BYU advances to West Coast semifinals, tops San Diego 85-79

Mar 3, 2018, 11:53 pm

LAS VEGAS -- Elijah Bryant and Yoeli Childs combined to score 49 points and No. 3 seed BYU advanced to the West Coast Conference semifinals for the fifth straight year after posting an 85-79 win over sixth-seeded San Diego in a tournament quarterfinal Saturday at the Orleans Arena.

The Cougars (23-9) will face the Saint Mary's-Pepperdine winner in the second of two semifinals Monday.

San Diego was led by acting head coach Sam Scholl after Lamont Smith was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and other charges by San Francisco police Sunday following the Toreros 64-61 win over San Francisco in Saturday's regular season finale.

Juwan Gray hit two free throws with :17 left to get the Toreros within three, 81-78. Childs was fouled immediately and he hit two free throws to push BYU's advantage to five points and, after Isaiah Wright hit the second of two free throws, Childs dunked with :02 to cap his night.

Bryant and Childs were chosen for the All-WCC first team. TJ Haws was an honorable mention pick. Bryant finished with 27 points and Childs had 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Haws added 13 points.

Isaiah Pineiro converted 10 of 11 from the line and finished with 21 points for San Diego (18-13). Olin Carter III added 20 points.