PROVO — In its final nonconference test before opening West Coast Conference play next weekend, BYU played a contest that, in many ways, felt like a league game.
The Cougars found themselves tied with Oral Roberts late before earning their fifth consecutive victory with a 79-73 decision Saturday night at the Marriott Center.
“It was a really good tuneup for us going into conference, just having that feel, the physicality, having that close game, it was really good for us,” said forward Yoeli Childs, who scored 23 points and collected seven rebounds. “It’s going to help us going into conference.”
On a night that saw BYU (11-4) shoot just 9 of 30 from 3-point range, it relied on other methods that led to success.
“It’s so beautiful to be able to win different ways,” said coach Mark Pope. “Our guys did that tonight.”
With a little more than two minutes remaining, the Golden Eagles tied the game at 67-all on a 3-pointer.
“It was kind of back-and-forth. They were making plays and we were making plays,” said Jake Toolson, who scored 22 points and had eight assists. “People tend to try to make hero plays down the stretch by themselves. But we were able to do it together. I was happy with the looks we got and down the stretch. We grinded it out.”
“I’m so happy. I’m really proud of our guys. We did things in a way different way. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t easy and there wasn’t a lot of flow to the game. But the guys figured it out.” — BYU coach Mark Pope
Several different Cougars made big plays in the waning moments.
It started with a Toolson 3-pointer, then after a missed free throw by Connor Harding, Dalton Nixon came up with the biggest rebound of the night for BYU, giving the Cougars new life. Toolson then hit a jumper to give the Cougars a 73-69 edge.
“That’s what Dalton Nixon does. Him and Zac (Seljaas) are huge for us in making those kind of plays. Both of them had huge nights,” Childs said. “It doesn’t necessarily show up in the box score but without them, we lose that game. It’s going to be like that. We’re going to come down to big games in the conference and the conference tournament and Dalton and Zac are going to win us games because that’s what they do. They just play hard.”
Later, Toolson rebounded a missed shot and passed ahead to TJ Haws, who raced to the other end of the court and dunked with 30 seconds remaining. Haws, who finished with 14 points and six assists, added a layup moments later to give BYU a 77-69 advantage.
Pope was pleased with the grit his team showed.
“I’m so happy. I’m really proud of our guys. We did things in a way different way. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t easy and there wasn’t a lot of flow to the game,” he said. “But the guys figured it out. We had some guys step up. Zac stepped up and made some unbelievable defensive plays in the last four minutes, handling an issue that we struggled with all game long. Jake made a couple of huge shots.”
While the Cougars didn’t shoot as well as they have been accustomed to from 3-point range, that won’t deter them from attempting shots from distance.
“There’s going to be nights where we’re not shooting at a high clip but we’re going to keep letting them fly because that’s what we do,” Toolson said. “It helps to have (Childs) to throw the ball into. If they don’t bring a double (team), he’s going to get a basket or he’ll get to the free-throw line. If they do bring a double, like you saw down the stretch with 1:40 left, he hit me on the wing and I was able to get a wide-open look.”
Oral Roberts (7-5), which is one of the top rebounding teams in the country, outboarded BYU 46-37, which Pope said is a cause for concern.
“We gave up 16 offensive rebounds, and that’s not great,” he said. “Our post defense really hurt us. I wasn’t ecstatic about that.”
“They’re really good on the glass,” Childs said. “Credit to them and what they do. We’ve just got to be better.”
BYU tips off WCC play next Saturday at home against Loyola Marymount.