The BYU basketball team routed the Seattle Pacific Falcons 102-82 on Saturday night in Provo. It was the first of two BYU exhibition games of the 2016-17 basketball season.
There has been a lot of hype surrounding the reunion of the Lone Peak Three. It didn’t take long for the high school talent to appear on the Marriott Center court.
“TJ Haws from Nick Emery,” the announcer belted in the beginning moments of the contest as Emery connected with Haws for an easy bucket.
The Cougars started off slow, trailing 10-4 early on, but a 10-0 BYU run led to a 14-10 advantage for the Cougars.
They never looked back, holding a lead for the remainder of the game.
Haws and Emery, along with former Lone Peak High School teammate Eric Mika accounted for 44 of the Cougars’ 55 points at halftime. BYU led 55-46 entering the second half.
“It was definitely nerve-racking getting back out there,” Mika said. “Once we got into the game and started making some stops, all those jitters and nerves went away pretty quick.”
Haws and Mika both finished with double-doubles, Haws scoring 19 points and dishing 10 assists and Mika scoring 23 points and pulling in a game-high 12 rebounds. Emery added 21 points, six rebounds and four assists.
“The team did a great job coming together,” Mika said.
Head coach Dave Rose started Haws, Emery, Davin Guinn, Kyle Davis and Mika. Rose used the exhibition game to play with a number of different lineups, with almost every available Cougar seeing time on the court. LJ Rose and Elijah Bryant did not suit up due to injury.
“I like their effort, I like their togetherness, I like the way they share the ball and how they support and encourage each other.” Rose said.
Freshman Steven Beo made an impact off the bench, scoring 15 points. The former leading scorer in Washington state said the key was the Cougars’ unselfish play.
“I think when it comes down to it, our unselfishness is going to win us a lot of games,” Beo said.
BYU shot 57.8 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range. The Cougars also hit 73.3 percent of their free throws.
Rose said he was happy with his team’s offense, but said allowing 82 points and committing 29 personal fouls leaves a lot to be desired.
“Right now it’s pretty safe to say we’re a better offensive team than we are a defensive team. I think that’s where we’ll start on Monday,” Rose said.
The Cougars will return to the Marriott Center on Nov. 9 for their second exhibition game, a matchup with BYU-Hawaii. The regular season begins on Nov. 14 against Princeton.
