alt=Jeff CallPROVO — Yes, BYU really needed Yoeli Childs in Saturday’s game against a San Diego State team that thrives on rebounding the ball.
But the star forward and the Cougars’ best rebounder was sitting on the bench during the matinee game at the Marriott Center, serving the second of his nine-game NCAA suspension.
“The ball got a little sticky for us. We got a little anxious. We stalled scoring the ball down the stretch.” — BYU basketball coach Mark Pope
The Aztecs dominated the boards throughout and while BYU put together a 21-3 run early in the second half with a flurry of 3-pointers, it was San Diego State that hit crucial 3s in the closing minutes.
And the Aztecs, playing in their first game in Provo since that memorable 2011 matchup that featured two top-10 teams as well as Jimmer Fredette and Kawhi Leonard, earned a dramatic 76-71 victory before a crowd of 12,567.
SDSU guard Jordan Schakel, who finished with a game-high 19 points, knocked down five 3-pointers in the second half, including four in the final six minutes.
Mark Pope, who suffered his first loss as BYU’s head coach, never mentioned Childs’ name in his postgame comments, but the outcome might have been different with Childs on the floor.
The Aztecs (2-0) outrebounded the Cougars, 43-27, and held a massive 15-4 advantage on the offensive boards. SDSU also outscored BYU (1-1) in second-chance points, 14-5.
“We have to rebound the ball. There were rebounds throughout the game that were kind of defining rebounds that we just couldn’t quite come up with, that we have to come up with because we are going to become a great team,” Pope said. “For us to become a great team, even with our diminutive size, we have to find a way to rebound the ball with a mob mentality.”
‘You can’t give them second chances,” said guard Jake Toolson, who scored a team-high 18 points. “A lot of those were 50-50 balls. We’ve just got to come up with those.”
At halftime, the Aztecs led 36-29.
“We had a very frustrating first half of offensive basketball,” Pope said. “It was stuck, it was like in molasses, like we were in mud.”
But BYU came out strong to start the second half, going on a 21-3 run — including 16 consecutive points. During that stretch, Zac Seljaas hit a pair of 3-pointers while Toolson and Alex Barcello each added a 3.
Barcello finished with 11 points and three steals while TJ Haws had 13 points and six assists.
With 13:45 remaining in the game, BYU led 52-43.
“Well, it wasn’t big in this game because we ended up losing,” Pope said of that run.
The Cougars made only one 3-pointer over the final nine minutes and they finished 8 of 24 overall from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, the Aztecs chipped away at BYU’s lead. Schakel killed the Cougars late in the game, with his final 3 cutting the deficit to 69-68 with two minutes remaining as part of a decisive 8-0 Aztec run.
“This game wasn’t determined by us shooting 33% (from the 3-point line),” Pope said. “This game was determined by us letting (Schakel) go for five 3s in the second half and by us being outrebounded by 16 … Those were the defining moments in this game.”
In the final moments, BYU struggled scoring.
“The ball got a little sticky for us. We got a little anxious,” Pope said. “We stalled scoring the ball down the stretch.”
“We weren’t playing with the same pace or force that we were when we came out in the second half,” Toolson said. “The ball kind of got sticky a little bit. We were getting good looks, it’s just that down the stretch the shots weren’t falling. We needed to get to the free-throw line.”
For Pope, the loss serves as a teaching moment for his team.
“We just could not locate Schakel. We could not grab a rebound,” he said. “The whole first half, we were a little sticky. It starts with rebounding. It was hard. We got rebounded by 16 … The boards was a massive issue.”
Toolson liked the way his team battled back in the second half.
“We knew it was going to be a fight and we responded in the second half and brought the fight to them,” he said. “We’ve got to rebound better and there are some things that we’ve got to clean up. I’m happy with the way we fought.”
Pope said he would like to see more games between BYU and San Diego State in the future.
“I love big games. I just hate losing them,” he said. “I hate losing them at home.”
BYU hosts Southern Utah Wednesday night.
TIP-INS: Former BYU coaches Frank Arnold, Roger Reid and Dave Rose and former assistant Tony Ingle were all in attendance Saturday … SDSU improved its all-time record at Marriott Center against BYU to 4-29.