alt=Jeff CallSAN FRANCISCO — On the heels of earning its first West Coast Conference road win Thursday at Pacific, BYU is seeking another.
The Cougars visit San Francisco Saturday (3 p.m., MST, KJZZ; WatchStadium.com) at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center with a chance to sweep this Bay Area road swing.
“It just gets harder. It does. This game was the hardest game we’ve played and that game will be even harder,” coach Mark Pope said Thursday night. “It’s a quick turnaround.”
At the Spanos Center, Yoeli Childs returned after missing four games due to a finger injury and he poured in 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Guard Jake Toolson scored a career-high 28 points, including 6 of 8 from 3-point range. He had 14 of those points, including three consecutive 3-pointers, during BYU’s game-clinching 21-0 run late in the contest.
Toolson and Childs combined to shoot 21 of 35 from the field. Currently, BYU is sixth in the nation in field goal percentage (49.6) and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (40.6).
“It’s going to be another fight. They’re a really good team. Offensively, they’re great. Defensively, they’re really good team as well. It’s going to be another dogfight. All these games on the road are.” — BYU’s Yoeli Childs, on San Francisco
Going into the week, the WCC had a logjam of five teams tied for second place in the league standings. But after Thursday night’s results, including BYU’s 74-60 victory at Pacific and USF’s 58-48 loss at Saint Mary’s, the Cougars (15-6, 4-2) and Gaels are now tied for second place in the WCC. The Dons (14-7, 3-3) are one of the teams that fell out of second place.
“We don’t really think about standings or any of that. We just try to win every game,” Toolson said. “It’s important because we want to give ourselves the best chance every night. Winning is really important and I’m glad we were able to do that (against Pacific).”
A year ago, San Francisco swept the Cougars, including a 82-63 trouncing of BYU at War Memorial.
Guard Charles Minlend averages a team-high 15.1 points for the Dons.
“It’s going to be another fight. They’re a really good team. Offensively, they’re great,” Childs said of USF. “Defensively, they’re really good team as well. It’s going to be another dogfight. All these games on the road are.”
The Cougars are bolstering their NCAA Tournament resume — they have now won two true road games this season and this week have catapulted in the NET rankings from 38 to 28. BYU is rated No. 21 in the Kenpom.com rankings and it is projected as a No. 10 seed by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
Meanwhile, guard TJ Haws is on the verge of achieving a historic milestone. Saturday, he’s expected to make his 123rd start, eclipsing Jeff Chatman for most consecutive starts in school history.
“It’s pretty remarkable,” Pope said of that feat. “You think about doing anything more and better and longer than anybody in the history of BYU has done it, that’s really hard to do. There’s a museum of great players here. The fact that TJ is trying to peek through that door is pretty special.”
The Cougars received strong fan support Thursday and they’re hoping for more at USF.
“Cougar Nation, baby. Cougar Nation. It’s so much fun when we come out on the road and it feels like a home game, it’s unbelievable,” Childs said. “Cougar Nation travels everywhere. It’s the best fan base in the world, it really is.”
No doubt, another road victory Saturday would be another boost to BYU’s NCAA Tournament hopes.
“It’s exciting. It’s going to be another tough battle,” Toolson said. “There’s no nights off in this league. There’s a bunch of good teams. This team is going to be ready for it and I’m really excited.”
Cougars on the air
BYU (15-6, 4-2) at San Francisco (14-7, 3-3)
Saturday, 3 p.m. MST
War Memorial at the Sobrato Center
TV: KJZZ; Stadium; WatchStadium.com
Radio: 1160 AM, 102.7 FM