Postgame Notes: BYU 66, Missouri State 64

The following notes and quotes are from BYU men’s basketball 66-64 win over Missouri State Wednesday evening at the Marriott Center in Provo. 

Series Results: BYU leads 3-1, 2-1 in Provo

Attendance: 12,587

TEAM NOTES

Jaxson The Starter

Jaxson Robinson scored the first bucket of the game for the Cougars. His first time doing that with BYU. 

Getting Everyone Involved

All 10 players that saw the court on Wednesday scored, including two players who reached double figures. 

Protect This House

With Wednesday’s win over the Bears, BYU has now won 10 straight non-conference home games dating back to 2020. 

Defend Until The Buzzer

BYU forced Missouri State to three shot clock violations.

Cougs At The Half

BYU improved to 2-1 when leading at halftime after holding a one-point advantage over the Bears after the opening 20 minutes. 

Bench Showing Out

The Cougar bench scored a season-high 32 points against the Bears, six more than they scored in the opening two games combined. 

Block Party

BYU had a season-high 9 blocks against the Bears.

70 for the Ol’ Ball Coach

Head coach Mark Pope won his 70th game at BYU in just 97 games, he becomes the second-fastest to reach the mark behind Dave Rose (94 games). 

PLAYERS NOTES

Noah Waterman Making it Rain

Noah Waterman scored a team-high 15 points, going 5-of-6 from behind the arc including making his first five attempts. 

Atiki ‘Doing it’ Ally Atiki 

Sophomore Atiki Alli Atiki had a career night against the Bears, pulling down 11 rebounds with five of those coming on the offensive glass. 

Deck The Hall 

Dallin Hall finished with a career-high six points, no more important than his floater with less than two seconds to lift the Cougars to victory. 

Spencer on a Streak

Spencer Johnson finished with 10 points, marking the first time in his career that he has scored in double figures in three consecutive games. 

BYU CAREER HIGHS

• Points: Noah Waterman (15)
• Field Goals: Noah Waterman (5)
• 3-Point Field Goals: Noah Waterman (5) 

CAREER HIGHS

• Points: Dallin Hall (6)
• Field Goals: Noah Waterman (5)
• Free Throws: Dallin Hall (4)
• 3-pointers: Noah Waterman (5)
• Offensive Rebounds: Atiki Ally Atiki (5)
• Rebounds Atiki Ally Atiki (11)
• Blocks: Gideon George (3)
• Assists: Trey Stewart (2) 
• Minutes Played: Dallin Hall (18) 

QUOTES

Mark Pope

On the improvement of Dallin Hall since he got home from his mission

“He wants to get better like everyone on our team. Dallin is really hungry to do that. He really wants to get better and wants to be a great player. He is super passionate about that.”

On Dallin Hall’s game-winning shot

“It’s a huge play by a young player. I am super proud of him.”

Noah Waterman

Opening Statement

“I think we played a good game. It was a little too close. I don’t like these close games but we always end up pulling through at the end. Dallin Hall had a very big shot for a freshman. That was big time. Overall, I think we can improve a little bit on our rebounding and thrust in the first half. Atiki with 11 rebounds. He helped us in the second half and our thrust picked up and I think that is why we won the game.”

On his hot shooting night

“It felt really good. Especially because the past couple of games I was really frustrated with my shot. Coming into this game I was just getting extra shots in after practice all the time. It paid off today.”