Brigham Young Cougars forward Yoeli Childs (23) shoots over the head of Oral Roberts Golden Eagles forward Elijah Lufile (1) during the first half of an NCAA men’s basketball game at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019. | Colter Peterson, Deseret News
After concluding the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 79-73 victory over Oral Roberts last weekend, the Cougars host Loyola Marymount Saturday in their WCC opener.
PROVO — Boasting an 11-4 record, and a five-game winning streak, battle-tested BYU tips off West Coast Conference play this weekend.
After concluding the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 79-73 victory over Oral Roberts last Saturday, the Cougars host Loyola Marymount Saturday in their WCC opener.
Coach Mark Pope likes the way his team has learned important lessons and developed since during the preseason, including losses to Kansas, which is currently ranked No. 5, and San Diego State, which is currently ranked No. 15. BYU also earned victories over opponents like Houston, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Nevada and Utah State.
“I think we’ve seen a huge variety of teams and we’ve played some really good teams and we’ve played a lot of teams that have really different skill sets,” he said. “How different is Weber (State) from Oral Roberts? They’re just exactly the opposite teams. You go down the line. Utah State, we got a shot to try and guard what’s a great motion offense team. Virginia Tech, we got to guard one of the most talented 3-point shooting teams in the country. At Houston, we got to play against one of the most physically talented, aggressive defensive teams in the country. San Diego State, Kansas and Oral Roberts, these teams that are so physically dominant, we haven’t quite found out a rebounding answer. It’s a little bit worrisome. But I feel like a lot of our weaknesses have been exposed and we’ve had a chance to try to address them. That’s what you want, right? Now we’ve got to regroup ourselves. It starts for real.”
Forward Yoeli Childs, who was sidelined for the first nine games of the season due to an NCAA suspension, is averaging 21.2 points and 9.8 rebounds in six games.
By scoring 23 points against Oral Roberts, Childs, who made 10 of 14 shots from the field, jumped into BYU’s top 10 all-time in scoring with 1,736 career points.
Childs moved past Mark Bigelow (1,715 points) on the all-time list. Childs is only four points away from Mekeli Wesley, who ranks No. 9 in Cougar history with 1,740 points.
“You’ve got to shoot a lot of shots to score points,” Childs said about reaching the top 10 in scoring. “I’m grateful for my teammates and how much they feed me and this coaching staff as well as the past coaching staff, they draw a lot of stuff up for me. You throw the ball up enough times, it should go in sometimes.”
Childs is eager for the challenge that is ahead in the WCC, which features perennial powerhouse Gonzaga, which is currently ranked No. 1 in the country.
“I think we’re really good at managing our energy and battling through adversity. Everybody picks each other up. Everybody is aware of their body language,” he said. “Everybody is aware of the frustration that goes on throughout a game and we just battle that and battle that and battle that until the outcome is what we want. It’s been really exciting to see. It makes me happy and it makes me look forward to conference. Conference is a beast. It’s a grind. Throughout this whole grind, I know that this team is going to keep our heads high and it’s going to make us very successful.”
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