PORTLAND — Over the first 20 minutes Thursday night, BYU’s Yoeli Childs clanged plenty of shots off the rim against Portland.
His first field goal came with 1.5 seconds remaining in the first half.
But in the second half, the senior forward turned the Chiles Center into the Childs Center, hitting 6 of 7 shots and finishing with 22 points in the Cougars’ 85-54 victory over the Pilots.
And guard Jake Toolson, who was considered a game-time decision due to ankle injury, started and also scored 22 points, including 6 of 8 from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, Alex Barcello added 17, Kolby Lee collected a career-high 10 rebounds and TJ Haws had eight assists.
As a team, BYU went into the game having shot 50 percent or better in seven straight games, tying the second-longest streak in school history. At halftime, it appeared that streak could be in jeopardy after a 44-percent performance.
But the Cougars drilled their first seven shots in the second half and 9 of their first 10 to build an eventual 28-point advantage midway through the second half. BYU finished shooting 50.9 percent.
Portland converted on only 2 of its first 13 shots in the second half and finished the half 4 of 25 from the floor.
BYU hit 12 of 28 3-pointers Thursday, marking the 13th time this season the Cougars have made double-digit 3-pointers, tying the school record originally set in 2015-16.
Thursday, Childs reached the 20-plus point plateau for the 40th time of his career.
BYU out-rebounded Portland, 47-26.
BYU improved to 18-7 overall and 7-3 in West Coast Conference play. Portland dropped to 9-16 and 1-9. The Pilots have now lost eight consecutive games. Toolson buried a 3 to open the scoring in Thursday’s game, but Portland grabbed an early 6-5 lead.
The Cougars then went on a 17-5 run to seize control of the game to go up 22-11. BYU was ahead 25-14 after a Barcello 3.
Late in the half, the Pilots cut their deficit to 33-27. The Cougars finished the half strong, outscoring Portland 10-2 over the final three minutes, including back-to-back 3s by Toolson.
That stretch was capped by Childs’ first field goal of the half with 1.5 seconds remaining and the and-one free throw that gave BYU a 43-31 halftime advantage.
In the first half, Childs hit 1 of 6 shots from the field and 4 of 9 from the free throw line.
Toolson and Barcello each scored 12 points in the first half.
BYU hosts San Francisco Saturday.