BYU falls short 83-82 at San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO – The BYU men’s basketball team fell short 83-82 against San Francisco on Saturday afternoon at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.

BYU vs. San Francisco Box Score

“This one is really painful. There is no doubt about it," BYU head coach Mark Pope said. "These guys deserve a better coach than they had tonight. We have some things to figure out and to be more mobile with our adjustments. We will go and get better and improve. Our guys showed great heart and fight which they always show to try and claw their way back in it. We just couldn’t quite seal it.”

TJ Haws led the offense with 20 points and four assists while Yoeli Childs followed with 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Jake Toolson recorded 17 points, three rebounds and three assists and Alex Barcello tallied 14 points and three rebounds.

After a scoreless first two minutes of play, Childs made the first basket before the Dons (15-7, 4-3 WCC) took an early 5-4 advantage. With 15:37 on the clock, Childs added his first 3-pointer of the game to give the Cougars (15-7, 4-3 WCC) a 9-5 lead.

San Francisco managed to hit back-to-back treys to even the game at 20-all with nearly 10 minutes remaining in the first half. However, Childs quickly responded with another bucket from beyond the arc to keep the advantage with BYU as the Cougars went on to score four more 3-pointers to hold a 35-24 lead with 6:39 on the clock.

A dunk by Dalton Nixon was followed by another trey as he scored five-straight to extend BYU’s lead to 40-29. The Dons went on a 9-0 run to bring the score to a one-possession game, 40-38, with just over a minute before halftime.

The Cougars closed the half with a pair of free throws by Barcello and a long 3-pointer by Toolson to take a 45-38 lead into the locker room. BYU shot 56.7 percent from the field in the first half compared to San Francisco’s 48.4 percent.

The Cougar defense held the Dons scoreless in the first three minutes of the second half while extending their lead back to double-digits, 54-40, as Toolson scored seven-straight.

San Francisco went on a 21-0 run over a six-minute span to take a 61-54 lead. A Barcello trey stopped the run and was followed with a Haws jumper, but three-consecutive buckets from beyond the arc by the Dons gave them an 11-point advantage, 70-59, with seven minutes left to play.

A dunk by Childs slowed the San Francisco offensive run and then Haws converted on a 3-point play to bring the score to 72-64 with four minutes remaining.

Barcello hit a 3-pointer and coming out of a timeout, Childs recorded a steal and the possession resulted in a quick trey by Haws to make it a four-point game, 77-73.

With under a minute to go, Haws stole the ball and scored on the fast break to make it a one-possession game. The Dons finished at the charity stripe down the stretch as San Francisco claimed the one-point victory.

On the game, BYU shot 51.7 percent from the field, 55.6 percent from 3 and 70.0 percent from the charity stripe. San Francisco recorded 54.5 percent from the field, 52.0 percent from beyond the arc and 90.9 percent from the free-throw line.

The Cougars return to the Marriott Center to host Pepperdine on Thursday, Jan. 30, at 6:30 p.m. MST. The game will be live on CBS Sports Network with audio broadcasts available on BYU Radio (Sirius XM 143/89.1 FM), BYU Sports Network and KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM.

Postgame Notes

With today's start, TJ Haws now owns the BYU record for consecutive games started at 123, passing former Cougar great Jeff Chatman. Haws has played in and started every game since arriving on campus.

Haws also moved up to 10th all-time in scoring and ninth in steals. He is also fourth in 3-point field goals made and fifth in assists.

For the fourth time this season, BYU made nine 3-pointers in the first half. The Cougars also made nine in the first half against Virginia Tech, UNLV and Portland.

BYU shot 56.7 percent from the field in the first half, its ninth first half this season shooting 50.0 percent or better.

BYU finished the game with 15 3-point field goals, its 10th game this season with 10-plus 3-point field goals. Only four teams in program history have made double-digit 3s in 10-plus games: 2015-16 (13), 2010-11 (12), 2014-15 (12), 2007-08 (11)

Postgame Quotes

BYU forward Kolby Lee

On moving forward

“Obviously it hurts but we have a great locker room. We will let it hurt for just a little bit but next week is a new challenge and new opportunities to turn the page and get better. Our number one goal is to get better every single day.”

BYU head coach Mark Pope

On moving forward

"We have a lot of progress to make and I have a ton of faith in our guys and our locker room. We have guys that are really invested and we will get better. We clearly have to get better."