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Dynamic duo of Yoeli Childs and Elijah Bryant lead BYU past Pacific 80-65

BYU guard Elijah Bryant (3) shoots over Pacific forward Jahlil Tripp (0) during an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018, in Provo, Utah. (Isaac Hale/The Daily Herald via AP)

Provo • Sophomore Yoeli Childs didn’t start in Saturday’s game against Pacific, but he certainly finished it.

Having missed Friday’s practice due to illness, Childs entered the game about six minutes in and then scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half to lead BYU to an 80-65 win over the Tigers in front of an announced crowd of 16,456 at the Marriott Center.

Hip-hop artists Ayo & Teo weren’t the only dynamic duo in the building, as Elijah Bryant scored 28 points on 8 of 9 shooting — his only missed shot was blocked — to edge Childs for game-high honors.

The Cougars recovered nicely from Thursday’s frustrating loss at West Coast Conference-leading Saint Mary’s in a must-win before next week’s trip to LMU and Gonzaga.

“Yesterday in practice, he comes to the trainer, and he’s not feeling well,” coach Dave Rose said of Childs. “He’s got all kinds of symptoms. He went to the doctor, and they did a great job. … He really, really sucked it up and battled for his team and helped us win.”

Childs was 10 of 15 from the floor and also grabbed six rebounds in 33 minutes.

“I was feeling a little sick the last couple days [including the Saint Mary’s game], so we just made the decision to start Zac [Seljaas] and Luke [Worthington] and I thought they did a great job coming out, especially defensively.”

The Cougars (18-5, 7-3) made amends for the 67-66 loss to the Tigers (10-13, 5-5) in Stockton on Jan. 6 and remained in third place in the WCC. But it wasn’t easy. Pacific led 33-30 at halftime and by five points early in the second half before the Cougars went on a 16-2 run — fueled by two of Bryant’s four 3-pointers — to break out of their lethargy.

“Give [Damon Stoudamire] and his team credit,” Rose said. “They played hard, competed hard. They made the game more of the way they wanted it played than the way we normally play. I am just really proud of the guys for being able to find a way to win.”

Pacific controlled the pace in the first half, and led 20-12 before Payton Dastrup came off the bench to give the Cougars a big spark.

Dastrup hit a big 3-pointer, Bryant made a three-point play, and Dastrup followed with a driving hoop to get BYU close.

“Payton did a great job bringing energy to a team that I think was really needing that energy,” Rose said. “Hit a big 3. Crowd got into it.”

BYU point guard Jahshire Hardnett, the smallest player on the floor, had a game-high eight rebounds and TJ Haws had seven assists and eight points. Dalton Nixon made a three-point play with 12 minutes remaining to give BYU a 47-44 lead, and the Cougars never trailed again. Bryant’s fourth 3-pointer pushed the advantage to 55-46 and BYU withstood some chippiness from the Tigers down the stretch.

“It was a battle all the way to the end,” Rose said. “It is going to look like a 15-point game on the ticker, but that was a really competitive basketball game.”

Roberto Gallinat, Pacific’s leading scorer with 16 points, was hit with a flagrant 2 foul and ejected with 2:40 remaining for a low blow on Haws.

“I think both teams just wanted to win, and I think you saw that emotion come out and the refs did a great job of controlling it and they settled it down and we were able to get the win,” Bryant said.

Rose and Stoudamire had a couple discussions at midcourt while officials went to the monitor to determine flagrant fouls, etc., and the former NBA star was obviously displeased with the officiating. The Cougars took 24 free throws, the Tigers 13.

“I just talked a little bit of how the game had kinda escalated and he gave me a couple reasons what he thought it was, and I agreed,” Rose said, declining to divulge what those reasons were.