Having escaped last-place Pepperdine, BYU sets sights on San Diego

San Diego • There has been little margin for error for BYU’s basketball team this season. The Cougars rely heavily on three players — Elijah Bryant, Yoeli Childs and TJ Haws — for their scoring and don’t get much help from their bench.

When one of the Big Three has an off night, trouble usually ensues.

That was evident Thursday as the third-place Cougars struggled with last-place Pepperdine at Firestone Fieldhouse before Bryant took over in overtime and delivered a 75-70 victory that coach Dave Rose called “a really big win for us,” considering the circumstances.

BYU had lost four-straight at Pepperdine and was facing a fired-up Waves club playing loose, free and passionately for head coach Marty Wilson, who won’t be back next season.

“With the news about their coach, if the same thing happened to our coach, we would play with tons of emotion, too,” Bryant said. “Credit to them, they played really well tonight and had a chance to win down the stretch.”

It will likely be more of the same on Saturday afternoon, as the three-game road swing continues at San Diego’s Jenny Craig Pavilion. BYU has been pushed to overtime in its last two games and three times in league play already. Nothing comes easy for these guys, who seemingly play as well against league leaders Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s as they do against the cellar-dwellers, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount.

The Cougars have fared a little better at the Slim Gym than they have at Firestone, but not by much. They have alternated between wins and losses at USD since joining the West Coast Conference in 2012, winning on even-numbered years.

That should portend a victory this year, but nothing can be taken for granted with this somewhat-fragile BYU team, and San Diego is having its best season in quite awhile, despite having lost four of its last five games. The Toreros have slipped into a tie for fifth place with Santa Clara and San Francisco (which upset Saint Mary’s Thursday after blowing that last-minute lead in Provo).

San Diego lost 67-55 to fourth-place Pacific at home Thursday, but are still arguably the best defensive team in the conference.

“It is a quick [turnaround],” Rose said. “They are one of the most physical teams in the league, from what we saw at our place [in a 74-58 BYU win]. We have gone through and evaluated every team, and how we played them. We feel that their size, their athleticism, is [good]. Their guards are really physical. It will be a tough game for sure on Saturday. I know our guys will compete. We will see how we do.”

Bryant, who scored nine of his game-high 25 in overtime against the Waves, said teams that lose big to the Cougars in Provo have revenge on their minds when BYU returns the visit.

“I think any game on the road in February is a tough game,” he said. “You go around and look at all the scores. No matter what team is playing who in February, it is a tough game.”

Bryant said the Cougars, who are trying to hold off Pacific for third in the league with three games remaining, will treat it just like any other game.

“Play with poise, be humble, have that next play mentality, go in with a defensive mindset and get a win,” he said.

BYU got just five points on 1-for-7 shooting from Haws and received a mild scare early in overtime against Pepperdine when Childs went to the floor grasping his left knee. He left the game briefly, but returned and finished with 18 points and six rebounds.

“He kind of twisted his knee when he came down awkwardly and when I went out to talk to him, he kinda told me, ‘I think I will be all right,’” Rose said. “So that’s when I left him [to the trainers]. He came over, we had him run around outside for a minute, and he was back in. But it was his knee.”