BYU-Portland Postgame Notes & Quotes

PROVO, Utah — The following notes are from BYU's 105-60 win over Portland on Thursday, Feb.4, 2021, at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.

ALL-TIME SERIES RESULTS: BYU leads 24-2

TEAM NOTES

Dominance Down Low

The Cougars dominated in both rebounds and points in the paint in the game, which has been a hallmark of success for the team this season. BYU outrebounded Portland 46-12 and outscored them 48-16 in the paint.

New Starters

Caleb Lohner got his fifth start of the season in the game. Gideon George made his first career start for BYU. Lohner had 11 points and six rebounds. George led all scorers with a career-high 19 points and pulled down 13 rebounds — more than the entire Portland squad combined.

100 Points

The Cougars scored 100+ points for the second time this season, behind six different BYU scorers reaching double figures. The only other time BYU has scored 100+ this season was in the opener over Westminster, reaching 108 points in that one.

Shooting Lights Out

The Cougars went 42-for-67 from the field for a 62.7 percent shooting percentage. That's the best shooting percentage for the Cougars since shooting 68.6 percent last season against Montana Tech. Tonight's shooting mark included going 15-for-24 from beyond the arc.

PLAYER NOTES

Gideon George

George led all scorers with a career-high 19 points and pulled down 13 rebounds — more than the entire Portland squad combined.

Five Others in Double Figures

Matt Haarms (15), Brandon Averette (15), Alex Barcello (12), Connor Harding (12) and Lohner (11) all scored in double figures along with George.

Notable career-highs:

Points: Gideon George (19)
Rebounds: Trevin Knell (5)

COACH AND PLAYER QUOTES 

Head coach Mark Pope

On Gideon George's performance ...

"He is such a beautiful human being. He's just so humble and full of gratitude. There is nothing duplicitous about him. He's unfiltered and straight ahead. He's been so wonderful for our team. He's growing. He's done a good job taking advantage of the opportunities that he's had. Clearly we've known for a long time that he's got a huge ceiling. So this is a really positive step for him. He's just a joy to have in every facet of our program."

On Gideon George outrebounding the entire Portland team ...

"I've never seen that stat in my life. He outrebounded the whole rest of the team by one. He was spectacular tonight."

On why there were changes in the staring lineup and what it accomplished ...

"It's kind of that point of the season where these newer guys — it's time for them to step up. I think there was some thought about the rescheduling of the Zags game coming up, and some thought about the progress that they've been making and some thought about the opportunity that they had tonight to get a feel for starting a game and see how that feels, and I was just super proud of those guys for responding. And then I was even more proud of the guys who didn't start tonight, and I know that we talk about this all the time, and I think genuinely people nod and smile and say 'well, that's kind of nice,' but that's people who don't understand how teams work. Kolby Lee's performance tonight in the locker room and in the game was probably more important to us in growing as a team and being successful than Gideon George's. I know nobody understands what I'm talking about, but when you are functioning on a team and you're counting on the special sauce of having a great locker room, Kolby Lee was incredible tonight. Trevin Knell, the thing about Trevin Knell, he came off the bench tonight, he'd been struggling for the last several games, and his focus was so good. The first thing he did was grab three defensive rebounds. He didn't sulk. He didn't pout. He actually came in with renewed energy, and his focus wasn't in 'I'm going to go face this by banging shots,' He came in and did what was important. He subs into the game, grabs three straight defensive rebounds, and then he's off and running and has an unbelievable performance. Even you talk about Jesse Wade giving us four great minutes at the end of the game. This game tonight was a testament to what these guys are trying to accomplish in our locker room. This is a hard game, it's a hard time of year, it's been a hard road trip, we've been on the road for four days to play one game, and I'm just super proud of my locker room. I'm super proud of what these guys are giving to the team, from the guy who had our biggest numbers tonight to the guy who had the least minutes. It's pretty special, and I'm just so full of gratitude that I get to work with these guys."

On Alex Barcello ...

"No one's going to talk about Alex Barcello tonight, because he had a relatively, for him, pedestrian night. 12 points, four assists, one turnover, three rebounds, but he was out-of-his-mind exceptional tonight. He had a big-time, big-time game. For people that know basketball, they're going to watch him and be like 'this guy's a star.' When you have leaders like that who will be 100 percent invested in every single possession like it is the most difficult game that we've played all season long, which is what our guys try and prepare themselves for, when you have leaders like Alex doing that every night, it makes it a lot easier on a team. He was phenomenal tonight."

On tonight's locker room celebration ...

"It was just a lot of kudos. Not so much water, and not so but dancing, but there's just a lot of pride in that locker room and a lot of empathy among our guys. Every single night we have different guys rise up and have games, and different guys have to fill in a more remedial role. I think our guys feel it for each other. I think they feel each others' joy. I think they feel each others' nervousness and anxiety and frustration. It's a really sweet locker room. This locker room is a good place to be in right now. I know I keep saying it, and I think it doesn't come through, but what these guys are trying to do for each other right now is just inspiring to me. It's just awesome. It's a credit to BYU and the university and what BYU stands for. I'm really fortunate to be with these guys."

On adjusting to recent schedule changes ...

"I don't know how any other program works, but we walk into games emotionally piqued. There's a process and a method to what we do and what we ask of our guys. I had this conversation with someone talking about our scheduling and the comment was: 'well, you guys didn't even play on Tuesday, so you should be fine.' It's just a naive — and understandable — understanding of what these guys do to get themselves physically and mentally and emotionally ready for a game. I think it's way more taxing for these guys to do all the prep and then be rolling into shootaround and have it taken away. It's so strange, and the emotional debrief from that — you just don't know how to do it, because you'd never done it before. We've done it multiple times this year now. There are all kinds of teams who have faced all . kinds of new challenges of COVID, but I'm really proud of our guys that they keep finding a way to ring the bell and respond to the challenges that keep coming up."

On preparing for Gonzaga

"There are only nine teams that get to play the No. 1 team in the country twice in league — not even that, there are only seven of us who get to play them twice. So I'm super excited about that, especially after we did not perform like us up there. So much of the credit goes to the Zags for our poor performance, but also some of it is on us. I think we're excited to have another chance to see if we can look more like us when we play them. Great effort by the guys tonight, and then we'll good back to work hard tonight and hit the court tomorrow to get ready for the best team in America."

On the different environment this season against Gonzaga ...

"We're just excited to be able to play the game. For all the fans who can't be there, man, I'm sorry for you, but some day soon we're all going to be in that building together again, and it's going to be really special when we can. We can't wait until everybody gets back in that building."

Junior guard Gideon George

On what Coach Pope's expectations were for him coming into the game ...

"He wanted me to rebound the ball and just play basketball."

On the disappointment of the San Diego game being cancelled and the practice the team held that day ...

"The practice we had at San Diego was a fun one. We were just going back-and-forth, talking smart to each other. We just played hard that day and laid it all on the floor."

On how the team has come together this season ...

"I feel like we're getting pretty good chemistry, because we have three of the best leaders: Matt Haarms, Brandon Averette and Alex Barcello. They've been leading this team. They've been helping us, especially the new guys, me especially. They've been helping me a lot."

On Caleb Lohner also getting the start with him today ...

"That's my boy. I'm just really excited for him. We are just like the same, me and Caleb. We're hard workers."

On the potential of this team as NCAA Tournament time approaches ...

"I really feel like we have a lot of potential on this team, and I feel like we are going to go far. Back home in Nigeria I used to stay up all night watching NCAA games and NBA games. Being able to play here right now, it's a big blessing for me."

On his experience at BYU so far ...

"Thanks for the BYU fans for showing me love, both on social media and in school. They send me tons of love, and I really, really appreciate it."