Gavin Baxter is still Gavin Baxter, but what changed last week for BYU basketball?

PROVO — A funny thing happened Monday morning when BYU freshman Gavin Baxter woke up: he went to class, said 'hi' to a few friends and professors, and went about his day, even to BYU basketball practice.

Perhaps the weird thing, in the eyes of many, is that normalcy and mundaneness of it all.

Baxter had a breakout performance of his first season at BYU last Saturday night, rattling off a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds in the Cougars' 67-49 win over Loyola Marymount in the Marriott Center.

And yet, by Tuesday afternoon, here was Baxter, his typical unassuming self wandering upstairs to the second floor of the Cougars' practice facility to talk to the media, still unassuming and still confused as to why he is getting all the attention.

Sure, a few people reacted to his big game last weekend. But for the most part, it's been same ol', same ol' for the 6-foot-9 forward with a 7-3 wingspan.

"They all say 'good game' or 'nice job.' But for the most part, my life is the same," Baxter recalled of one professor. "It hasn’t really changed in a significant way. I think I have a little bit more recognition after that performance. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really change how I approach each game."

Perhaps the one thing that changed, then, was the Cougars' outlook on the 2018-19 season. Sure, a win over LMU — which sits sixth in the West Coast Conference with an overall record of 16-7 — isn't the key turning point many would hope to see from head coach Dave Rose's team.

But the way the Cougars (14-10, 6-3 WCC) won is key, the coach said, as they prepare for Thursday night's game at Portland (9 p.m. MT, ESPN2/KSL Newsradio).

They won even as leading scorers Yoeli Childs and TJ Haws scored a combined 15 points, including a season-low six points and nine rebounds from Childs.

"I think there was just a lot of positive feelings from the win, and the fact that we have won in a completely different way then we have won all year long," Rose said. "The offensive contribution from Gav and from Nick (Emery, who had 17 points, including 5-of-5 from 3-point range) was really timely because we really needed it in a game against a really good defensive team that had us scouted really well. They took our first couple of options away, and it was great that those guys could come forward.

"I firmly believe that our best basketball is still ahead of us and that’s the first step toward it. Hopefully, we can get a little bit of consistency to it."

As Childs rolled off his streak of double-doubles and Haws became the Cougars' primary point guard, BYU became much of a two-man show through the first half of West Coast Conference play — so much so that the key component of opponents' scouting reports seemed to be putting Childs in a double-team and sticking a hand in Haws' face when he went to shoot.

No one really hid it much, either.

"If you check their stats, it’s pretty much just (those) two scoring," Gonzaga center Brandon Clarke told the Associated Press after the Zags' 93-63 rout in the Marriott Center. "We pretty much said that if we can take away those two guys, that it’s going to be tough for them to beat us."

With the emergence of Baxter and Emery, additional options have begun to arrive.

The challenge going forward will involve consistency — now that Baxter has showcased what he can do, can he do more? That doesn't mean going for 25 and 10 every night.

The former Timpview star has tape on him for opponents to scout, but he still doesn't have any trends to follow.

"He'll be in the scouting report and they’ll take away a lot of those things," Rose said of Baxter. "But that will help us because they can’t make such a commitment to Yoeli."

Having two threats in the post could also help space the floor for BYU's shooters.

"It's awesome to have Yoeli and Gav, a real duo down low," BYU wing Zac Seljaas said. "It makes it so much more fun to play."

Indeed, after the Cougars' win over the Lions, Childs was the first BYU player to rush toward Baxter in the handshake line, mobbing the freshman as the BYU student section chanted "Ga-vin! Bax-ter!" in unison.

If there was any rancor or pause at the youngster's game, the junior who prepped at Bingham High and played AAU ball with Baxter didn't show it.

Maybe it's because he knows that what's good for the Yoeli as good for the Gavin.

"If I am able to cut to that baseline spot when teams double, then they’ll have to respect that and it will open more up for Yoeli," Baxter said. "I think he is happy about that, too."

BYU (14-10, 6-3 WCC) at Portland (7-17, 0-9 WCC)

When: Thursday, Feb. 7

Time: 9 p.m. MT

TV: ESPN2

Radio: KSL 1160 AM, 102.7 FM, Sirius XM 143

Series Record: BYU leads, 19-2

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