Postgame notes: BYU 79, Dayton 75 (OT)

The following notes and quotes from BYU men’s basketball 79-75 overtime victory over Dayton on Friday evening in the seventh place game at the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis.

Series Results: BYU leads 3-0 including a 2-0 record at neutral sites

Attendance: 715

TEAM NOTES

Cardiac Cougs

After trailing by 23 points with 6:01 remaining in the first half, BYU outscored the the Flyers 70-43 over the rest of the game for its second largest comeback in program history.

Being Careful with the Ball

After struggling with turnovers in the opening games of the season, BYU had a season-low 11 turnovers in Friday’s come-from-behind victory over Dayton.

Reconnecting From Long Range

BYU made a season-high 13 3-pointers in the win, less than 24 hours after shooting 3-of-20 against Butler. Six different Cougars connected from deep including career-high performances from Jaxson Robinson, Dalling Hall and Richie Saunders.

PLAYERS NOTES

Getting the Call Up

With Spencer Johnson missing just the second game of his BYU career, Noah Waterman made his first career start for the Cougars. It was the junior’s 35th career start after making 29 starts at Detroit Mercy and five as a true freshman at Niagara.

Big Game George

After a slow start, Gideon George scored 19 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and overtime continuing his string of strong second half performances. He made a season-high three 3-pointers, the 14th time he has made three or more triples in a single game.

Ice in His Veins

George a 90.0 percent free throw in the last two minutes of regulation and overtime went 4-of-6 from the charity stripe during that time span to help the Cougars pick up their fourth win of the season.

About That Action

Jaxson Robinson scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half and overtime including a pair of 3-pointers in the overtime period. He also tied a career-high with four triples, set earlier this week against USC.

First Time for Fouss

Fousseyni Traore finished with six points and 10 rebounds but was called for five fouls, the first time the sophomore has fouled out during his collegiate career.

Saunders Steps Up

Richie Saunders played a career-high 26 minutes for the Cougars, finishing with eight points, three assists and two blocks. He also made a pair of 3-pointers for the second time in his career.

Dallin Dialed In

Dallin Hall scored in double figures for the first time in his career on Friday as the freshman was 5-of-11 from the field and 2-of-4 from 3-point range. He also had a season-high five assists.

SEASON HIGH

Points: Gideon George (21)
Field Goals: Gideon George (6)
3-point Field Goals: Gideon George (3)
Free Throws:
Steals: Gideon George (2), Fousseyni Traore (2)
Assists:
Defensive Rebounds: Fousseyni Traore (8)
Blocks: Rudi Williams (1)
Rebounds:
Minutes Played: Fousseyni Traore (32)

CAREER HIGHS

Points: Dallin Hall (12)
Field Goals: Trey Stewart (1), Richie Saunders (3), Jaxson Robinson (5), Dallin Hall (5)
3-point Field Goals: Trey Stewart (1), Dallin Hall (2), Richie Saunders (2), Jaxson Robinson (4)
Free throws Gideon George (6)
Blocks: Richie Saunders (2)
Assists: Richie Saunders (3), Dallin Hall (5)
Steals: Richie Atiki Ally Atiki (1)
Minutes Played: Richie Saunders (26), Dallin Hall (30), Jaxson Robinson (33), Gideon George (37)

QUOTES

Mark Pope

What changed in the second half?

“I probably didn’t do a great job preparing us for this game. So much of it is our headspace and we really started out on our heels. We were trying to play cautious. We have some holes in our game that we are trying to fix so that made them a little cautious. Our players are so hungry to improve and do it together. It’s pretty special.”

What did this tournament teach about your team?

“We have a long way to go if we are going to be relevant. But we can also travel great distances in short time. Our first night we weren’t great. Our competitive nature wasn’t great. We really struggled. Last night, our competitive spirit was excellent, for example we took one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the country and will just sheer effort and will, we end up with 17 offensive rebounds. Tonight, these guys manage to put two things together with competitive spirit and execution. They can get better, they are hungry to get better.”

Dallin Hall

Opening Statement

“Tonight was a great night. We showed a lot of fight and came back. A lot of guys stepped up and made shots. Coach helped us by putting the right players in and put is in the right position so we could have a comeback victory.”

When did you think you could come back and win?

“I think tonight showed a lot about our character and shows that we can always come back and win. I feel like when they jumped us early and then we had a timeout, Coach Pope told us that we needed to compete. We had a few defensive rebounds, where we really boxed out and got out and ran. After that I felt like wehad a chance at winning. We just had to do it one possession at a time and it was a process. With this group of guys, I feel like we always have a chance at winning. “

Jaxson Robinson

With Spencer Johnson out, who did you look for leadership during the game?

“I didn’t feel like it was one person on the team, I feel like it was everybody. They had to contribute in a way, whether that be on the bench or on the court. I think everyone did a great job of that in the second half. The first half was really rough for us and we all knew it. All you can do is crawl and fight back, that is what we did and got the win.”

When did you think you could come back and win?

“Honestly the second half in general. The whole second half. It was a rough first half and I knew that everyone felt down. We all knew that we couldn’t go out like that. We knew that we had to fight and that is exactly what we did.”

What has changed for during this tournament that has helped you score more?

“I don’t think anything has changed. I am shooter and as a shooter you have to stay confident. My teammates and coaches have instilled that confidence in me and tell me to keep shooting no matter what. Just keeping that confidence is the biggest thing whether you are making the shots or not. “