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BYU cruises past Utah 67-55 as Childs, Bryant dominate

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars forward Luke Worthington (41) grabs a rebound over the top of Utah Utes guard Justin Bibbins (1), in basketball action Utah Utes vs. Brigham Young Cougars at the Marriott Center in Provo, Saturday, December 15, 2017.

Provo • BYU got payback for Utah canceling last year’s rivalry game in the sweetest way possible on Saturday night: a resounding victory over the rival Utes.

Elijah Bryant scored 29 points and a hobbling Yoeli Childs added 15 as BYU snapped Utah’s three-game winning streak in the series with a 77-65 win in front of 16,272 at the Marriott Center.

It was a cleanly played game, with none of the ugly incidents that marred the past few matchups.

“Emotions were still pretty high,” Bryant said.

Utah (7-3) led for only 1:12 of action early in the first half. Tyler Rawson led Utah with 15 points, while Gabe Bealer added 13.

“We knew exactly what it was [Bryant] wanted to do,” said Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak. “He had three threes in the first half without a hand in his face.”

The Cougars (9-2) moved their lead in the rivalry to 130-128 with a solid shooting performance. Utah shot 46 percent, while BYU shot 52 percent and was 10 of 20 from 3-point range.

“I thought it was a well-played game,” said BYU coach Dave Rose. “I think the difference was probably the 3-point line.”

Bryant was 8 of 13 from the field and 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.

“In our system, it can be anybody’s night,” Bryant said. “Tonight it just happened to be mine.”

Down by nine at halftime, Utah scored on its first three possessions of the second half to get back in it, but couldn’t sustain any kind of momentum in the final 15 minutes.

Childs’ dunk gave BYU a 47-37 lead with 15:20 remaining, but the big man cramped up running down the floor and had to be taken to the locker room for treatment.

Utah went on a 9-4 run with Childs out to get within five again, but the Cougars got a lift from an unlikely source — Payton Dastrup.

He drew a charge and hit a pair of 3-pointers, the second giving BYU a 63-50 lead at the under-eight media timeout.

“Today was something special,” Dastrup said. “I have been a bleed-blue guy since birth.”

Added Bryant: “My guy Payt, he’s been ready since he was 3 to play this game.”

Jahshire Hardnett’s 3-point play gave BYU a 70-57 lead with 3:17 remaining, and the Cougars coasted from there.

The Utes weathered an early storm and took a 9-8 lead five minutes into the game after a nifty inbounds play to Gabe Bealer for a hoop, but Bryant scored five quick points and the Cougars took control from there.

A 10-0 BYU run, powered by 3-pointers from Zac Seljaas and McKay Cannon, pushed the Cougars’ lead to 12 with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

“Coming into an environment like this against a quality team, you’ve got to be a lot more dialed in,” Krystkowiak said. “You’ve got to make more plays. It’s not an easy environment to overcome.”

Collette hustled for a loose ball and scored and Rawson hit a triple to pull the Utes within five with 5:25 left in the half, but Bryant caught fire again, scoring eight straight points — including a pair of treys — to give BYU its largest lead of the first half, 35-22.

But the Utes scored six of the next eight points and trailed 37-28 at the break.

The Cougars were 5 of 10 from 3-point range in the first half, while Utah was 2 of 12. Both teams committed six turnovers before halftime, Utah’s coming early and BYU’s coming late.

Bryant had 13 in the first half, while Rawson led the Utes with nine at the break.

The Cougars shot 55.6 percent in the first half, which featured four free throws — two by each team.

Childs also had a big first half, scoring 12 points and grabbing five rebounds in the Bingham High product’s first BYU-Utah game.

Utah played without freshman Donnie Tillman, its third-leading scorer, who was in a left protective boot before the game. The Cougars played without sophomore sixth-man Dalton Nixon, who was also in a protective boot during warmups.