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PROVO — The BYU men’s basketball team looked to improve on its defensive performance after allowing 82 points in an exhibition-opener win over Seattle-Pacific.
The Cougars got a better result on the other end Wednesday night.
Kyle Davis made all seven of his shots for 16 points, and TJ Haws added 15 points, five assists and four rebounds to help the Cougars roll by BYU-Hawaii 110-63 in the final exhibition game in the Marriott Center.
Yoeli Childs supplied 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Nick Emery scored 14 points for the Cougars.
“I think that was a good tune-up for what we have ahead of us," coach Dave Rose said. "I was really happy that we got all of our guys on the floor with a chance to play and get a feel of the gym. Now we have a real challenge in our preparation for Princeton. They are a really good team. I’m excited to get out there and play them."
BYU made its first six shots from the field and jumped out to a 14-5 lead on the Division II Seasiders, a PacWest team playing its final season of intercollegiate athletics.
BYU-Hawaii cut the lead to two midway through the first half. But Childs’ back-to-back dunks with 7:43 left gave the Cougars a 33-23 lead to help the home team pull away for a 53-35 halftime lead.
Childs added a wide-open dunk to pace an 8-0 run and give BYU a 70-44 lead with 12:49 left in the game, and the Cougars rolled to their second-straight exhibition win.
Tanner Nelson scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half to lead BYU-Hawaii. But the Seasiders had long scoreless stretches after the break, including a 7:31 drought as the Cougars took an 84-44 lead with 7:51 left in the game.
"I think the best part that I saw was when we started," BYU-Hawaii coach Gabe Roberts said. "We actually did a descent job on their shooters in the first half. They weren't making as many 3s as they're capable of. Our defenders did a good job of staying on the shooters. They made some, but didn't get as many. The second half was when we started to get a little tired and they had guys go off."
Here are a few thoughts as BYU looks ahead to its season-opener Monday against Princeton in ESPN’s Tipoff Marathon.
LJ Rose is the point guard BYU needs, and deserves
The Houston transfer earned the first start of his BYU career Wednesday night against the Seasiders after missing the Cougars’ exhibition opener with an ankle injury.
He made the most of it, assisting on three of BYU’s first six shots of the game and finishing with four points, eight rebounds and 10 assists. But more important, Rose looked to be the pass-first point guard that BYU — a team with several scoring options from a variety of positions — has needed.
The graduate transfer who began his NCAA career at Baylor may not score a lot — Rose attempted just two first-half shots Wednesday — but he gives BYU a traditional point guard, bringing the ball up the court and playing his role well enough to set up the Cougars’ offense.
Elijah Bryant is back, too
Coach Rose said the Elon transfer had a doctor’s appointment, and they were going to evaluate a knee injury to see how close he was to returning to play.
The diagnosis? He's good to play.
Bryant came off the bench in the first half to score two points with an assist in seven minutes before halftime. The redshirt sophomore may not be as healthy as he’d like — but his return is a good sign, and he’ll likely be among the starters when fully healthy.
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LJ Rose ready for long-awaited BYU debut in 2nd exhibition vs. BYU-Hawaii
Point guard LJ Rose has been cleared to play for BYU, and he’ll make his debut at 7 p.m. MT in the Marriott Center after transferring from Houston this past summer.BYU posts are athletic
If you haven’t heard yet, former Bingham High standout Yoeli Childs is proving himself ready to make an impact in his first season of college basketball. Childs’ athleticism was on display in the first half when he had back-to-back dunks — including a one-handed putback with 7:43 left that blew the roof off the Marriott Center.
In addition to Childs, Eric Mika — fresh off a two-year mission for the LDS Church — also had several remarkable plays for a BYU big man. The center finished off an alley-oop from former Lone Peak teammate Haws to open the second half, and finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.
