Opening Tip-Off at War Memorial Gymnasium
GAME NOTES - PREGAME
BYU:
- BYU came into today #41 on the Big Board, currently an 11-seed.
- The Cougars have a high ceiling, as evidenced by their #21 ranking in KenPom
- Yoeli Childs made an emphatic return to the lineup, 26 Pts. 9 Rebs at Pacific on Thursday.
- Jake Toolson and Childs combined to take 35 of the team’s 50 shots against Pacific.
- The 6-8 Childs adds much needed size. 6-9 Kolby Lee is the tallest regular in the rotation.
- BYU wants to blow teams out. 11 of 15 wins are by 13+ Margin of Victory.
- T.J. Haws will be making his 123rd consecutive start today, breaking a BYU school record.
- BYU is 6th in the nation in FG% and 4th in the nation 3pt. FG%. Cougars can flat out stroke.
San Francisco:
- Dons seek first win over a team inside the projected at-large field.
- USF swept BYU last year for first time ever.
- Dons will get two cracks against BYU in a two-week span. Today and Sat, Feb. 8th.
- Charles Minlend had his double-figure scoring streak snapped at nine against St. Mary’s on Thursday.
- True Frosh Khalil Shabazz averages 4.4 Steals per 40 mins. But has not had a steal in his past four games.
GAME ACTION
You can feel the impact immediately of Yoeli Childs. Not only does he take the jump ball for BYU but he is the vocal point of most possessions. It’s crazy to consider how many games BYU has already played, and Childs returns without a hiccup. Right back engrained in the offense. Childs scored a quick four in the opening sequence.
1st Media Timeout: BYU 9, San Francisco 5
The next sequence was frantic, up and down with a lot of drive and kicks. USF hit three triples and BYU had two. Childs is already in double-figures for the Cougars. For USF, Josh Kunen can really shoot for a big man. He has a nice a touch on his shots from distance. It’s my first look up close at this year’s Dons.
2nd Media Timeout: BYU 23, San Francisco 20
TJ Haws is getting a lot more involved from a scoring standpoint today compared to Thursday. He just buried two triples. Alex Barcello also hit a big one from deep. Trying to defend BYU is not easy, all five players keep moving and they can all knock it down. Khalil Shabazz came off the bench to knock down a couple of jumpers and USF is hanging around here.
3rd Media Timeout: BYU 32, San Francisco 24
Dalton Nixon just put up eight points in this sequence, further proving that BYU is much deeper than their two superstars. USF doing their best to keep up with the Cougars. Jamaree Bouyea knocked down a big three and just had a nice driving layup prior to the media timeout.
4th Media Timeout: BYU 40, San Francisco 31
Charles Minlend starting to get going finally, he hits back-to-back layups. Dons have came back to close the gap down to two. BYU closed the half with five straight points, two FT’s by Barcello and a very deep three by Jake Toolson. Toolson should be looked at for WCC POY. He has led this team with or without Childs and plays with moxy and leadership. Impressive to watch.
Halftime: BYU 45, San Francisco 38
2nd Half
Jake Toolson. That’s all I need to tell you, he does it all. Gets Childs and Haws going, gets himself going, and heck even got Kolby Lee a look at a three. Toolson had 7 points in the first four minutes of the half. USF has gone a bit cold.
1st Media Timeout: BYU 54, San Francisco 44
BYU has suddenly gone cold, still getting good looks. USF is taking full advantage and making open threes and converting layups. We had a technical foul during that sequence called on TJ Haws. And the crowd is now into it fully. Dons are on an incredible 16-0 run after trailing 54-40.
2nd Media Timeout: San Francisco 56, BYU 54
The Dons continue the crazy run, building it all the way to a 21-0 run until Alex Barcello finally made a three for BYU. The Dons didn’t back down, connecting on multiple deep threes. Khalil Shabazz has a career-high 23 points.
3rd Media Timeout: San Francisco 67, BYU 59
Hard to put into words how amazing this current run is by the Dons. The original 21-0 run has been transformed into now a 30-5 run. Probably the longest run I’ve ever seen at a live game. Bouyea, Shabazz, and Ratinho are the biggest contributors in this. BYU looks thrown off, Dons have been more physical with them of late.
4th Media Timeout: San Francisco 72, BYU 63
The Dons got careless on a couple of passes and Haws took advantage by getting a steal on each. Once connecting on a three and the other time connecting on a nifty reverse layup. BYU cut the lead to 2. Then the play of the game happened! After a timeout, BYU had the ball trailing by 2. They inbounded the ball and got it to Childs quickly. Childs was immediately fouled by USF. This is Nerd Ball. The data shows that Childs is a 59% FT shooter, so why not make him go to the line for a 1 and 1? Historically speaking, this is highly unconventional. But the Dons executed it beautifully and Childs missed the front end of the 1 and 1. Dons were fouled with 14 seconds left and the Free throw game worked out to ice the game. Toolson hit a meainingless three at the buzzer, but the Dons were victorious by one.
FINAL SCORE: San Francisco 83, BYU 82
INTERVIEWS
Todd Golden:
On 2nd Half Adjustments:
-BYU is one of the best shooting teams in the country. We knew that coming in. They were getting their way (in the 1st Half). We knew they are a top-20 team nationally and talked about how they are #21 in KenPom.
-We had a ton of respect for them and had to be creative today.
-The plan was to press into them and make life harder on them their shooters to get free. Make the game more physical and keep them out of rhythm.
On the fouling of Yoeli Childs with just a two-point lead:
-Yes, it was intentional. He is a 59% FT shooter. We knew the worse-case scenario was he makes both and ties the game. If that happens it’s still our ball at home in a tie game with the shot clock turned off. I am willing to take that chance.
-Gave his players a ton of credit for executing the foul as soon as Childs touched the ball.
-He went on to say Childs was the only player they would’ve fouled in that situation.
-He later told me that they have very intelligent players, who are also great students, that allow them to work on and execute such uncustomary strategy.
On Khalil Shabazz:
-Praised his attitude, effort. Called him their sparkplug and a player they are depending on.
On the goals for the rest of the season:
-They are focused more on their process then the results at this stage.
-He is proud of how the team really came together after a bad loss at Portland. He said they were really at a crossroads after that game, and everyone had to ask themselves what type of team do we want to be? The Dons have responded well, they are 3-1 since and the lone loss was at Saint Mary’s after squandering a late lead.
Khalil Shabazz:
Asked him about the incredible performance and if he was in the zone?
-He admitted that he was in the zone and was completely feeling it. He also said his cross-over dribble step-back three is his go to move.
On his experience learning in the San Francisco program?
-He talked about how he learned and grew so much last year while sitting out after transferring from Central Washington University. Shabazz also talked about how he really needed the year off to mature as a person and player. It was the best thing that’s happened to him and got him ready for this season.