Welcome back Yoeli Childs!
After the NCAA forced Childs to serve an excessive nine-game suspension at the start of the season for a paperwork mistake prior to the NBA draft, the 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward was counting down the seconds until he was able to step foot on the court for his senior season.
When he was finally able to suit up Wednesday night — as BYU took on Utah in the Huntsman Center — the senior made sure to make up for lost time as Childs recorded a near perfect game before having to miss much of the second half because of injury.
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The NBA prospect couldn’t have asked for a better start in his season debut as he scored 13 consecutive points at the start of the first half to give BYU a commanding 20-8 lead just five minutes into the game. The senior was perfect from the field (5-5), including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc to start the contest. Childs quickly dominated and showed everyone why he was named the named the West Coast Conference preseason Player of the Year coming into the season.
At the half, the senior had already racked up 18 points and six rebounds and was well on his way to another monstrous double-double performance in his season debut. And no matter what they threw at him, the Utes couldn’t stop Childs. In fact, the only thing that could stop Childs, was well… himself.
After rolling his ankle before coming back into the game, Childs quickly left after having what appeared to be muscle cramps. His presence along with TJ Haws and Dalton Nixon — who both fouled out — left the Cougars in a tight spot with several other players playing with four fouls and on the brink of fouling out.
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Without Childs in the middle, the Utes controlled the paint en route to 53 points in the second half to force the game into overtime.
Despite only playing 25 minutes, Childs finished the game with 29 points — two points shy of his career high — to go with seven rebounds and two steals.
College basketball analysts made note of Childs’ return and tweeted about his performance. Here’s what some of them had to say.
.@BYUbasketball Yoeli Childs is back, folks. 29 points & 7 rebounds in 22 minutes vs. @UtahMBB. Missed first nine games of year because of NCAA suspension. A horse!
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) December 5, 2019
BYU got Yoeli Childs back tonight after his ridiculous suspension … and the big man has 29 points and 7 boards midway through the second half. BYU leads Utah by 11.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) December 5, 2019
Yoeli Childs is going Luka tonight
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) December 5, 2019
You think Yoeli Childs is excited to be back for BYU? He has 18 points and 6 rebounds in the first half of his return game at Utah. Cougars are an NCAA tourney caliber team with him in the lineup.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) December 5, 2019
A wild one in Utah. @UtahMBB beat rival @BYUbasketball 102-95 in overtime. But a sub story that's huge for the Cougars and @WCChoops is Yoeli Childs' return after a nine-game suspension. He scored 29. The Utah-BYU games were some of my favorites to cover during the old WAC.
— Andy Katz (@TheAndyKatz) December 5, 2019
BYU has played two minutes this season with Yoeli Childs and their offense looks night and day because of the gravity he draws. I don’t think Toolson has been that open once all season
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) December 5, 2019
BYU falls to Utah in OT, Childs finished with 29 PTS/7 REBS in 25 mins of action, put on an offensive display before night was cut short due to cramps. Jake Toolson (BYU) finished with 27 PTS/9 REBS/6 ASTS.
— Tyler Glazier (@tyler_glazier) December 5, 2019
With the loss, BYU now drops to 6-4 on the season. The Cougars will look to quickly regroup as they take on former Mountain West Conference rival UNLV on Saturday at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. (MT).
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