BYU Cruises For Second Straight Win Over Utah
Dec 8, 2018, 3:09 PM
Brigham Young Cougars forward Yoeli Childs (23) goes to the hoop against Utah Utes forward Novak Topalovic (13) at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
(Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – BYU’s successful starts in the first and second half of the game was the difference in their second straight win over Utah 74-59 in the Beehive Classic.
Yoeli Childs led the Cougars with a season-high 31 points and 11 rebounds. He is the last BYU player to score 30 points in three straight games since Jimmer Fredette.
Childs is the first BYU player to score 30-plus in three-straight games since Jimmer Fredette, who had 30-plus in his last five games as a Cougar #BYUhoops
— BYU Game Notes (@BYUGameNotes) December 8, 2018
“It is an honor to even be mentioned with Jimmer,” Childs said after the game.
T.J. Haws added 18 points and six rebounds while Zac Seljaas chipped in 14 points.
BYU shot 56 percent in the second half.
Sedrick Barefield with 16 points as the Utes shot just 36 percent from the field.
Childs Hot Shooting First Half
BYU relied heavily on Yoeli Childs to start the game as he scored the first 12 points. It took the Cougars over eight minutes before another player scored a basket as Zac Seljaas added seven points with Childs.
The Cougars held the lead for most of the first half with Utah’s largest being only one point. BYU’s largest lead was five points before they took a 32-28 lead into the locker room.
Childs finished the first half with 15 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 6-of-7 from the field. BYU shot just 37 percent from the field and 30 percent from the three-point line making only 3 of their 10 attempts.
The Utes didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half either, hitting just 38 percent of their field goals.
BYU Reaches Double Digit Lead In Second Half
BYU took their biggest lead of the game 43-28 on a 13-0 run six minutes into the second half as they got a lift from Childs, Seljaas and Haws connecting on three-pointers.
Childs had 23 points and 8 rebounds with 12 minutes left in the game, it was the seventh time this season that he has scored over 20 points.
He threw down a monstrous dunk with over two Utah defenders with 11 minutes left in the game that fired up the BYU fans and carried the momentum from the for the rest of the game.
WITH NO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE!!!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀#SCTop10 | #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/Cs0O2WnZA8— BYU Basketball (@BYUbasketball) December 8, 2018
Childs didn’t want to reflect on the dunk when he spoke to the media after the game.
“It was a great pass by T.J. (Haws),” Childs said. “I knew that would fire up our team and our fans.”
TJ Haws put the lead back out to 14 after converting a four-point play from being fouled on a three-point attempt.
“We needed to come out in the second half with a run,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose.
That was all that BYU needed as they won their second straight game over Utah.
When you have BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK 3️⃣1️⃣ point games!#GoCougs | #BYUhoops pic.twitter.com/p80FZX2Yuf
— BYU Basketball (@BYUbasketball) December 8, 2018
Next Up
BYU improved to 7-4 on the season and have won their last three games. They will play Portland State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on BYUtv and KSL News Radio.
