BYU vs. Montana Tech postgame notes

Kolby Lee shoots a free throw against Montana Tech in the Marriott Center.

Individual Notes

Shooting 100 percent in the first half, TJ Haws tallied 15 points while hitting 4-4 from behind the arc. Haws tied his season-high six assists and added two rebounds to his stat line.

Jake Toolson led the team with 17 points and recorded four rebounds, one block, one steal and one assist. His three treys made it the fourth game this season he has hit three or more.

Zac Seljaas scored a season-high 14 points while adding six rebounds, two steals and one assist.

Scoring in double-figures for the fourth-consecutive game, Kolby Lee tallied 11 points, four defensive rebounds, one assist and one block.

Dalton Nixon and Alex Barcelo each recorded nine points. Barcelo also grabbed a season-best six rebounds while Nixon added five boards.

Team Notes

In the first half BYU only missed six shots, recording a season-best 73.9 percent from the field – tied for the seventh-best first half field goal percentage in program history – compared to Montana Tech’s 38.2 percent.

On the game, the Cougars recorded 68.6 percent from the field, the sixth-best single-game percentage in program history. Defensively, BYU held the Orediggers to 43.1 percent from the field, 53.3 percent from beyond the arc and 50.0 percent from the charity stripe.

BYU’s 98 points is the highest total scored this season. The Cougars also recorded 22 points off turnovers and 37 from the bench for new season highs.

Postgame Quotes

BYU head coach Mark Pope

"I’m proud of our guys. We’ve come in here a few times and talked about the ball being sticky and it certainly was not sticky tonight. We’re bordering on overpassing, which is such a tribute to these young men; they played hard. Adam is a great coach and it was really fun to have him back. He had a great run at Westminster and he’s doing a great job with this team. It was nice to be back in our home gym. I’m excited to move forward from here and see what we can do."

On Montana Tech

"Montana Tech is not a bad team. They beat Montana at Montana this year, which is really remarkable. It is not easy to go there and win. I know that team and I know Travis, the coach at Montana, really well, it’s a great program. They’ve already knocked off a Division I team and they have the capability to score, so we knew that it would be a game. We haven’t been back in our gym for awhile so it was just good to be back. You’re always concerned about coming back from a long trip. We were gone for almost a week and we played three games; it almost felt like we were in a different world for a little while. To come back and get back to our normal routine has been really good for us. And this was a good opportunity for us as we are walking into a tough stretch outside of our gym where we play some great teams and where there will be some heated games. This was really important to get our legs back. Finally, it was a remarkable day because it was game nine and we’ve had game nine circled on our calendar for a long time. We’ll get a little injection of Yoeli into our roster and that’ something we’ve been looking forward to since the summer."

On how valuable it has been for the team to learn to play without Yoeli

"It’s been incredibly valuable for both us and Yoeli. Clearly, we have 35 minutes a game that has been spread out between guys that have showed tremendous growth. The growth we’ve seen in Dalton Nixon, Zac Seljaas, Kolby Lee, Connor Harding and Jake Toolson finding his place on this team has been really remarkable over the first nine games. Maybe that’s a little muted if Yoeli is in there being a dominant force on the court. It’s been really great for Yoeli to observe this team grow and for him to think about how right now this locker room is really special and the energy our team has and the energy they play with is really special and this kind of defensive intensity has been really special and this sharing of the ball. Last game we tied the all-time BYU record for most 3s made in a game, anything all-time at BYU is really hard to do, and today we had the sixth highest field goal percentage in the history of BYU basketball. That doesn’t just come by mistake, it doesn’t just come back-to-back and it doesn’t just come because guys are banging shots, it’s because of the way these guys are playing together. Yoeli has been able to observe that, see how it works and how much he wanted that feel last year and he’s walking into that right now, so it’ll be special."

BYU guard Zac Seljaas

On Yoeli coming back

"It’s awesome, we’ve missed him. He’s been in practice and everything, but he just hasn’t been in games. It’s kind of weird and he’s a brother, so it’ll be fun to have him back on the floor with us and to have him fight. Especially with the big rivalry, coming back for that will be awesome. It will be fun to have him back."

On lineup changes with Yoeli coming back

"We haven’t talked about it. It’ll be all the same. We’re not going to make dramatic changes, but things will happen. Whatever Coach decides, we trust him and we’re going to follow him. We believe in what he says and we believe in each other as well. We’re going to do those things that he asks."

BYU guard TJ Haws

On going 6-3 without Yoeli

"I think it’s great. This team has grown a lot since the beginning of the season and we’ve learned a ton. Every day, every game we’re getting better and we’re learning. We’re trusting each other more and trusting in coach a lot. I feel good about the state of our team right now and hopefully we can bring Yoeli in and continue to get better."

On playing four games in six days

"We’re feeling it, our bodies are a little banged up. Those were tough fun games that we played in Hawaii and that was a battle tonight. It’s always good to have a Sunday off and get some rest so we’ll be ready for the fun week ahead."

On not letting up on Montana Tech

"Playing a team like this, we went into this game and as if it was about us because we’re trying to get better every single day and we’re trying to improve. They beat a D1 team earlier this year, so we knew they would come in and bring a fight. We knew if we did what we do and handled our business, then we were going to win the game. We’re trying to get better every single day."