BYU ices Illinois St. 80-68 behind Bryant

Dec 7, 2018, 04:36 am

PROVO, Utah -- Elijah Bryant scored 17 points with nine rebounds and nine assists, TJ Haws scored 20 points and BYU defeated Illinois State 80-68 on Wednesday night.

Bryant started off with a 3-pointer and Yoeli Childs and Jahshire Hardnett each added jumpers three minutes in and the Cougars never trailed. BYU went on an 11-0 run in which the Redbirds went close to five minutes without scoring. Bryant made back-to-back 3s for a 28-7 lead with 6:55 before intermission.

BYU led 39-17 at halftime and Illinois State managed just 7-for-30 shooting (23 percent), which included 15 missed 3-point attempts. The Cougars made half their 30 shots.

Childs added 17 points and seven rebounds for BYU (7-2), winners of four straight. The Cougars passed out 22 assists on 31-of-58 shooting for 53.4 percent.

Phil Fayne led Illinois State (4-5) with 19 points, Taylor Bruninga had 18, Milik Yarbrough, 15 and Keyshawn Evans had 14.