Basketball

Season Review

The first season of the Mark Pope era was highlighted by a top-25 ranking, 24 wins and a likely single-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament. The season was cut short before the tournament due to the evolving circumstances related to the spread of COVID-19.

“It’s so humbling as a coach when you have players who are willing to sacrifice for each other and give their trust to our staff and to fight every day,” Pope said. “It’s the most inspiring thing to see these guys accomplish things they weren’t sure they could do. To finish in the top 20 with such epic wins, to get to witness that together and experience it together is the best part of sports. That is what this season means to me, that we got to share that together.”

Seven seniors led the Cougars, who finished No. 18/16 in the final AP and USA Today Coaches Polls, including Yoeli Childs (22.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg), TJ Haws (14.0 ppg, 5.8 apg) and Jake Toolson (15.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg) who garnered All-West Coast Conference First Team honors.

Fellow seniors Dalton Nixon (7.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and Zac Seljaas (6.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg) provided leadership and experience off the bench. Evan Troy and Taylor Maughan played important roles on the scout team.

Junior Alex Barcello, (9.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg) a transfer from Arizona, received a waiver to play right away and contributed excellent shooting and defense. Sophomores Connor Harding (6.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and Kolby Lee (7.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg) made significant contributions and showed marked improvement from their freshman seasons. Gavin Baxter returned from a shoulder injury to play in the final seven games with hopes of helping his team make a run in the NCAA Tournament.

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BYU was one of the top offensive teams in college basketball, ranking among the top five in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (1st), assist/turnover ratio (2nd), field goal percentage (3rd), 3-point field goals per game (4th) and assists per game (5th).

Despite the absence of Childs (nine-game NCAA suspension) and Baxter from day one, Pope and the Cougars got off to a strong start, earning home wins over Cal State Fullerton and Southern Utah with a close loss to San Diego State in between. The Aztecs finished the season ranked No. 4.

BYU then played at Houston, a team that finished the season No. 22 in the polls. Trailing by one with 5.1 seconds remaining, Haws drove to the basket and shot a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer. The ball hit the rim, bounced straight up and dropped through the net to give BYU the 72-71 win.

After a loss at Boise State, the Cougars opened the Maui Jim Maui Invitational with a 78-63 win over UCLA in which the Cougars shot 62 percent from the field. In the second game BYU played even with No. 4 Kansas – No. 1 at the end of the season – for a half before falling 71-56. In the third-place game, the Cougars defeated Virginia Tech 90-77 while hitting 17 3-pointers.

After Childs made his debut in a tough loss at Utah, the Cougars won six-straight, including blowout victories against UNLV and Nevada and a dramatic 68-64 win against Utah State in the Beehive Classic.

The Cougars defeated LMU 63-38 to open WCC action before playing four games without Childs, who suffered an open dislocation in his right index finger. During that time, BYU lost in overtime at Saint Mary’s, won back-to-back blowouts against Portland and San Diego and fell at No. 2 Gonzaga.

In his first game coming off injury, Childs scored 26 points and Toolson hit six 3-pointers and a career-best 28 points to lead BYU to a 74-60 win at Pacific. After a heartbreaking loss at San Francisco, the Cougars won nine-straight games – starting with a 107-80 home win against Pepperdine before BYU defeated Saint Mary’s in one of the most thrilling games of the season.

Trailing the Gaels by four with 1:30 to go, BYU hit 3 of 4 from the free-throw line and got a pair of stops. On BYU’s final possession, Haws came off a screen and hit a deep 3 from the top of the key, giving the Cougars an 81-79 lead with 9 seconds to go. On the ensuing possession, Saint Mary’s rebounded its own miss but Seljaas blocked the final shot and grabbed the rebound to secure the win.

BYU won four of the next five by double figures and entered the game against No. 2 Gonzaga with a No. 23 ranking. The Gonzaga game was senior night and was played in front of a soldout Marriott Center. After a back and forth first half, late 3-point shots by Toolson and Haws helped the Cougars lead 46-38 at the half.

BYU opened up a 14-point advantage early in the second half, but Gonzaga chipped away at the lead and pulled within two at 70-68. Seljaas scored seven of BYU’s next nine points and Barcello hit a 3 for an 82-74 lead. The Cougars remained in control over the final four minutes and won 91-78, the program’s first win over a No. 2 team in the Marriott Center. Childs totaled 28 points and 10 boards to earn his first WCC Player of the Week honor of the season.

BYU closed out the regular season with an 81-64 win at Pepperdine as Childs scored a career-best 38 points for a second-straight WCC Player of the Week honor.

After a week off and a slight shift in the polls, the No. 14/16 Cougars played Saint Mary’s in the semifinals of the WCC Tournament and lost 51-50 on a last-second shot by Jordan Ford. Despite the setback, BYU was optimistic of receiving a single-digit seed in the 2020 NCAA Tournament thanks to a strong resume. However, on March 12 the NCAA canceled all of its winter and spring championships due to the spread of COVID-19.