Childs, Toolson Combine For 54 Points As BYU Earns Quality Win At Pacific

STOCKTON, California – BYU head coach Mark Pope has always preached that seniors do magical things. On Thursday night, two of Pope’s seniors turned up the magic to lead BYU to their second road win of the season in a 74-60 victory over the Pacific Tigers.

GREAT WIN FOR THE COUGS!!#BYUhoops #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/nCZsclo2qC

— BYU Basketball (@BYUbasketball) January 24, 2020

The final score might indicate that BYU cruised to an easy win, but that wasn’t the case. BYU opened the game down 8-0 and midway through the second half, BYU found themselves down 53-51 with Pacific gaining confidence. But Mark Pope’s team led by seniors Jake Toolson and Yoeli Childs turned on the magic.

BYU reeled off a 21-0 run to take command of the game and ultimately pull away from the Tigers. During the dominant 21-0 run that spanned 7:16 of game time, Toolson scored 14 points highlighted by four threes.

Toolson ended the night with a career-high 29 points, two more than his previous high of 27 earlier in the year against Utah back on December 4th.

Not often do you see a 21-0 run in any game. But to do it on the road against a quality WCC opponent, that was a special run for this #BYU team that definitely gave their NCAA Tournament resume a much needed boost.#BYUhoops @kslsports

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 24, 2020

“That was impressive. [Jake] put on a show in the last 10 minutes and he’s doing it within the context of what we do,” said BYU coach Mark Pope on KSL NewsRadio. “…You’re just happy for all of our guys and especially happy for Jake because he has fought for a long time and has come on such a long road and he understands how big this game is and he surely did perform.”

Dislocated finger, no problem for Yoeli Childs

In his first game back in 19 days, Yoeli Childs was his usual impressive self. Childs finished Thursday’s game with 26 points and nine rebounds on 55 percent shooting from the field.

“He’s really good. This wasn’t a great game for him. Yoeli makes really high shots and he took a few shots tonight that might be the hardest shot I’ve seen in my life. But the thing I was most proud of him for was, this is not a minor injury that he had with his finger. Realistically, there should be some pain and there should be some fear involved getting back on the floor. He didn’t manifest that at all tonight,” Pope said.

Final: @BYUbasketball 74, Pacific 60#BYU is now 15-6 on the season and 7-1 in games when Yoeli Childs plays.

Cougars are 4-2 in the WCC.#BYUhoops #GoCougs

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 24, 2020

“That takes some inner-courage and some care for your team and some determination. I was really, really proud of that tonight. Maybe even more than the numbers just in terms of how he approached the game fearlessly and said he was going to play.”

BYU (15-6, 4-2 WCC) now improves to 7-1 in games that Childs has played in this season. To have 26 points and nine boards after having a dislocated right index finger, it was a great performance against a Pacific team that was looking to play physical throughout the game.

Stats of the Night

23.1% – BYU limited Pacific to 23 percent from three-point range. On the other side, BYU was 50 percent from deep.

-1 – Pacific entered Thursday night’s game as the seventh best rebounding team in the country and the Tigers only out-rebounded BYU by one board. Speaks to the impact of having Childs back in the lineup and the overall defensive effort.

Hilltop Up Next

BYU now travels to San Francisco to take on the USF Dons at War Memorial Gymnasium. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. (MST) this Saturday with Cougar Sports Saturday on KSL NewsRadio getting things started on 12 p.m. on 102.7 FM.

As BYU’s seniors shine in a thrilling comeback victory over the Pacific Tigers, their performance highlights the importance of resilience and determination in sports. This theme of overcoming challenges is also evident in broader contexts, such as environmental issues. For instance, June has recorded the highest level of wildfires in the Amazon in 15 years, raising concerns about deforestation and its impact on climate change. Just as the BYU players demonstrated their ability to rise to the occasion, the urgency to address environmental crises underscores the need for collective action and commitment to sustainable practices.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.