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Gonzaga officials move to curtail missionary costumes when BYU visits Saturday

Cougars have won last three matchups at The Kennel but first meet LMU on Thursday in Los Angeles.

Fans in the Gonzaga student section pose for a photograph before an NCAA college basketball game against BYU in Spokane, Wash., Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)

Provo • Gonzaga’s famously rowdy student section, The Kennel, will try to make life difficult for BYU at the McCarthey Center on Saturday for the first time since the Cougars snapped the Zags’ 29-game winning streak last February.

But some of the students might be dressed differently than usual.

The Jesuit school’s administration is asking GU students to put to rest the habit of dressing up as Mormon missionaries, as a handful have done each game since the Cougars joined the West Coast Conference seven years ago, the Gonzaga Bulletin reported Tuesday.

Administrators, athletic department officials and student leaders met last Friday “to discuss ways to eliminate the mockery and mimicking of Mormons,” according to the student newspaper.

BYU is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and members commonly are referred to as Mormons. Eight players on the current roster — TJ Haws, Zac Seljaas, Ryan Andrus, Payton Dastrup, McKay Cannon, Braiden Shaw, Dalton Nixon and Luke Worthington — have been on church missions.

Gonzaga’s roster also includes a returned LDS missionary for the first time, former Davis High star Jesse Wade. The freshman served a two-year mission in Lyon, France, at the same time as Haws, but the two never were companions.

About a half-dozen students in The Kennel wore white shirts, ties and bicycle helmets during last season’s game that BYU won 79-71 to end Gonzaga’s perfect season. The Zags would lose just once after that — to North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament championship game.

After scoring 29 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in BYU’s third straight win over Gonzaga at the 6,000-seat arena in Spokane, Wash., the Cougars’ first victory ever over a No. 1-ranked team, returned missionary Eric Mika said the missionary costumes did not offend him or his teammates but did serve to “fire us up” just a little bit more than usual.

Before they meet Gonzaga on Saturday, the Cougars travel to Los Angeles on Thursday to take on Loyola Marymount at Gersten Pavilion.

Bryant’s 50-40-90 quest continues

Guard Elijah Bryant entered the 180 Shooters Club, also called the 50-40-90 Club, when he went 4 for 4 from the free-throw line against San Diego at the Marriott Center three games ago.

In other words, he was shooting better than 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line.

After going 2 of 3 at Saint Mary’s and 8 of 9 against Pacific last week, Bryant has dropped to 89.4 percent from the free-throw line. He needs to make his next six free throws to get back in the unofficial club.

As detailed by The Salt Lake Tribune in a feature story on Bryant two weeks ago, only seven players in NBA history have finished a season in the club: Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Larry Bird.

Bryant currently is shooting 51 percent (129 of 253) from the field, 45 percent (59 of 131) from 3-point range and 89.5 percent (102 of 114) from the free-throw line.

“I just try to focus on what I can control during the game,” he said. “Whether I am making or missing [shots], I can move on to the next play. I play as fast as possible, even if it goes in. So if it goes in or I miss, I just move on as fast as I can.”

Yoeli’s salute

Forward Yoeli Childs has 44 dunks this season after getting 34 last season. After some of his dunks, Childs will look to BYU’s bench and tap his head in what looks like a salute of some sort.

“The dudes on the bench always do that if I get a dunk,” Childs said. “They say, ‘On his head.’ So I give it back to them every once in a while. Those are my guys.”