BYU vs. Niagara Postgame Notes

BYU vs. Niagara Game Story

BYU vs. Niagara Photo Gallery

BYU vs. Niagara Box Score

Player Notes

• Elijah Bryant's 22 points gave him at least 20 points for the third time this season. He also pulled down a season-high seven rebounds. Bryant went 13 of 14 from the free throw line and has made 30 of 33 foul shots in the last three games.
• Luke Worthington's 11 points were a season-high and marked the second double-digit scoring game of his career.
• Yoeli Childs' 21 points marked a season high and the second 20-point game of his career.
• TJ Haws (season-high 18 points) and Bryant continued their runs of scoring in double figures in each game this season.
• With his 3-pointer early in the first half, Haws extended his streak of consecutive games with a 3 to 20. His streak is tied with Jonathan Tavernari's for the ninth-longest in program history.
• Zac Seljaas hit a 3-pointer late in the first half to extend his streak of consecutive games with a 3 to 14.
• Jahshire Hardnett made his first start for the Cougars.

Team Notes

• BYU scored 64 points in the second half for their first 60-point half since Dec. 2, 2014 at Utah State. Earlier that same season, the Cougars tallied 66 in a half against Chaminade.
• After going 2 of 6 from 3-point range in the first half, BYU made 5 of 6 in the second half.
• BYU scored 31 bench points compared to 11 for Niagara. 

Quotes

BYU head coach Dave Rose

I think that was a competitive game and we learned a lot about ourselves. We had to overcome some personnel issues. Elijah (Bryant) played on a sore foot but did well for use. Jahshire (Hardnett) stepped in and did well. It was a good learning experience and a good win.

Why such a big scoring difference in the two halves?

We had a hard time early in the game of reading what they were doing on defense and making the right play. I think we had 10 turnovers. We did better of recognizing it and making the right decision in the second half.

Did you plan on doing more in the paint offensively tonight?

Yes. We probably left a lot of points on the board last game in terms of shooting and missing a lot of 3s. I like that we got it down low to our big guys today. Luke (Worthington) was good all night. Yoeli (Childs) was great down the stretch.

What effect does Elijah Bryant have when he's on the court?

He’s one of our captains and one of our most experienced guys. He’s a good player and we need him on the floor. We’ll see how his foot is after tonight, because he’s pretty sore. Hopefully he’ll be ready to help us on Friday.

Yoeli Childs

I think we learned a lot from the last game. We weren’t in the right positions defensively, especially on the help side and we just figured how to get into those spots better and trust each other more. We weren’t worried about “my guy’s not scoring” but “this guy is not scoring on the team”.

So I think we learned a lot that game and that tells a lot about this team. Can we take a loss and turn the next game into a win from it? Can we learn from it throughout the season and not make one loss turn into two losses? So I think everyone did a great job of learning from that, the coaches put a great plan together and the players did a great job in trusting each other.

Luke Worthington

Was it your game plan to get the ball in the paint more?

The coaches came out directly and said they thought this would be an important game for us down low and we knew that we had an advantage. Thankfully we have a team that trusts in each other, so when there is an advantage on one end, we’re going to go for it. The guards were throwing the ball down there, so we’re just happy that we got the win and that we could contribute down low.

Niagara head coach Chris Casey

We lost. I thought we did some good things. We got some tough calls and some tough spots. I thought we played our hearts out like we usually do. We were a couple plays away from having a lead down the stretch instead of fighting from behind. I was proud of what our guys did but disappointed in the result.

How did BYU's 1-3-1 zone affect you?

We're not a big team and they are a very big team. I thought we got a lot of looks against it. We did make some plays against it but the length in that zone bothered us.