Cougar Tipoff set for Wednesday

PROVO, Utah – After several weeks of practice, BYU men’s basketball will give fans a first glimpse at the 2017-18 team at the annual Papa John’s Cougar Tipoff Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. MDT in the Marriott Center.

BYU coach Dave Rose returns four players with starting experience from last season’s squad and 10 total letterwinners – four of whom recently returned from LDS missions.

Sophomores TJ Haws and Yoeli Childs were recently named to the All-WCC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team at the annual WCC Basketball Tip-Off. Haws earned All-WCC First Team and Freshman Team honors after averaging 13.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.0 steal in 2016-17. Childs earned All-WCC Freshman Team honors while posting averages of 9.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.

Also returning are junior guards Nick Emery and Elijah Bryant. Emery averaged 13.1 points and a team-best 1.6 steals while starting 33 of 34 games in 2016-17. Bryant played in 23 games and started nine and averaged 11.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists.

Headlining the four returned missionaries is sophomore guard Zac Seljaas. As a freshman in 2015-16, Seljaas averaged 7.6 points and 2.9 rebounds and shot a BYU freshman record 50.0 percent from 3 while hitting 68 treys, third all-time for a Cougar freshman.

Greg Wrubell and Mark Durrant will be on the headsets to provide live coverage on the BYU Sports Network. Their live call will be available on Sirius XM 143, ESPN 960 AM and BYUcougars.com. Coverage will begin at 7 p.m. MDT.

BYU Broadcasting will air the game live online at BYUtv.org and YouTube.com. BYUtv Sports Nation’s Spencer Linton and Jarom Jordan will call the action.

The event is free to the public and includes a fan fest from 5 to 7 p.m. on the Marriott Center concourse. The fan fest will include face painting, poster making, inflatables and more. In addition to the fan fast, there will also be a halftime giveaway. Player introductions will begin at 7 p.m. and the game will tip at 7:05 p.m.

BYU plays its first of three exhibitions on Friday, Oct. 27, at New Mexico. The Cougars then host two exhibitions, the first being Wednesday, Nov. 1, against Westminster. The second exhibition will be played Wednesday, Nov. 8, against Colorado College. Both home exhibitions tip at 7 p.m. MT and will be televised on BYUtv and broadcast on the Cougar IMG Sports Network, KSL 102.7 FM and 1160 AM and BYU Radio Sirius XM 143.