emery led the team with five assists.

Postgame Quotes

BYU Coach Dave Rose

"Congratulations to UTA, and I wish them the best as they progress through the tournament. I think that these two teams were in two different places tonight. UTA was extremely good at executing, and they were a step ahead of us the whole time. We were not reacting quick enough. We had a really hard time getting stops in the first half, and they made some tough shots, but they also got a lot of exactly what they wanted to get. It was us being a step slower."

"One thing that people need to know is that this game is a microcosom of our season as far as personnel issues are concerned. Yoeli was sick all last week, TJ got the same thing last night, and that explains a lot of the step-slow issues. The way our defense is built is that all five guys need to be engaged and anticipating. I thought we could overcome Elijah's injury, but when it came down to it, guys were trying hard, but we just weren’t good enough. I take nothing away from Arlington; they were really good and they put is in difficult situations on every possession. But it was difficult for us."

"My message at halftime was to start the second half much better than the first half. We were not very good starting in either half. Not only did we give up open shots, but we were stagnant offensively. We just stood and took shots that were tough. We just looked tired all night long." 

Nick Emery

“I thought our pace was good to start off the game. What really got us is they scored 60 points in the first half and if you score 60 points in the first half, you’re up for a 120 point game. That’s a lot of points in college basketball. That’s a good team. I hope they go far. They are a bunch of good guys and they play hard.”

“It was part of the game. They pressured us full court. I don’t know if it was a mental thing but we turned the ball over a few times and we have to learn how to go to the next play. We’re a bunch of young guys learning and that’s something we’ll learn and grow in the offseason."

Eric Mika

On defensive problems

“The lineup they have is a tricky lineup to match up with. All their guards are quick and they can finish at the rim. At the same time they were hitting all their 3’s. We felt like we were one step behind to begin the game. They had 15 points in the first four minutes, and then from there they had their confidence and they felt good. They were going to make a lot of shots they took.”

Thoughts on the season

“It was a growing experience for all of us, coaches and players no matter what our role was. Every college basketball season is going to challenging. Every single one is going to be unique and ours was definitely tough. Being young and having a couple key guys go down and battle injuries, it seemed like only a couple guys in practice sometimes could go full speed. It’s tough. In life, the hardest things you go through are always rewarding. We’re all going to be better from this year and that’s how we have to look at it.”​

UT-Arlington head coach Scott Cross 

On the team's high-scoring performance

"It all starts with our point guard. Eric Neil got everybody involved. He made the right decisions and used the pick and roll extremely well. Jalen (Jones) played aggressive and was feeling it even though he's struggled with the three he got in a rhythm and was able to drive and finish it. Hervey is a dynamic player that can score inside and out and usually when we're playing the right way he gets going as well." 

On BYU's offense effort 

"BYU, you have to give them credit. They're hard to guard especially when you have a guy like Mika who can score so well. He was dominant and you have to collapse on him. They have two unbelievable shooters but in the second half we were able to take a guy off of their third guard and help a little bit inside and that slowed them down a little bit. But you don't beat the No. 1 team in the country like they did without having a great basketball team. They can really score but luckily we were able to withstand those runs."

On playing at the Marriott Center 

"It was very hostile, and we knew that coming in. So to hear the crowd when they scored it was hard to overcome that. Luckily our guys were mentally tough in this game but what an absolute, unbelievable home court atmosphere that they have here. It was great to play in it and it got our guys emotions going and got them to play hard in this environment."