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Provo • There was pandemonium in the Beo household of Richland, Wash., when the call came from BYU basketball coach Dave Rose early last summer.
"Everyone in the house was going nuts," recalled BYU freshman guard Steven Beo after getting the news that he was getting a scholarship. "My mom was crying and my dad was hugging everyone. We were all jumping around. Yeah, that was a really, really good day."
After a slow start in which he played 21 minutes in BYU's first nine games — he missed three games altogether with a thumb injury — Beo emerged in the Dec. 10 game against Colorado, playing 21 minutes and hitting a key 3-pointer in the 79-71 win. He has become a regular in Rose's rotation since then, scoring a career-high 12 points in 24 minutes against Santa Clara on Dec. 29.
Beo and the Cougars will host Pepperdine on Thursday night at the Marriott Center.
"We needed him to just kind of gain confidence," Rose said. "What Beo has done is he has come in and found a real niche for us, where defensively he is in the right position, offensively he takes good shots. And he has made big shots for us."
Beo, who is averaging 16.1 minutes played in conference games, said he is "pleasantly surprised" by how much he has been able to contribute his first season, especially considering that he originally was asked to be a preferred walk-on because the Cougars were out of scholarships in November of 2015 when they signed Yoeli Childs, Connor Harding and Gavin Baxter.
The latter two left on church missions, and a scholarship opened in June of 2016 when Jordan Chatman transferred to Boston College.
"Steven has been able to fit in with the rest of the guys," Rose said. "There is a real skill set to that. He's a really talented player, but I think he has sacrificed a lot of his game to help our team be better, and that has allowed him to play more minutes."
Beo was a prolific scorer in high school for the Richland Bombers, averaging 27.7 points per game as a junior and 26.7 as a senior. He turned down several scholarship offers from smaller schools in the Pacific Northwest to walk on at BYU.
"I was like, there is no other place I would rather go besides BYU," he said. "There was a lot of prayer, a lot of talking with my family. It just felt right, that I should be here. I really didn't care how I got here, I just wanted to get here."
That was true, although his father, Anthony, raised him to be a North Carolina Tar Heels fan. Anthony Beo played basketball at Pacific University in Oregon and a local community college in Eastern Washington.
"My dad is not Mormon and my mom is Mormon, so I always knew about BYU, with Jimmer [Fredette] and Tyler Haws," Steven Beo said. "But I never expected them to talk to me. When coaches started showing up at my games, that is when my interest really started to skyrocket."
At Richland, coach Earl Streufert knew he had a special player on his hands early, and he started Beo as a freshman. He was more of a role player and defensive stopper that season, then blossomed as a sophomore when the Bombers went 25-1 and made it to the state championship game in their division. He carried the team's scoring load his final two years, but he never forgot how to play defense.
"He was probably one of the best defensive players we've ever had," Streufert said. "He did everything we ever asked him to do for us, whatever it took for us to win. … We really enjoy watching him right now, and it is really satisfying for us to see his success."
Twitter: @drewjay —
About Steven Beo
• Accepted a preferred walk-on offer at BYU, but was given a scholarship last summer
• Is averaging 11.3 minutes per game, including 16.1 minutes in conference games
• Averaged a state-best 27.7 points as a junior at Richland (Wash.) High, then 26.7 as a senior
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BYU vs. Pepperdine
P At the Marriott Center, Provo
Tipoff • 7 p.m.
TV • BYUtv
Radio • 1160 AM, 102.7 FM, Sirius XM 143
Records • BYU (13-6, 4-2 WCC); Pepperdine (5-13, 1-5 WCC)
Series history • BYU leads 10-8
Last meeting • BYU won 88-77 (Jan. 30, 2016)
About the Waves • Former University of Utah assistant Marty Wilson is in his sixth season and the fourth-longest tenured coach in the WCC. … Senior F Lamond Murray Jr. leads the league in scoring in conference games with a 21.7 average. … Former Ute Chris Reyes is averaging 15.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. G Jeremy Major chips in 11.2 points per game.
About the Cougars • They are 10-1 at home and have won seven straight games at the Marriott Center. They are outscoring opponents by nearly 16 points in home games. … Sophomore center Eric Mika has posted 11 double-doubles, two short of the most in the country. … They are coming off a 88-75 loss at San Diego in which guard TJ Haws scored a career-high 27 points and made a career-high six 3-pointers.