BYU vs. Portland Postgame Notes

BYU vs. Portland Box Score

BYU vs. Portland Game Recap

Player notes

TJ Haws tallied his first career double-double with a career-high 14 assists to go along with 13 points in the game. His 14 assists tied the BYU record for most assists without a turnover in BYU history and are the third-most in a single game in team history.  

Dalton Nixon also recorded his first career double-double finishing the night with 14 total points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

Zac Seljaas recorded a season high of 21 points going a perfect 5 for 5 from the 3-point range. He also added six rebounds in the game. His five made 3s without a miss are tied for the second-most makes from deep in a single game in BYU history.

Team Notes

The Cougars hit 15 3-pointers in the game, tying for third-most made in a single game in BYU history. BYU put up nine treys for a 64.3 clip in the first half of the game.

In the first half, the BYU bench composed of Seljaas, Connor Harding and Trevin Knell went 5 for 6 from behind the arc. 

The Cougars 51 points before halftime tied the season high for points in a first half.

Both Haws and Jake Toolson posted career-high assists with 14 and eight, respectively, helping the Cougars finish with a new season high of 29 total assists in the game.

Six BYU players scored in double figures for the second time this season (Virginia Tech).

Postgame Quotes

BYU head coach Mark Pope

On multiple contributions from supporting players
It’s crucial to who we are. On Thursday, we had our lowest assist opportunities number, which is really the marker we track more than assists. Today we had 53 assist opportunities, which is a season high. It’s something we’ve addressed the past couple of days. There are so many guys to talk about tonight, but you look at TJ Haws with 14-0 (assists-turnovers) and Jake Toolson with 8-0 (assists-turnovers). That is a team that’s really hard to guard. There is a belief that we have to continue working on that in the biggest moments. The way for us to be successful is to make the simple play.

These second games are hard. You saw what happened at Saint Mary’s tonight. This is a hard league. There is all kinds of craziness. The league is insane these first two weeks. We certainly had some fatigue on the floor from 16 to 8 minutes in the second half of this game. The guys responded really well to that. I was incredibly proud of this start. Our biggest job was to help our guys rehabilitate their hearts and souls to be ready to compete. That start is inductive that we are still making great progress.

On being without Yoeli Childs
It’s way more complicated than it looks. It’s made easier because we have veteran guys and have gone back and forth now. Defensively to start this game, our guys were locked in and physical. All the adjustments that our guys have to make, it's a credit to them because they are veterans that understand the game.

On Zac Seljaas' role
His intensity never goes away. Our team can feed off his energy. He’s going to win us more games. It’s really wonderful for him because he’s getting payoff for all the capital he’s put in.

On TJ Haws' performance
TJ is a really advanced player. My evaluation of him gets really critical because he is at so high of a level. I thought his effort in the second half of Saint Mary’s was really courageous. Tonight, the way he responded to addressing those issues was really spectacular. He is a really special player.

Senior Forward Dalton Nixon

On the fast start and getting a big lead
It was a great start. It started on the defensive end. We knew that Portland was a really good team. They got up early on Gonzaga and we wanted to set the tone early. Defensively, we were focused and made our shots. That team fought back, but I think we did a great job of responding throughout the game.

On the assists and sharing the ball
It was based on how Portland guards. We needed to share the ball and keep it moving. TJ Haws and Jake Toolson had tons of assists with zero turnovers so they were huge for us tonight with their passing.

On his first double-double
It feels good. I was talking to Yoeli Childs at the end and I told him, ‘Man this really does feel nice.’ Guys step up, we’re all going to step up, we’re all going to play for each other. That’s our goal, to fight and play for each other.

Senior Guard Zac Seljaas

On going 5 for 5 from behind the arc
Well, they were going in I guess. It was because of TJ Haws and Jake Toolson. They were passing the ball and getting everyone open shots. We were moving the ball, getting open shots and playing really well defensively. We hit them in transition where we could get a lot of open shots.

On his role on the team
It’s been a journey. I’ve been doing different things each year and changing positions. It’s been awesome. I’ve loved being able to learn new things. I’ve been able to be like Dalton Nixon and basically be like a Swiss Army Knife.