PROVO — BYU avenged a loss to Pacific three weeks ago with an 80-65 victory over the Tigers Saturday night in the Marriott Center.
BYU (18-5, 7-3) holds its spot in third place in the WCC with the win as the Cougars prepare for a road trip to Loyola Marymount and Gonzaga next week. Pacific (10-12, 5-4) led for most of the first half, but couldn't handle the Cougars' hot shooting in the second half.
Turning point: BYU's Dalton Nixon took a charge with the game tied 44-all, and just minutes later made a layup while being fouled to give the Cougars a 3-point lead with 12:30 left in the game. Those points were his only points of the game.
The hero: Elijah Bryant had an excellent game: 28 points on 8-of-9 shooting with seven rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal.
3 keys:
• Yoeli Childs and Bryant combined for 54 points. The rest of the Cougars had just 26 points.
• While TJ Haws struggled with his shooting (0 of 5 from the 3-point line), he did have a game-high seven assists.
• BYU used a 16-2 run to take a 55-46 lead with 9:39 left in the game.
BYU almanac: Won 1
Next 3:
Thursday at Loyola Marymount (6-15, 1-9), 9 p.m. (AT&T SportsNet)
Saturday at Gonzaga (19-4, 9-1), 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Feb. 8 vs. Santa Clara (7-14, 4-5), 9 p.m. (ESPNU)