BYU, Yoeli Childs put on record-setting first-half shooting display on way to 91-61 win over Weber State

PROVO — Yoeli Childs couldn’t miss and his teammates weren’t far behind him. 

BYU’s senior forward shot a perfect 10 of 10 in the first half Saturday night against Weber State, setting a school record for most field goals in a half without a miss. In fact, Childs recorded more field goals over the first 20 minutes than the Wildcats (9). 

Meanwhile, as a team, the Cougars also set a school record by shooting 80% in the first half (20 of 25). 

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Thanks to that torrid first-half shooting performance, BYU build a huge halftime lead and cruised to an overwhelming 91-61 victory over Weber State at the Marriott Center. 

“It’s a good feeling when your shots are falling like that,” said Childs, who finished with a game-high 28 points on 11 of 13 shooting to go along with eight rebounds. “My teammates and coaches put a lot of confidence in me ... The confidence that they give me helps my game a lot.”

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Childs out-dueled WSU guard Jerrick Harding, who scored a team-high 27 points.

As a team, BYU shot 62.5% and four other Cougars scored in double figures — Alex Barcello (18), Dalton Nixon (11), Connor Harding (11) and Jake Toolson (10). TJ Haws scored nine points and had eight assists. 

“We were just sharing the ball, guys were hitting open shots, Yoeli was killing it down low and we were really pushing in transition,” Barcello said. “We shot extremely well tonight. I think we always do. We have weapons at every position. This is the best shooting team that I’ve played on.”

“We were just sharing the ball, guys were hitting open shots, Yoeli was killing it down low and we were really pushing in transition.” — BYU guard Alex Barcello

BYU (10-4) avenged last year’s bitter 113-103 loss to Weber State (4-7) in Ogden a year ago.

“It feels good. That’s a big part of how we responded to start the game. This whole week of preparation we’ve been thinking about them,” said Nixon, who started Saturday in place of an injured Kolby Lee. “They dropped 113 on us last year at their place. So it was a huge emphasis to contain Jerrick Harding, who went off tonight. He’s a really good player. But we came with the mentality that this is a big game for us. We have a lot to prove to ourselves. I thought we did a good job of being able to bounce back from what happened last year.”

After missing the first nine games of the season, Childs has now played in five games for the Cougars. 

“Yoeli’s such a great post player. He makes the floor spaced for everyone else,” Nixon said. “It’s a huge part of what we do. To have Yoeli back and to have him be dominating like he has been is huge for us. It’s been great to have him back.”

No matter how teams choose to defend Childs, he finds ways to help his team score. 

“With this team, my eyes are lit up the entire game. I love it. It’s really tough for the opposing coach. I don’t envy their job because you really have to pick your poison,” Childs said. “Are you going to let one of the best shooting teams in the country shoot 3s, or are you going to play one-on-one in the post? It’s a tough decision for the opposing coach to make. We feel that no matter whatever the other team does, they’re wrong. That’s our mindset. We’re just going to share the ball, find the open guys and have fun on that end.”

Coach Mark Pope liked the way his team shared the ball — BYU had 25 assists on 35 made baskets — but he especially liked the way his team defended. The Cougars held Weber State to 43% shooting. 

“For the most part, especially in the first half, I was really pleased with our guys’ defensive focus,” he said. 

BYU scored 21 points off 13 Weber State turnovers and the Cougars outscored the Wildcats in the paint, 44-20. 

BYU came out on fire from the opening tipoff. After hitting three straight 3-pointers, the Cougars started going inside to Childs as BYU started to run away from Weber State.

During one stretch, the Cougars made 11 straight field goals and seized a 32-16 advantage. At that point, BYU had made 16 of 20 shots. From a 3-pointer by Toolson with 16:24 left in the first half to a layup by Toolson with 4:14 remaining, the Cougars hit 15 of 16 field goals. One of Childs’ buckets came on a beautiful lob pass from Haws for an alley-oop dunk, and one came on a 3-pointer.  

Toolson was 4 of 4 from the floor over the first 20 minutes. BYU led at halftime, 51-24. 

The Cougars host Oral Roberts next Saturday in their final non-conference game before heading into West Coast Conference play.