Montana Tech (4-3) at BYU (5-3)
Saturday, 1 p.m. MST
Marriott Center
TV: BYUtv
Radio: 1160 AM, 102.7 FM
PROVO — No more sunny skies, soothing temperatures, golden beaches, emerald waters and swaying palm trees of Hawaii. It’s back to the cold and snow of Utah.
And for the first time since a win over Southern Utah on Nov. 13, BYU returns to the Marriott Center Saturday.
In their last five games away from Provo, the Cougars won three, posting a 2-1 record in the Maui Invitational to earn a surprising third-place finish.
During its time in Lahaina, BYU earned impressive wins over UCLA of the Pac-12 and Virginia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and suffered a loss to No. 4 Kansas of the Big 12 in between.
The Cougars (5-3) were thrilled with their 90-77 victory over Virginia Tech Wednesday.
”We don’t fly out until noon (Thursday),” coach Mark Pope told reporters after the game. “So we’re about to party all night long.”
Then tournament director Dave Odom jokingly interjected, “Remember, you’re Mormon.”
”Yes, we are,” Pope replied. “It’s a non-alcoholic party for the next 16 hours, baby. We know how to do that.”
Now the Cougars (5-3) host Montana Tech (4-3) Saturday in a game that tips off at 1 p.m. and will be televised by BYUtv.
BYU is looking to build on the momentum they established in Maui. What did the Cougars learn about themselves while playing at the Lahaina Civic Center?
“It’s a learning experience for us and I feel like when, what I’m taking away so far is when we really put our trust in this game plan and the things that we have been working on, we’re a really good team,” said guard TJ Haws, who scored a season-high 20 points against Virginia Tech. “And we move the ball and share the ball and when we guard defensively like we did, we’re a really good team. It showed in the second half when we were, when we had things rolling a little bit. When we do what we do and do the things that we practice every single day, we’re a really good team.”
Pope said it was important for his team to leave Hawaii with two wins, rather than just one, at the Maui Invitational.
“It’s so big. It’s just so big for these guys … Probably post-game it probably looked like we won the tournament championship,” Pope said. “But for us to roll out of here, claiming third place in a tournament that’s just ridiculously stacked and minus what people on paper say is our best player (Yoeli Childs), and to beat this Virginia Tech team, what they have done? I mean, it’s crazy what they have done this year so far, culminating in beating Michigan State. And then everybody saw it tonight how good this Dayton team is that they lost to (Tuesday). This Dayton team is probably a top-10 team right now. So this Virginia Tech team is a great team. For us to be able to come here and beat UCLA and Virginia Tech and get a little bit humbled and learn from Kansas is huge for us because our goal is to keep rolling.”
Among the highlights for BYU from the Maui Invitational — forward Kolby Lee averaged 12 points and 2.7 rebounds in the three games and shot 85 percent (17 of 20) from the field.
Haws scored 17 points in the second half against Virginia Tech when the Cougars pulled away, including 13 in a row during one stretch. For the game, he hit 4 of 7 from 3-point territory. As a team, BYU knocked down 17 of 34 from 3 in that game.
The Cougars’ ball movement and shot selection against Virginia Tech was about as good as it’s been all season.
Hokies’ coach Mike Young was impressed with BYU.
“Well, needless to say, Brigham Young has a very good basketball team with a heck of a coach. I think a lot of Mark,” he said. “And what they do offensively is difficult and I was worried about some coverages, and I thought we did a fair job. Nine first half threes is embarrassing, but I thought we did a fair job in certain sequences of the half. In the second half, they played like old people and we played like little fellas and they got the best of us.”
After hosting Montana Tech, the Cougars have a challenging December with games against Utah (Dec. 4), UNLV (Dec. 7), Nevada (Dec. 10), Utah State (Dec. 14), Weber State (Dec. 21) and Oral Roberts (Dec. 28) before entering West Coast Conference play in January.