PROVO, Utah-Saturday, BYU men’s basketball (12-5, 1-1 in West Coast Conference play) hosts Portland (9-8, 1-1 in WCC play) as the Cougars seek to bounce back from an 87-84 loss to Saint Mary’s Thursday.
The Cougars were forced to play without senior forward Yoeli Childs (20.9 points, 10.1 rebounds per game) Thursday as he is suffering from a dislocated finger injury. He will remain out of the lineup for Saturday’s tilt against the Pilots.
This is only the latest adversity faced on the season by head coach Mark Pope (12-5, .706 at BYU; 89-61, .593 as a collegiate head coach) who was forced to do without Childs for the first 10 games of the season because of an NCAA-mandated suspension.
BYU scores 77.4 points per game, which ranks the Cougars 60th nationally in scoring offense.
Senior guard Jake Toolson (15.1 points, 4.9 rebounds per game) and senior guard TJ Haws (13.2 points per game, a team-best 80 assists) also score in double figures on-average for the Cougars.
Haws also has a team-best 19 steals to lead the Cougars in that category.
BYU surrenders 66.5 points per game which ranks the Cougars 117th nationally in scoring defense.
Portland is coached by Terry Porter who is 37-77 (.325) in his fourth season coaching the Pilots.
Portland scores 69 points per game, tying the Pilots for 239th nationally in scoring offense with Norfolk State and Vermont.
Graduate student guard Isaiah White (13.3 points per game) is Portland’s leading scorer. Junior guard, Puerto Rican national JoJo Walker (11.1 points per game) is the only other Pilot to score in double figures on-average this season.
Junior forward, Malian national Tahirou Diabate and junior forward/center Jacob Tryon average 4.6 rebounds per game apiece to lead the Pilots on the glass.
Freshman guard Chase Adams has a team-best 70 assists and Tryon’s 19 blocked shots lead the squad in that category.
The Pilots surrender 66.6 points per game as they rank 119th nationally in scoring defense.
The Cougars lead Portland 19-17-2 all-time and 10-9 at Provo.
