BYU basketball: Cougars start hot in win over Loyola Marymount

BYU basketball, thanks to Elijah Bryant, got off to a scorching start en route to a win over Loyola Marymount on Thursday night. The Cougars are now 16-4.

It didn’t take long for BYU basketball to set the tone against lowly Loyola Marymount on Thursday night.

In the blink of an eye, the Cougars had jumped out to a 14-5 lead. Then 18-8, 27-12 and 41-19. By the end of the first half, BYU basketball found itself up 46-29. The Cougars were shooting an impressive 67 percent from the field and 55 percent from 3-point range.

While the entire team was playing well, Elijah Bryant was putting on a real show.

Bryant’s first half was tied for his highest-scoring half of the season (20 points). He went 7-of-9 from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. By the time the clock hit zeros, he had scored a season-high 29.

The defense was clicking as well. BYU stifled LMU throughout the night, finishing with three kills in the first half. A “kill” in basketball, as defined by Dave Rose, consists of three-straight defensive stops without a foul.

The Cougar Cagers did start the second half a bit cooler, allowing LMU to cut the lead to 12 with 17 minutes left. But a 7-0 run (sparked by five points from Zac Seljaas and another kill) extended the lead to 19 points.

With 13 minutes left, the Cougars had their largest lead of the night at 60-38, but LMU just wouldn’t go away. The Lions cut it to 10 a number of times in the second half and to nine with six minutes remaining – but the Cougars were too good. A TJ Haws 3-pointer with four minutes remaining was the dagger, extending BYU’s lead to 78-61.

When the final buzzer rang, the Cougars had won 82-67.

Yoeli Childs finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Haws added 11 points of his own.

If there was a sour note on the night, it was watching Jahshire Hardnett leave the game in the first half due to injury. It was a slightly scary moment – as it wasn’t entirely clear if it was a non-contact injury. Hardnett did return in the second half, but was noticeably limping at times.

Maybe it was nothing major. That’s certainly how it looked, as Hardnett went on to tie his career-high with 11 points.

Overall, it was nice  to see BYU go punch for punch (or punch-counter punch) with a WCC team. One has to wonder if last year’s team might’ve folded in a situation like tonight.

Next up for BYU basketball? A home contest with San Diego on Saturday night.