PROVO — If nothing else, BYU’s 91-61 rout over Weber State last Saturday night at the Marriott Center ensures that coach Mark Pope and his family will enjoy a merry Christmas.
“This was a really important game because my daughter just got back (from college). She’s leaving on her mission (to Ecuador) in a few weeks,” Pope said. “This is probably our last Christmas ever where we’ll all be together as a family like this. I told the guys after the game, I’m super grateful. I’m pretty simple. If we win, Christmas is great. If we lose, Christmas is not so good.”
The Cougars (10-4) have a lot to appreciate during the holidays. They’ve won four consecutive games and have one nonconference contest remaining — next Saturday at home against Oral Roberts — before tipping off West Coast Conference play Jan. 4.
How close is BYU to reaching its potential this season?
“I think we’re very far away from it, which is exciting because there are so many little things we can work on,” said senior forward Yoeli Childs, who scored 28 points against Weber State on 11 of 13 shooting from the floor. “Our consistency in transition defense; we can continue to trust each other better; we can get in the gaps better and keep the ball in front better. We’re working on those things every day. It’s really exciting to see the team we are now and think about the team we can be.”
“We have a set goal in mind. I think that we’re pretty close to it. But as every game goes on, we learn more and more about ourselves and how we handle tough matchups,” said guard Alex Barcello, who scored 18 points last Saturday. “Every day we’re getting better and guys are really coming together and bouncing back. We’re very close to getting there. We’re not going to be complacent, though. We’re going to try to be the best we can be.”
Once again, the Cougars enjoyed balanced scoring in the win against the Wildcats, with five notching double-figures. BYU knocked down 9 of 19 3-pointers, snapping a streak of six straight games with at least 10 3s.
The Cougars were without forward Kolby Lee Saturday. Lee suffered a knee injury in practice this week.
“Hopefully, we’ll get Kolby back soon,” Pope said. “It’s a matter of him getting his full range of motion back. He felt way better today than he did yesterday. He’ll be on the stationary bike a lot the next couple of days. He’ll open his presents while he’s on the stationary bike. I told him we need him back by next Saturday.”
Dalton Nixon started in place of Lee and scored 11 points, grabbed three rebounds and had three assists.
One of the highlights of the game was guard TJ Haws’ steal and dunk late in the second half.
“I’m going to have that dunk on repeat. Are you kidding me? I’ve never jumped so high in my life on the sideline,” Childs said about Haws’ dunk. “I thought I was going to hurt myself. Oh my gosh that was awesome.”
Childs added it was “hands down” the best dunk he’s seen. “C’mon. Are you serious? I’m making that screen saver. A poster,” he said. “If my wife’s okay with it, I might name my first son ‘Tyson.’ That was sick.”
“I got the whole court view. Right as he got that steal,” Barcello said. “He went to the side a little bit to size that guy up. I was like, ‘He’s punching this one.’”
That dunk put an exclamation point on the Cougars’ dominating win. BYU is hoping for another victory when Oral Roberts visits next weekend.
For now, based on how the Cougars have been playing lately, it looks like they’ll all have a merry Christmas.