Cougars fall 92-89 at Illinois State in overtime

BYU vs. Illinois State Box Score

NORMAL, Ill. – The BYU men's basketball team fell 92-89 in overtime against Illinois State on Wednesday night at Redbird Arena.

“Congratulations to Dan (Muller) and his team," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "There were opportunities for both teams at the end and they made a few more plays than we did. Our guys played hard but we just came up short.”

Yoeli Childs led all scorers with 27 points, including three 3-pointers. He also grabbed 16 rebounds while tallying six assists, two blocks and one steal. TJ Haws contributed 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Illinois State (6-2) drilled a 3-pointer for the first bucket of the game but Childs answered with one of his own on the Cougars' (5-3) end of the court to even the game at 3-all.

Despite the Redbirds taking an early 9-3 advantage three minutes into the game, Zac Seljaas hit a bucket from beyond the arc and was followed with layups by Haws and Dalton Nixon to give BYU its first lead of the game, 12-11, with just under 15 minutes remaining in the first half.

In the final two minutes before halftime, the Cougars went on a 6-0 run to take a 40-31 lead into the locker room. The run was highlighted by two consecutive buckets from Haws and a dunk by Gavin Baxter.

At the half, BYU shot 51.5 percent from the field compared to Illinois State's 33.3 percent. Haws led the offense with 10 points and three assists. 

Seljaas and Childs combined for five points to start off the second half as BYU stayed on top 45-33.

A bucket by the Redbirds was followed by a Jahshire Hardnett layup on a fast break and then Childs hitting a 3-pointer for a 52-38 lead for the Cougars, the largest of the night, with 16:34 remaining on the clock.

Illinois State went on a 9-1 run to cut BYU's lead down to two with under eight minutes to go in the game.

With 5:54 on the clock, Seljaas made a layup to extend the lead back to four, 68-64, but the Redbirds answered with six-straight points to take a 70-68 lead.

After Illinois State claimed a four-point lead with 2:36 on the clock, Childs hit a trey and then tipped in his own rebound to give the Cougars a 77-61 advantage.

With under a minute to go, Hardnett went 1 of 2 from the free throw line to put BYU on top by two but a foul with 2.8 seconds on the clock sent the Redbirds to the line. After a 2 for 2 trip the game was sent into overtime.

In overtime, Illinois State jumped out to an 88-84 lead but Hardnett grabbed back-to-back steals that sent him to the charity stripe for four points and an 88-even score with 1:27 on the clock.

In the final minute of the game, the Redbirds made four from the free throw line as they claimed a 92-89 victory.

On the night, the Cougars shot 40.3 percent from the field while Illinois State recorded 39.7 percent. BYU shot 21.4 percent from beyond the arc and 69.4 percent from the free throw line compared to the Redbirds 43.3 percent and 94.4 percent, respectively.

The Cougars return to Utah as they travel north to Weber State on Saturday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. MST. Live coverage will be available on KJZZ and audio broadcasts can be heard on BYU Radio (Sirius XM 143/89.1 FM), BYU Sports Network and KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM.

Postgame Notes

• Junior TJ Haws entered the game needing 10 points to reach 1,000 for his career. He finished the night with 22 points to become the 52nd Cougar to reach the milestone. Haws joined his brother Tyler and father Marty on the list and TJ and Tyler are one of three brother combos on the list, the others being Jackson and Nick Emery and Fred and Kenneth Roberts. Haws also tied his career high with eight rebounds and added six assists.
• Junior Yoeli Childs finished with 27 points and season highs of 16 rebounds, six assists and two blocks. It was his sixth double-double of the season and 26th of his career, the 10th most in BYU history. Childs also tied his career high with three 3-pointers.
• Freshman Gavin Baxter came off the bench and hit 4 of 4 from the field for a career-best eight points.
• Zac Seljaas tied his season high with four assists and added nine points and four rebounds.
• Jahshire Hardnett set new career highs with four steals and 7 of 8 shooting from the free-throw line.

Postgame Quotes

BYU forward Yoeli Childs

On tonight's result

"First off, I'm proud of our effort tonight. That's why it hurts so bad. Every single player was giving it their all and playing as hard as they could. It just comes down to hitting shots. We did the little things to fight back but we just missed shots."

"The guys played so hard and I hate to lose, but I can live with our guys playing hard. I can't live with our guys and myself taking it easy and letting a team come in and punch us in the mouth. We played hard and gave ourselves a chance. We just have to be better and make better plays."