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Provo • When freshman Yoeli Childs signed with BYU last November out of nearby Bingham High, he didn't expect to start much in his first year in Provo.

But the 6-foot-8 power forward started in his fourth straight game Saturday night as the Cougars took on Colorado, partly because senior Kyle Davis is still trying to overcome knee soreness that took him out of the starting lineup on Nov. 30 against Utah State.

Childs scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in the first 12 minutes.

"It is tough having guys get injured. It really sucks," Childs said. "But other guys have to step up. My mentality is I am ready for whatever minutes the coaching staff gives me. I just want to be out on the court helping the team."

Sophomore Braiden Shaw (back issues) returned to the lineup Saturday after missing the Weber State game, while Elijah Bryant (knee) missed his fifth straight game. When BYU coaches first contacted him during his sophomore season at Bingham, Childs wasn't interested. But he says he built a strong relationship with BYU assistant coach Tim LaComb and the Cougars grew on him.

"The environment at BYU was huge," said Childs. "Some of the other schools I went to and looked at, I just didn't like what some of the guys were about. Here, everyone is focused and everyone just wants to get better. I wanted to be around a group of guys who want to succeed as badly as I do.

"And then I love the coaching staff here," Childs continued. "They showed me love since I was a sophomore in high school."

Cold-handed Cougs

The Cougars entered the game ranked 328 of 351 teams in Division I college basketball in 3-point shooting, at 29.0 percent (51 of 176). Coach Dave Rose said right now it is a mental thing.

"It is a team, especially our perimeter guys, that needs more confidence," Rose said. "We need more confidence in our ability to race the ball up and get it in and get it out and get it back in again. It seems like our guards are a little tense right now. Hopefully we can find a way for them to break through."

Briefly

Colorado's visit marked the first time since BYU hosted Stanford on Dec. 20, 2014 that a team from a Power 5 conference has played in the Marriott Center. … BYU freshman Zac Seljaas scored 18 points in 22 minutes last year against CU. Seljaas is on a church mission in Iowa and returns prior to the 2018-19 season.