Field Level Media
Feb 29, 2020
Yoeli Childs scored a career-high 38 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to power No. 17 BYU to an 81-64 defeat of Pepperdine in the regular-season finale for both West Coast Conference teams at Malibu, Calif.
The Cougars (24-7, 13-3 WCC) trailed the Waves (15-15, 8-8) at halftime of the hosts' Senior Day. But while Pepperdine honored its upperclassmen, it was sophomore Kessler Edwards taking center stage.
He scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
In the second half, BYU took control with runs of 9-2 and 10-3. Childs shot 17 of 27 from the floor overall en route to breaking the career scoring mark of 33 points he set in a 2018 WCC Tournament game against Saint Mary's.
Childs dominated on the interior, while Jake Toolson set the pace from outside with 3-of-3 shooting from behind the 3-point arc. He finished with 11 points.
Toolson also grabbed eight rebounds. Zac Seljaas added another six rebounds and scored 12 off the bench.
TJ Haws helped set the table for the BYU offense with 13 assists.
Pepperdine got 11 points from Skylar Chavez, but BYU effectively locked down the Waves' two leading scorers on the season, Colbey Ross and Kameron Edwards.
Ross finished with eight points on 3-of-13 shooting from the floor, while Kameron Edwards went 0-of-3 from 3-point range and scored nine points.
Ross' primary contributions came as a distributor. He made a team-high seven assists on an afternoon that 20 of Pepperdine's 26 made field goals came via assist. However, the Waves shot just 39.4 percent from the floor and 30.4 percent (7 of 23) from behind the 3-point arc.
The Cougars shot 53.1 percent from the field, including 7 of 14 from behind the arc.
BYU heads into next week's WCC Tournament in Las Vegas with nine straight wins. The Cougars clinched the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinals on March 9 prior to Saturday's contest.
Pepperdine came into the regular-season finale tied with San Francisco, both vying for the tournament's No. 5 seed.
--Field Level Media