BYU basketball: Cougars breeze past Saint Martin’s in first exhibition game

Aside from a cold-shooting night from behind the arc, the BYU men’s basketball team scored an efficient 92-71 win over the Saint Martin’s Saints on Wednesday at the Marriott Center in the team’s first exhibition game of the season.

Saint Martin’s is a Division-II program from Lacey, Washington.

Yoeli Childs was expectedly unstoppable against the undersized Saints, shooting 7 of 10 from the field for 20 points, adding eight rebounds and one block in 23 minutes.

BYU held Saint Martin’s to 8 of 29 shooting in the first half to build a big lead, which was 45-23 at halftime.

The Cougars shot a hot 18 of 27 in the second half and 33 of 57 (58%) overall, but were only 5 of 16 from deep.

TJ Haws was 2 of 6 from the 3-point line for 11 points and dished a game-high seven assists. Dalton Nixon also scored 11 to make three Cougars in double figures.

Gavin Baxter scored 9 points while Jahshire Hardnett and Rylan Bergesen each had 8.

Slightly concerning is Saint Martin’s outscoring BYU 48-47 in the second half, shooting 16 of 26 in the half and 9 of 13 from behind the arc. BJ Standley led the Saints with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds while shooting 4 of 4 from deep.

BYU forced the Saints into 23 turnovers while committing 14.

BYU plays its second and final exhibition game Thursday, Nov. 1, when it hosts Westminster College.