Childs scores 31, Emery returns and BYU wins 95-80

Dec 6, 2018, 04:29 am

PROVO, Utah -- Yoeli Childs matched a season high with 31 points and BYU ended a three-game losing streak with a 95-80 victory over Utah State on a Wednesday night when Nick Emery returned to the floor for the Cougars after more than a season's absence.

Childs made 11 of 18 shots and all eight of his free throws as the Cougars (6-4) shot 56 percent and made 11 of 24 from the arc. TJ Haws made four of those 3-pointers and scored 20 points with seven assists while Emery made 3 of 4 from the arc and scored 11 points in 19 minutes.

Emery was playing in his first game since March 15, 2017. The junior guard had withdrawn from school and missed last season for personal reasons. He sat out the first nine games this season as part of his NCAA conditions for instatement after violations involving receiving improper benefits from BYU boosters. In his first two seasons, he averaged 14.7 points per game and made 172 3-pointers.

Connor Harding added 14 points and Jashire Hardnett 10 for BYU.

Sam Merrill scored 17 points, Neemias Queta 16, Dwayne Brown Jr. 15 and John Knight III had 11 for Utah State (7-2), which hasn't won in Provo since 2004.

BYU scored first and stayed in front, leading by as many as 22 points in the first half before going into the break ahead 53-34. The lead stayed in double figures in the second.